Sidebar 4: Cathy McKay, 55, South of Port Perry (Durham Region)

Monday, May 4, 2009

McKay is the main operator of Nature's Bounty, a farm which she owns with her husband, Marvin Stevenson. They have one son. An apple orchard is the 100-acre farm's primary focus. She also grows pumpkins, squash, gourds, decorative corn and the operation includes 40 ewes, pasture and alfalfa. In the mid-1990s, the couple shifted the farm from exclusively wholesale apple sales to on-farm retail and wholesale. 

Greatest success. Implementing the transition from wholesale to retail and transforming the farm from a money loser to a profitable business.

Greatest challenge. "Being pulled in many directions. Sometimes people don't understand that you are working. Yes, you're home, yes you have some flexibility, but you are working."

Words of advice. Farming is a "huge commitment," she says. "You have to really like it."