From the Cheekbone Beauty team, headquartered in St. Catharines, Ontario — Niagara berry country.
There's a reason our new lip and cheek cream is called Heartberry.
In Anishinaabemowin, the Ojibwe language, the strawberry is ode'imin — the heart berry. Cut one open and you'll see why: it's shaped like a heart, and it grows close to the ground, close to the earth. Ode'imin is the first berry of summer, and in many Anishinaabe teachings it carries lessons about love, kindness, forgiveness, and new beginnings. The strawberry doesn't arrive alone, either — it opens a whole season. Traditionally, the moons of summer are named for what the land is giving: Ode'imini-giizis, the Strawberry Moon of June, and Miin-giizis, the Blueberry Moon, when the miinan (blueberries) ripen in late summer.
Berries were never just food. They mark time. They bring families into the fields together. They're present at ceremonies and feasts. Picking them is slow, close-to-the-ground work that asks you to pay attention — to take what you need, to leave some for the birds and the ones who come after you, and to say thank you.
That's the spirit we bottled into our Berry Picking Season collection. But first — go pick some actual berries. Here's how the season unfolds where we live.
How Ontario's berry season unfolds
Ontario's berry calendar runs from mid-June right through September, and each berry takes its turn:
Mid-June to mid-July — Strawberries (ode'iminan). The heart berry opens the season for about three to four weeks. This is the golden window for pick-your-own strawberry fields across the province.
Mid-July to mid-August — Raspberries and blueberries (miinan). As strawberry season closes, raspberries and blueberries take over. This is Miin-giizis territory — the Blueberry Moon — and it's peak picking season right now if you're reading this in late July or early August.
Into early September — Blackberries and late-season fruit. (Jenn's favorite Berry) The season winds down slowly, with blackberries, currants, and orchard fruit like peaches and plums carrying it into fall.
Where to go picking
Ontario is full of family farms that open their fields all summer long. A few starting points, region by region:
Niagara — our backyard. The Niagara Peninsula around Jordan Station and Vineland is famous for its fruit farms, from strawberry fields to cherry and stone-fruit orchards that peak in July and August. If you visit us in St. Catharines, you're twenty minutes from berry country in almost every direction.
Near Toronto and the GTA. Caledon, Milton, Markham, and Mount Albert all have long-running family farms offering pick-your-own strawberries, raspberries, currants, and more — many with markets, wagon rides, and play areas that make it a full day out.
Simcoe and cottage country. The Springwater area near Barrie is known for what one farm calls the trifecta — strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries — with blueberries and raspberries coming into their own from July onward.
Ottawa Valley and the east. From strawberry patches south of Ottawa to high-bush blueberry farms near Pembroke that pick well into early September, the east holds the season the longest.
The north. Northern Ontario is wild blueberry country — sandy soils around Lake Superior grow some of the most flavourful miinan anywhere.
For a full farm-by-farm guide, Destination Ontario keeps an excellent list: Where to pick summer fruits in Ontario. Check hours, crop availability, and reservation policies before you go — berry seasons shift with the weather.
Bring the season home
When we set out to create a summer look, we didn't start with a trend. We started with this — the field, the basket, the stained fingertips, the way your cheeks look after a morning in the sun.
Heartberry Courage Cream ($27) is that first bite of ode'imin: a sheer red cream for lips and cheeks, the colour of a freshly picked strawberry, NOW made in Canada. You apply it with your fingers, the same way you'd pick the berry — no tools, no mirror, no fuss.
Waaside Cream Highlighter ($27) is the late-summer light — a soft golden glow for cheeks and eyes that melts into skin instead of sitting on top of it, the way cream formulas do and powders can't.
And from July 27 to August 10, when you bring home the pair ($54+), we'll tuck a free Rose Quartz Eyeshadow Mini ($17 value) into your basket, with free shipping — the complete berry picking look, lip to cheek to glow to eye.
The teaching of the heart berry is simple: good things come from the land, in their own season, and they're meant to be shared.
Miigwech — thank you — and happy picking. 🍓
A note on teachings: Anishinaabe teachings about ode'imin and the berry moons are shared here in a general way with gratitude. Teachings vary between communities and families, and we encourage you to learn from Elders and knowledge keepers in your own territory.