A garden party that makes the garden the central feature isn’t exactly a novel idea.

But utilizing what grows there to make the party food certainly is.

For Harvest on the Hooch at the Chattahoochee Nature Center, local chefs will be picking ingredients from the center’s Unity Garden and using them on the spot to prepare dishes for guests.

“Harvest on the Hooch is our newest evolution,” said Lynn McIntyre, community relations director for the Chattahoochee Nature Center. “We’ve been planning this with Whole Foods and Harry’s Farmers Market to bring a new element of consciousness to the farm to table movement while raising awareness of good nutrition.”

This inaugural family friendly event is Sunday at the nature center from 3 to 6 p.m. It is primarily a fundraiser for the Unity Garden, which supplies produce for North Fulton Community Charities’ food pantry.

“So if you come to the event, you’ll be helping North Fulton Community Charities,” McIntyre said.

Built with support from Kaiser Permanente little more than two years ago, the garden operates year-round and produces more than 30 different vegetables and fruits and 20 different types of fresh herbs.

The culinary whizzes for Harvest on the Hooch will hail from Seed, Parsley’s Catering, Muss & Turner’s, Whole Foods, Milton’s, Talk of the Town and Oak Street Café.

“We sent them a list of what’s growing and coming up now and they have been researching recipes using those items,” McIntyre said. “They will bring all their own equipment. It will be just like a tailgate party.”

Table & Main, a southern tavern in Roswell, is providing a $50 gift card as a prize and Legendary Events Catering is providing a Chef’s Dinner as a prize as well. There will be live blue grass music by Micah Spence and Chris Ryan of the Georgia Sidewinders, playing banjo, fiddle and guitar.

Tickets are $30 each. Order tickets online at www.chattnature center.org/festivals-fundraisers/ fundraisers-for-cnc/harvest-on-the-hooch, email DeAnn Fordham at d.fordham@chattnaturecenter.org. or call (770) 992-2055, ext. 226.