For years, Chappells Nursery has been known for selling plants, now the Wilson Road business has the entire lifecycle of vegetables for sale from the seed to the ready-to-eat vegetable.

And all of it is available for the picking at the new U-pick garden.

The gardens at Chappells began while the area was still dormant with owner, Mike Dipner, mixing up soil with mulch and poultry litter.

A goal of Dipner is to continue producing veggies in the hot and dry months of July and August.

He then began to plant cold weather crops of lettuce and cabbage.

Those leafy vegetables have given way to raised beds of herbs for picking.

Also, Dipner has planted a rainbow of yellow, orange, purple, red and cherry tomatoes.

There are three kinds of eggplants in the garden, a variety of old favorites and new varieties of squash, cucumbers and peppers for every palate.

Dipner says it will take several years for his garden to be certified organic, but that he promises his produce will be nutritious and have stable pricing.

The items that are not on the vine at Chappells will be brought in by other backyard gardeners.

Dipner said his plant business has declined with the drought, and he decided to use 25 percent of his yard space as a garden.

The new gardening space will allow people to pick their own produce, purchase it and take it home for meals.

This summer the garden center will offer taste testings and other customer events.

The garden center on Wilson Road is open seven days a week. Hours are from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and from 1:30 to 6 p.m. Sunday.