Anita
Owner/Manager
Meet our owner and CEO, Anita, who gently and gradually took the reins from her father-founder Tony Heuver, to build the business and the team into what it is today.
She recalls fondly: “It’s not always the norm when you’re working with your Dad… we butted heads and he took a long time to make a decision but I never got frustrated.”
Get to know Anita
That enduring patience drove sustainable growth and long-term success. It was planted at a young age on the farm, where her chores included hoeing the fields by hand. There was a moment when an indigenous elder told her that the weed she just pulled could be made into tea and it stuck with her.
The journey to study plants for their unique gifts, led her to completing a 2-year Diploma in Horticulture away from the farm, and then a hands-on practicum working at nurseries in Holland for a year. This cultivated a different perspective and she became a life-long learner.
Over the years, Anita got to work through every role and with everyone on the farm, from field to market, inspired by what it taught her: “I love the collaboration in the nursery industry, the sharing of ideas, by working together instead of in competitive siloes.” The Mission, Growing People that Grow Plants, was borne of this idea that collectively we can accomplish more.
Her dream is to “find a way for the nursery to continue beyond me… all rooted in the people that have built, grown and been on this journey with me.” To the next generation of horticulturalists, already focused on the environment, she advises the need to transition focus to the intrinsic value of plants, the value of nurseries in our industry, for the development of more green spaces—more connections between people and plants.
