Ernie Grimo

The Path

As founding president of Society of Ontario Nut Growers from 1972, Ernie Grimo helped shape the professional conversation around nut culture while also serving as past president at Northern Nut Growers Association. Those roles placed him inside the practical work of the field, where credibility comes from time spent with seasons, soil, and the slow timelines trees demand. That base established the expertise and authority that would define the years ahead. The career that followed remained tied to the land he has worked to cultivate: rooted, measured, and attentive to developments that unfold over time. Today, Ernie is owner of Grimo Nut Nursery, carrying that professional legacy forward through the same steady focus on the crop and the nursery.

The Work Today

At Grimo Nut Nursery, he is the owner, stewarding a nursery built around edible planting and the long-term value of trees that can serve more than one purpose. The work sits at the intersection of horticulture, orchard thinking, and kitchen-garden utility. He has described that view plainly: “Nut trees an integral part of my 'edible landscape'." That line frames a landscape approach in which ornament and production are not separate categories. In Ernie’s practice, hazelnuts are part of a larger edible ecology, not an isolated crop. The nursery reflects that stance through selection, breeding, and care shaped to meet the practical needs of growers and the long rhythms of plant life.

In Their Words “Nut trees an integral part of my 'edible landscape'.” “They're a starch nut, rather than an oily nut.”

Career - Owner, Grimo Nut Nursery, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada - Founding president, Society of Ontario Nut Growers (from 1972) - Past president, Northern Nut Growers Association

Acclaim

Ernie Grimo has received Niagara North Federation of Agriculture, Lifetime Achievement Award (2011). Ernie's honors include Lifetime Achievement Award (2011).

FAQ What recognition has Ernie Grimo received? Lifetime Achievement Award (2011).