Cathy Slaughter, Gabriel Valley Farms, Georgetown, Texas

I had the pleasure of meeting Cathy Slaughter for the very first time a couple of years ago. With her husband Sam, she owns and operates Gabriel Valley Farms in Georgetown, Texas, where they grow all manner of herb and vegetable plants for the wholesale market.

I drove to the farm on a glorious President’s Day morning to meet her for our interview. I wasn’t there five minutes before she offered me a dark chocolate brownie infused with lavender (another of the many crops they grow–the lavender, not the brownies). I decided right then and there that we could be friends.

Although we had only just met, I have known Cathy Slaughter in spirit for nearly 20 years. That’s because over the past two decades my food gardens have been the repository of untold numbers of organic herb and vegetable plants that she raised on the farm.

I didn’t know it then, but I know it now. It’s a good feeling knowing where  my food comes from–even before it’s food!

Cathy and Sam raise the plants for the wholesale market. So, if  you buy organic herb and vegetable transplants in Central Texas, you have more thank likely been the beneficiary of their labor of love.

She said that she and Sam always had a love of plants, going back to their childhood days of helping their respective parents with gardening and other relatives with farming duties.

Each worked independently in the landscaping/retail nursery business for over 10 years before launching their own career as wholesale nursery growers/proprietors.

As a small business, they found their niche (and passion) in growing herbs, vegetables, natives and perennials suited for the Central Texas climate.

Today the demand for edible plants accounts for 75% of their total business. Even though it can be hard, physical work and mentally demanding, Sam and Cathy absolutely love what they do and are committed to growing the best quality plants possible.