Contributed photo Amy Ouchterlony and Graham Corbett at Fiddle Foot Farm. Amy Ouchterlony explains that if she meets someone who knows how to pronounce her Scottish name he or she is probably a musical person. Ms. Ouchterlony’s paternal grandfather David was a well-known organist and composer who played at Toronto’s Timothy Eaton United Church.

As for her own career, Ms. Ouchterlony and partner Graham Corbett manage their organic farm, Fiddle Foot Farm. Although the farm has been owned by the Ouchterlony family for some 12 years as a recreational property, she and Mr Corbett only took it over to work it in June of last year.

Until the Ouchterlony family bought the place, it was a working farm, raising cattle. However, for the last 12 years, it has not been farmed, nor has the land been used for either crops or livestock. This makes it a paradise for the owners’ intentions.

Both partners have degrees in Environmental Sciences, with differing focuses. Mr. Corbett worked on Resource Management and minored in Environmental Impact Assessment at the University of Guelph. Ms. Ouchterlony did her degree at Queen’s University in Kingston, where she concentrated on Environmental Earth Systems.

“I did geology with engineers and environmental history with artists. It was a degree where I could put the science program together.”

They met at an Ultimate Frisbee event in Fergus. By coincidence, both had plans to travel, via separate arrangements with their universities, to the Arctic that summer to work on a clean-up along the DEW (Defence Early Warning) line of the stations along that route.

“We were cleaning up an environmental mess,” Ms. Ouchterlony commented. “It had to be done because the toxic wastes were seeping into the land and water, affecting the wildlife and the water – and consequently the health of the people.”

As the waste matters were recovered and contained, they were shipped huge distances for disposal or incineration.

While he was at university, Mr. Corbett took organic agriculture, taught by a professor who fought to include organics in the agriculture courses. At that time, Mr Corbett was introduced to the teachings of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, who brought into popular thought the notion of “biodynamic” farming.

Biodynamic farming is a holistic approach which understands the importance all elements contribute to the whole.

Once they had finished their stint in the Arctic, the two joined forces to live in the Whole Village Farm on Shaw’s Creek Road, in the farmhouse on the property where they became involved in organic farming.

An association, CRAFT, is a network of organic farms in Ontario, grouped geographically in cells. Primarily, this network is geared to finding and offering education while working to interns. Many of these are coming out of universities or colleges; some are older people looking at second careers; others are just people wanting to learn about organic farming.

There is, as well, the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) by which any individual or family can pre pay organic farmers to deliver their seasonal goods in the 20 weeks of growing to a central location once a week. In this way, the people of the community have a tie-in with their own food and there is a broad social interweaving of producers and consumers.

While working, growing and learning the business at Whole Village, Mr. Corbett and

Ms. Ouchterlony developed their own skills and understanding of the practicalities and mathematics of organic farming.

In the meantime, Ms. Ouchterlony, who had earned her dual Masters in Teaching and Masters of Education, began teaching at St. Clement’s Girls School in Toronto.

They moved into the house on Fiddle Foot Farm in June, 2011 and still managed to produce 1 1/2 acres of crops which they sold at the Rosemont Farmers’ Market last summer.

“It gave us the chance to meet people and show what we are doing,” Mr Corbett remarked.

They will have up to five acres cultivated this year and are ready to accept CSA clients for their produce.

“We plant in pockets,” Mr. Corbett explained.

Fiddle Foot Farm is open to CSA clients and Mr. Corbett and Ms Ouchterlony are inviting interns to apply to work on the farm. The first qualification is “a willingness to learn.”

There is a website with all this and more to learn at www.fiddlefootfarm.com