I am Samson owner of Catalonia Farms and Catalonia Studio. Have you ever gone outside and caught the musky, spicy scent of a rose? In 2019, I found myself walking outside each summer morning to smell the roses while I drank my coffee. It became so habitual that I starting seeking out more. I was addicted.
It all began in 2018 I began dabbling in an experiment that several people thought was crazy. I began growing plants in an aeroponic system that I made. I tried growing various plants including tomatoes, cilantro, lettuce, parsley, basil, jalapenos, etc..
This test, while performing well, taught me many things about scalability and what it would take to build a successful plant company. Initially, I thought I would be able to sell herbs and vegetables from this system. After a number of financial model run throughs, I realized it was not a viable business. I created a solution to a problem that did not exist. Thus, I switched to attempting to grow micro-greens for restaurants in the area. That turned out to be non-viable as the local area restaurants told me there was no way they could purchase the amount I was producing. I thought to myself, how can I make this system I created into a viable business. In early 2019, my father came up with the solution. My father owns a landscaping company, Francisco’s Landscaping, and mentioned that some of his customers requested removal of some roses and asked me if I would like some. I thought, “why not”!?!
I began learning more and more about roses and realized it was a garden I would love to cultivate! Today, we manage 127 rose plants and are looking to expand to ever greater numbers. We also recently made an aeroponic unit to clone roses and will be testing it as stand-alone unit in the 2022 winter for non-patented roses to see if it performs similarly to 2021.
We are looking forward to continue the expansion of our little farm. Whether you can only visit through the website, or if we eventually get to meet you face-to-face, my wife and I want to thank you for your ongoing support. We couldn’t do this without you, and there’d be no reason to try.