Pepper's Nursery: Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Stand Opens in Holly Ridge

Pepper’s Nursery was established in 2020 by Bryan Ritter, a native of Holly Ridge, and his wife, Diana. The business originally began in 2019 when they decided to sell some extra garden starter plants they had. Many visitors commented on their fig tree orchard and expressed a desire to have fig trees of their own. They named the nursery after their family dog, and now, six years later, they have three greenhouses, two vegetable stands, three gardens, and hundreds of trees.

The nursery specializes in food trees, particularly fig trees, but they also propagate and grow citrus trees, including Meyer and Harvey lemons, as well as Key and Kaffir lime trees. Their stock plum tree is the American Red Plum, which thrives in the area and produces delicious, golf-ball-sized reddish-purple plums. Additionally, they offer avocado trees of various sizes. Since avocado and citrus trees cannot survive the zone 8b winter outdoors without special precautions, they make excellent container plants. Excitingly, they are testing Paw Paw and Chinquapin trees, both native to North Carolina, with hopes of offering them soon. They are also starting to cultivate persimmon, olive, and coffee trees to see how well they grow in the region.

In 2021, they opened a small roadside stand at their residence, providing the neighborhood with overflow produce from their garden. In 2024/25, they expanded their gardens and opened a second stand to offer homegrown, locally sourced fresh fruit and vegetables to a wider audience. In May 2025, they celebrated the grand opening of their new stand, located at 1132 E. Ocean Rd. Holly Ridge (Hwy 50). This stand offers a selection of fresh produce along with various trees and plants from the nursery.

Pepper’s Nursery is listed in the NC Roadside Certified Farm Market registry and is a registered and licensed nursery in North Carolina. Over the past few years, they have represented Pepper’s Nursery at several major fig conventions along the East Coast, including as far as Chattanooga, Tennessee, both as speakers and vendors. These conventions allow them to educate others and stay informed about new products and procedures. They also trade fig cuttings to enhance their collection of rare fig trees and help preserve endangered fig varieties.

As summer approaches, Pepper’s Nursery will keep the produce stand stocked with your favorite garden selections and offer trees to brighten your life. Come check out their offerings and talk trees with them! They are open Thursday through Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM.