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Be part of a Locally Grown Christmas

You can be part of a Locally Grown Christmas Saturday at the Native Sons hall from 9 until noon.

You can be part of a Locally Grown Christmas, and enjoy reaping the benefits of the seeds sown by our fabulous local farmers at this last market before Christmas this Saturday at the Native Sons hall from 9 until noon.

Market stalls, heavy with the bounty of local farms, orchards, bakeries, barns and beaches, are a feast for both appetite and eye. Weaving the atmosphere into one colourful tapestry is the music of Franco Noviello.

Tastes range from the gourmet to the practical. For entertaining: smoked salmon and tuna, award winning cheeses, savoury artisan breads, local walnuts and hazelnuts. Ruby red jams and jellies, drunken plums, chutneys, and preserves, pasta and pesto, tantalizing take home dinners.

Sauces and soups, locally harvested sea salt and spice mixes will add a special flare to any holiday meal, and make a great hostess gift, too.

Responsibly raised meats and fowl are available direct from the farmers: Cornish hens, free range chickens and turkeys, lamb, beef, bison and even goat can be found at the market. The sausages and cold cuts produced from these animals are all delicious additions to your holiday appetizer offerings.

Holiday breakfasts are extra special when you serve free range eggs, homemade scones and muffins, toasted seedy bread slathered with local honey and wild berry jams. For great beverages there is apple cider, healthy soda pop and wonderful freshly roasted coffees.

Local market gardens are still harvesting kale, chard, bok choi, leeks, celeriac, fennel and root vegetables. Onions, shallots and lots of delicious squash are still making an appearance, adding colour and flavour to any turkey dinner.

Shortbread, oatcakes, gingerbread men, chocolate mice, French pastries made by a French baker, brownies, cookies, and a daunting array of every sort of cinnamon bun known to humans, tempt lovers of sweets. After all, Christmas is not Christmas without sugary confections in all their forms. Scrumptious Vegan, dairy, and gluten-free options are also offered!

Interesting gifts for cooks and foodies abound, and don’t forget doggie treats for the beloved Pooches on your list. Wonderful, naturally scented salves, soaps and botanical skin care products make lovely stocking stuffers as well. Check out Island Bison’s new tallow soap for the men on your list.

The Comox Valley Farmers' Market will reopen Jan. 11 at the Native Sons Hall. Keep in touch with what’s happening at the Market, and what vendors are bringing on Facebook, or check www.comoxvalleyfarmersmarket.com.

— Comox Valley Farmers' Market