James Salazar might be the Senior Buyer for H-E-B’s Texas Backyard department, but this is one Partner who’s not afraid to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty. In fact, James digs deep to find not only our wide selection of live plants, but also everything from hand tools to watering equipment, soil, and mulch, that meet the demands of our customers, as well as our high H-E-B standards.  Most recently, he has unearthed gardening products to create the new line of  Texas Backyard Organics. Specifically, locally grown potted herbs and fertilizer.

“Our customers are more concerned with what their kids, pets and food come in contact with than ever before.” he explained, adding that both of these product lines are exclusive to H-E-B.  “They don’t want to buy a bunch of chemicals to put on their gardens or lawns, and they don’t want to put chemically treated foods in their bodies.”

A Texas Master Certified Nurseryman, James came to H-E-B 11 years ago from Calloway’s Nursery in Dallas. A self-described “lawn guy” the Brownsville native earned extra money growing up by mowing lawns—something he still enjoys doing today.

“I find it therapeutic,” he laughed.

His other hobby is his family. James married his high school sweetheart and the couple has two sons, ages 10 and 9. When he isn’t watching his sons on the baseball field, James also enjoys fly-fishing trips with his family on the Guadalupe River.

As a family man, James understands why so many of his H-E-B customers are requesting organic options. That’s why he searched long and hard to find the right line of Texas grown organic cooking herbs to add to the Texas Backyard lineup, as well as an organic fertilizer that is the first non-food item to bear the H-E-B Organics brand. He and his team carefully selected these items to cater to our unique customers who are concerned not only about the food they put into their bodies, but how it’s grown as well.

“Having an organic option for home-grown cooking herbs is something our customers have been requesting for a while, and we are among the first to market with this option,” said James.

Grown right here in Texas by the family owned NorTex nursery, H-E-B Texas Backyard Organic Herbs are certified organic. In keeping with the popular “garden to table” concept, customers can simply select the perfect herb straight from their own backyard.

But H-E-B customers aren’t just concerned with what they are putting IN their garden—they want to know what they are putting ON their garden. And, unlike a traditional garden center, Texas Backyard is able to deliver with organic fertilizer.

James found the premium, organic product that could fertilize everything from veggies and plants to lawns at Medina Agriculture, a second-generation vendor out of Hondo, Texas. 

“We selected them to carry the Texas Backyard name because they are specialists in organic fertilizer. It’s all they do.”

“Our customers are coming to H-E-B to shop for groceries, and they are in a ‘foodie’ frame of mind,” he added. “We are selling them more than just a plant, we are selling them a lifestyle.”