Two Men and a Garden: Relishing Nature’s Bounty

Like the name implies, Two Men and a Garden was founded by a couple of guys – Joel Austin and Brett Tintera – who discovered a mutual passion for gardening and began bonding over their shared hobby. Eventually, they merged their backyard plots and soon found themselves with more fresh produce than they could give away. That’s when they began experimenting in the kitchen with canned salsa and pickle recipes and eventually created their green venture.

Two Men and a Garden’s current offerings include an array of both traditional and fruit fusion salsas, pickles and DIY pickling pouches. “Having so many tomatoes, we just naturally gravitated towards salsa,” Austin said. “We found some family recipes that we added our own spin on.”

While the Two Men have found success with their current goods – dill pickles and medium salsa are among their bestsellers – they’re always on the lookout for new products to sink their teeth into. Currently, the duo are experimenting with relishes.

Prior to starting their business, neither Austin nor Tintera had experience in the food industry. In fact, Austin worked in IT for a large telecommunications company, while Tintera was in TV advertising sales. Since their beginnings in their respective backyards, however, the operation has outgrown their home roots, and the company now partners with local farmers and distributors to supply them with high quality produce. All of their products are made in small batches with seasonally available and locally grown ingredients. Their DIY products even offer consumers a chance to experiment on their own.

“It is a great way to get current gardeners to think outside the box and use any of their leftover produce to create new and exciting products,” Austin said. “With the current shortage of glass mason jars and the upswing in home gardening, the timing is perfect. Plus, we always have people wanting to make something special for them, like pickled okra for example. Now they can make their own creations.”