In the fall of 1979, Greenheart Farms, Inc. was established by Henry & Connie Katzenstein and Hoy Buell on a 40-acre eucalyptus forest in Arroyo Grande, California. Leo & Sylvia Wolf and David & Harriet Zeitlin soon joined as greenhouse partners to start the new company, which started with just 36,750 square feet of indoor production and 42,000 square feet of outdoor production and produced only four vegetables: cauliflower, celery, tomatoes, and peppers.
Since then, Greenheart® has grown to become one of California's leading vegetable, restoration, and rose transplant producers. With three facilities in California, our nursery ranks as one of the largest in the nation, with a total of 123 acres of indoor and outdoor production.
Quality
Our different geographic locations enable us to grow crops in climatic conditions parallel to those in the markets we serve. As a high-volume greenhouse grower, we can supply your farm or merchandising operations with high-quality product to meet your exact specifications.
In 2011, Greenheart met the requirements to earn Veriflora® certification for sustainability in the growing process. Recognized as the gold-standard in the floriculture and horticulture industries, VeriFlora® certification requires growers to meet strict sustainable agriculture standards including water conservation, energy efficiency, ecosystem protection, and integrated waste management. In addition, growers must comply with fair labor practices that ensure a safe, equitable, and healthy work environment, while maintaining industry-leading product quality requirements. Greenheart is also the first horticultural operation dedicated to vegetable transplant production to become VeriFlora® certified.
Knowledge
Our expertise includes a broad knowledge of products for vegetable, herb, and flower farming, reclamation projects, and container stock for farming and/or landscaping applications. Our management team in sales and marketing, quality assurance and control, production, shipping, transplanting, and research are vigilant in their efforts to keep pace with the ever-changing needs of the customers we serve.
Innovation
Greenheart has made a commitment to keeping up with the latest technology and innovation. We have implemented efficient software to manage all our orders, production, shipping and invoicing. Every year, we will continue to tackle new challenges in order to remain an industry leader.
Still Growing…
Over thirty five years later, we are still learning and still growing. We now have more than 1.4 million square feet of production space, employ about 200 people year-round, and grow upwards of one billion ornamental and vegetable young plants every year.
Our company has changed a lot since the beginning when we had only four crops to grow, but we have never lost sight of what made us successful in the first place. All of us at Greenheart Farms remain as dedicated as ever to providing the best plants and service in the agriculture and horticulture industries.
