I’m Eva Thorne, the founder of The Garden of Eva. I was born and raised in New York City. But my mom, Tina, was born and raised on a farm in the Blue Ridge mountains, in Roanoke, Virginia. She moved to New York City but always shared Southern food with us. Feeling forced to buy an overpriced jar of pickled watermelon rind in a gourmet shop was the trigger for my mother to go on a pickling and preserving rampage that lasted for years. 

I grew up pickling and preserving with my family, making lots of chow chow (a pickled relish beloved throughout the South), pickled watermelon rind, pickled pole beans, and other preserves along the way. My experiences in the kitchen with my mother gave me my passion for food. I have continued to be an avid pickler and preserver as a result. 

These experiences became part of the inspiration for The Garden of Eva. But it wasn’t until Iwas living in Boston, Massachusetts that the vision was formed. I was waiting for the pan-Asian supermarket to open; I planned to buy unwaxed lemons to preserve for a Moroccan tagine that I wanted to make. Somehow my childhood experiences of pickling and preserving
connected with my global travel in that parking lot in an avalanche of memories.  The seed for the Garden of Eva as a company that makes preserves inspired by the world's food cultures – starting with the American South -- was planted in that moment.

We’re just starting but our vision is pretty big. Watch this space for more.
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Join us in our garden!