Global Gardens

Specialties

Global Gardens is Santa Barbara county’s 1^st Certified Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil Producer. Our 3-​acre mini farm is centrally located in the heart of beautiful wine country, the Santa Ynez Valley, just one mile from downtown Los Olivos at a historic Wells Fargo stage coach stop. A distinctive stone wall surrounds an olive grove of Italian & Greek varietal olives we planted in 2004; precisely where stage coaches and horses used to stop for water and blacksmithing! Now, instead of repairing horse shoes and wheel cogs, you can taste over 40 food products from our organic/​GMO free home-​grown, family-​produced & globally-​inspired product line. It doesn’t get any more local than this! Our hearty $ 5 experience features a customized tasting pallet, freshly baked rustic roll and a guided, educational tasting that will take you from aficionado to an Extra Virgin Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar expert in a matter of minutes! We make over 20 Fruit Balsamics, Sauces, Appetizer Spreads, Organic Mustards, Spice Blends, Rubs, Organic Travel Snacks & Confections too. Everybody enjoys our Tasting Bar; even the little ones love to taste and be a part of the fun too! Original, flavorful and unforgettable… we are consistently voted as the #1 destination on fancy wine tours! Feel free to bring your own lunch, relax under centuries-​old oak & eucalyptus trees, photograph happy monarch butterflies in our year ’round gardens.

History

Established in 1998.

We were the first to plant Certified Organic olives, specifically for Extra Virgin Olive Oil in Santa Barbara County in 1997 with over 2000 trees planted in Los Alamos, CA. Our owner is of Greek and Macedonian heritage. She is 1^st generation American, from Dayton, Ohio and moved to Santa Barbara wine country in 1996, just to grow olives and begin her dream of educating people on easy, fast & flavorful ways to eat healthy and bring the entire family into the cooking environment. Our oils have won over 15 medals from the world’s largest olive oil competition, the Los Angeles County Fair. We were the first olive oil producer to create a multi-​food Club and also the world’s first Virtual Tour & Tasting Kit! (see our website for that). We bought our 3-​acre farm stand location in 2004 and created a year ’round garden for our customers to enjoy in any kind of weather. Mostly, our valley offers warm, sunny days (over 315/​year!)

Meet the Business Owner

Theodora S.

Business Owner

Theodora (Theo) Stephan founded the Global Gardens® in 1998 as the brand name for Santa Barbara County’s first, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and complete Specialty Food & Lifestyle Company. Known for her innovative vision, she planted the first Certified Organic olive grove in the Santa Ynez region specifically for extra-​virgin, first-​cold-​pressing olive oil in 1997, importing the varietal Koroneiki from her mother’s homeland of Greece, along with Spanish varietals indigenous to the California climate. Theo loves to research, write and educate customers on not only the health & nutritional benefits of olive oil, but also cooking with her vinegars and other food products she makes. It’s all about flavor! Theo is a food writer, presenter and culinary educator. She is available for public lectures, tastings, cooking classes and informational seminars. Her fun, easy-​going mannerisms are always the favorite of wine tasting & touring groups.