Heeman’s history starts here…

After Bill and Susan Heeman got hitched in Holland, they cruised over to Canada to try tilling their dreams on some fresh soil. They bounced around Ontario, but just couldn’t shake their love for London. Family roots were officially planted!

The auto industry was hurtin’, so Bill was out of luck when it came to finding work as a mechanic. What is it that they say though? When the times get tough, the tough get…growing? So, Bill and Susan snapped up a 25 acres farm east of London. The cow and half-acre patch of strawberries that already lived there just sweetened the deal.

Susan gathered the strawberries up from their patch while Bill worked at International Harvester and together they were happily livin’ off the land. Mix in a strawberry stand and some extra space and all of a sudden five juicy acres added to the original plot. This was no longer a slim picking situation.

The strawberry fields expanded at a rate of an acre per year. They grew…

…and just kept growing. Bill kept a keen eye on what was goin’ down in the fields though, sparking him to invent a crazy contraption that allowed 20 people at a time to lie on their stomachs and pick the berries, nixing the usual back-breaking way.

Holy hothouse tomatoes! After Susan smartly added ‘erect a greenhouse’ to Bill’s Honey Do List, they began growing the popular red veggies. The battle to beat the super low costs of their imported counterparts was fierce and in the midst of an oil crisis, timing just didn’t seem ripe for this endeavor.

If tomatoes were to go, how would Heeman’s ‘ketchup’ to the competition? They’d grow bedding plants instead! It wasn’t long before they were planting petunia and marigold magic. That’s when the greenhouse expansion began, and it grew…

…and just kept on growing. The additions of innovative technology and equipment multiplied as fast as the fruitful acreage did.

See ya later wooden growing structures, hello Holland-esque ebb and flow benches! Bill brought these babies in to improve the inner-workings of the greenhouse, which was followed by more smooth moves, like installing ground source heat pumps.

Enter Rudy Heeman. The hard-working son of Bill and Susan took over production and management of the strawberry biz, making it officially a family tradition. As the best stories go, he fell in love with the locally grown Florence Ryan and they formed a dynamic duo fit for the farm!

A berry good year…raspberry, to be specific. Raspberries are first planted and the seedy fruit began to grace the Heeman’s grounds.

Susan and Bill’s daughter Karen, and husband Ed, bring shrubs to the scene during this time of their brief but beneficial business involvement.

Bill and Susan’s daughter Rita comes back to her roots. She would later go on to act as general manager and overall woman-in-charge.

Stretching is key. 11,000 square feet of growing space is added to the greenhouse area in this year of massive expansion.

Minor setback…a twister whips through the grounds, causing a ton of damage. Nothin’ a Heeman can’t handle! After some rebuilds and repairs, they’re back in the game.

Why not add a display garden and waterfall to spruce up the exteriors a little and give customers an extra dose of outdoorsy bliss? Heeman’s makes it happen.

After toying with the idea in the 80’s, everbearing strawberries are officially grown for the first time with a mere ½ acre (6 rows), because we gotta start somewhere!

Need a plantsitter? We built a storage greenhouse specifically for taking extra good care of your prized plants. Seriously, we even won regional Premier’s Award for it!

Time flies when you’re having fun! Heeman’s celebrates a major 50 year anniversary, looking back on the berries, bulbs and big dreams that started it all.

With 70+ acres of berries, state-of-the-art greenhouses, 3 generations proudly reppin’ the Heeman’s name (shoutout to grandson Will for winning Retailer of the Year for North America in 2016)  and plans to offer even more selection and services, this is one greenhouse & berry patch you’ll want to get a firsthand taste of.