Outdoor Farmers' Market

Joyce Farms is a popular vendor with a wide selection of locally grown vegetables and fruits. They’ve been vendors at our market since 2010.

Owners Mike and Heather weren’t always farmers. In fact, they were both city-raised right here in London. In 1986, they bought their farm in Bothwell and haven’t looked back! Heather loves to watch things grow and work with her hands, but feels most content when she hears how happy her customers are and how much they love the taste of what the Joyces grow, which includes a wide variety of produce such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, tomatoes, corn, beans, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, peppers, watermelon, and cantaloupe.

“We try our best to buy the best seeds we can,” writes Heather. “We have tried buying many different seeds through the years and because we grow to sell to people personally at our markets, we pride ourselves in the flavour, not always the prettiest.” The soil the Joyces grow on is sandy loam, a type of soil that doesn’t retain a lot of water. Since it doesn’t rain often at the farm, this can be a challenge. Heather writes that weather is one of their main concerns as farmers and this is why, while we’re happy to have had so many dry Saturdays for our farmers’ markets, we’re thankful when it rains!

The Joyces not only sell at our Farmers’ Market, but also have two markets in the city and one at their farm. They love markets because of the ability to interact directly with their customers, and enjoy selling at our Farmers’ Market for the same reason, and also to interact with other farmers who understand and share the struggles of farming.