The conversion of a 1920s-era garage from storage to a store is the latest addition to a growing farm business in East Lyme.

White Gate Farm, located on Upper Pattagansett Road, doubled the size of its farm stand in August. Every Wednesday and Saturday, the stand is open and selling organically grown crops and dishes made from the farm’s bounty.

Pauline Lord, who owns the farm, said the farm stand was born when she needed a way to sell surplus vegetables that didn’t make it into the farm’s community-supported agriculture (CSA) shares. The stand now sees between 70 and 100 people on an average day.

The new space, connected to the existing farm stand by a doorway and a step down, gives more space for the farm to show off its crops — from a table full of different tomato varieties to baskets of peppers. The garage’s dark wooden siding is still visible, and Lord was able to use some vintage items from the farm, including an old sign and her mother’s apple press, to decorate the space. Refrigerators on both levels also display eggs and roasting chickens, all humanely raised and harvested at the farm.

As visitors trickled in and out on a Wednesday afternoon, Lord knew most of their names, asking about family members or whether they tried the gazpacho made with tomatoes grown on site.

“I like growing stuff, I really love offering people healthy food, I care a lot about organic, but it’s also the whole community thing,” she said. “I just love it. It’s just nice to know your customers.”

In addition to the vegetables grown in the three fields on the property, the farm also houses a professional kitchen and hosts a rotating lineup of chefs. She said the chefs can utilize produce that might not look nice enough to sell in items like soups and pestos, which are then sold in the farm stand. Patrons can also come to the farm to take cooking classes, with offerings for both kids and adults, or they can let the chefs cook a farm-to-table dinner.

Now that the farm stand has been expanded, the next big step for White Gate Farm is converting the farmhouse into an inn. The farm is already a miniature destination in itself; people can come to the farm to buy a tomato to bring home, enjoy a picnic lunch or formal dinner, and visit the chickens and sheep.

“I’m really drawn to the whole idea of agritourism,” she said. Instead of letting the farmhouse go into disrepair, she wanted to utilize it and its location on the farm.

Reservations for Thanksgiving turkeys, raised and harvested at the farm and frozen, will also start soon, she said.

White Gate Farm is located at 83 Upper Pattagansett Road in East Lyme. The farm stand is open year round 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Wednesdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays from April to January.

a.hutchinson@theday.com