Man proposes to girlfriend by growing carrot inside engagement ring in their garden

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR, Canada - A man seeking an imaginative way to propose to his longtime girlfriend secretly grew a carrot inside of an engagement ring, then lured her to the garden to pick the lucky carrot out of the bunch.

John Neville and Danielle “Deejay” Squires, who live in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada with their two young children, got engaged on Saturday. The couple has been together nearly seven years, and Neville actually bought the ring in 2015 when Squires was pregnant with their first child, she said.

Squires said her now-fiance wanted to do something creative for when he finally popped the question.

“He had read a story about a lady losing her wedding ring and then finding it years later in her garden grown around a carrot and thought that that would be a really cool way to propose to me, especially where we do grow our own vegetables,” Squires explained.

But to actually pull off the idea, Neville needed both ingenuity and a little patience.

Squires said he secretly planted the ring in the center of a 5-gallon bucket filled with soil. Using a pencil to make a narrow hole in the soil through the ring, he threw in some seeds and hoped the carrot would grow right through the ring. Neville also planted other carrots around the perimeter of the bucket and had to wait about 90 days to see the fruits of his labor, according to the Washington Post.

When the carrots were ready to harvest, Neville and their 3-year-old son picked the first couple — and oriented the bucket so that Squires would choose the middle carrot, she explained.

Sure enough, there was an engagement ring perfectly formed around the vegetable, and Neville got down on one knee to propose.

Danielle “Deejay” Squires holds her engagement ring wrapped around a carrot from her backyard. (Photo credit: Danielle "Deejay" Squires)

“I was in shock when he asked me to marry him as I had the carrot in my hand,” Squires recalled. “It took me a moment to realize that there was a ring on it. I was overwhelmed with emotions and started to cry right away but nodded yes.”

“I was so happy,” she added.

Squires and Neville, who also have a 9-month-old, describe themselves as “very simple and laid back.” Squires said they don’t have a date just yet, but their wedding will be “more of a celebration than your typical traditional wedding.”

After posting a photo of the ring wrapped around the carrot, the couple has been “overwhelmed and flattered” by the response their story has received.

“We’re pretty low key people and really didn’t expect so much attention,“ Squires said.

This story was reported from Cincinnati.