Our Roots Run Deep
Heeman’s was founded way back in 1963 by two immigrants who took a risk and moved to Canada and started a family and a business. We’ve grown to serve our community, but Heeman’s remains family-owned and operated, now in our 3rd generation. We’re focused on making our Space Your Happy place as your preferred destination for all gardening and berry needs. We focus on providing the best quality product at the best value for your dollar. We are proud to grow so many crops, from our annual flowers to the delicious strawberries we’re famous for. Growing them on our farm and in our greenhouses means we ensure the best quality at a fair price. We invite you to come for a visit, speak with our knowledgeable Daymakers staff and see why so many fans call us their ‘Happy Place’.
1958
The Heeman's story begins in Holland when Bill Heeman bought two tickets to Canada, biked to the next village where is sweetheart Susan lived, got down on one knee and asked her to marry him and move to start a new life in Canada.
She said yes and after a lovely wedding 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!
1963
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.
1968
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.
1969
The strawberry fields expanded at a rate of an acre per year. They grew…
1971
…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.
1974
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.
1977
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…
1979
…and just kept on growing. The additions of innovative technology and equipment multiplied as fast as the fruitful acreage did.
1981
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.
1986
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!
1991
A berry good year…raspberry, to be specific. Raspberries are first planted and the seedy fruit began to grace the Heeman’s grounds.
1994
Susan and Bill’s daughter Karen, and husband Ed, bring shrubs to the scene during this time of their brief but beneficial business involvement.
1995
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.
1997
Stretching is key. 11,000 square feet of growing space is added to the greenhouse area in this year of massive expansion.
2000
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.
2002
For years we had a big hill that we only used as a toboggan hill for the Heeman grandkids. So we decided, 'why not add a display garden and waterfall to spruce up the exteriors a little and give customers an extra dose of outdoorsy bliss?'
You can walk around the garden paths and see many plants we offer, mature and growing in a garden setting. Not to mention the great view, waterfalls and many frogs all around! Be sure to check it out each season - starting with thousands of spring bulbs in bloom, it gives a new beautiful view all the time!
2005
After working out of our humble brown barn with spray foam walls, it was time for an upgrade! We rebuilt a new barn in the same space (but bigger with an actual office and staff room!) in the fall of 2005. We thought this would be a much bigger space, more than we'd need. Oh, were we wrong. Still using this space today and making use of every inch!
2006
After toying with the idea in the 90’s, everbearing strawberries are officially grown for the first time with a mere ½ acre (6 rows), because we gotta start somewhere!
2010
Need a plantsitter for your plants? After years of taking care of tropicals for our clients by putting them in empty spaces through the winter, we built a new greenhouse specifically for taking extra good care of your prized plants. Yup, we take care of people's tropical plants over the winter. We even won regional Premier’s Award for it!
2013
Time flies when you’re having fun! Heeman’s celebrates a major 50th anniversary, reflecting on the berries, bulbs and big dreams that started it all. We hosted friends and family in the community for our first-ever Open House and marked a major milestone for our humble family business!
2018
A new look for perennials and a new location for our nursery area. We opened up a new space for these core departments and the new space was a major upgrade! Say hello to an open, spacious, airy perennial section next to the display pond. Our nursery area for trees and shrubs got 4x as much space under some gorgeous shade trees. So inviting!
2019
After a lifetime of hard work and dedication to growing their business and making an impact on our community, Bill & Susan Heeman were inducted into Middlesex County’s Agriculture Hall of Fame, Class of 2019! They earned their place alongside so many local farming legends.
2021
After years of focusing our green efforts on reducing our impact and emissions, we took our first step into creating our own green energy when we finalized a new solar project with 264-panels that generate 57% of our annual power needs. Now we'll take the same rays from the sun that give life to our plants and berries and use it to power our farm and greenhouse!
2022
After two years of raising a glass to great tasting Heeman's ciders, it was time to build a new dedicated Cidery to develop, ferment, and bottle our fan-favourite, award-winning hard ciders, meads and more! After breaking ground less than two years after selling our first bottle of cider, we started production in the new space in 2022. The future looks bright and delicious!
Today
With 70+ acres of berries, state-of-the-art greenhouses, 3 generations proudly reppin’ the Heeman’s name and plans to offer even more selection and services, this is one greenhouse & berry patch you’ll want to get a firsthand taste of.
Let The Good Times Grow On.
You’ve heard the history, now we want to know, where have you been all our lives?
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10+
Seasonal Retail Greenhouse Associate
If you love plants and people consider our Retail Greenhouse Associate positions! You’ll help guests find the perfect plant or plant product, help with gardening advice, and make the greenhouse our guests happy place!
Job Summary: At Heeman’s, each …
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10+
Seasonal Front End Associate From smiles to milkshakes, you can do it all! Our 5-star customer service superstars are looking for some enthusiastic and speedy teammates. If you enjoy interacting with guests, have strong inter-personal and team skills, plus you’re great with a changing …
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Houseplant Associate We’re searching for a new Houseplant Associate who has a passion for houseplants, exceptional customer service skills and isn’t afraid to get their hands dirty! About Us: At Heeman’s, we are obsessed with offering the best possible customer service in …
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Customer Experience Supervisor
Are you a champion of awesome customer service and a lead by example kind of person? We’re in search of a Customer Experience Supervisor who will set the tone for our awesome guests and a team of up to 50 …
