Organic vegetables. Award-winning cheeses. Free-range chickens.
Visit the 17-year-old Comox Valley Farmers' Market on a Saturday morning, and this is just a sampling of the fresh, local products you will find — and just a small example of why the Comox Valley is often called the Land of Plenty.
From mid-April to Thanksgiving, more than 80 local farmers, fishermen, gardeners and bakers bring their products to the outdoor market on Headquarters Road beside the Exhibition Grounds Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.
The Comox Valley Farmers' Market also runs Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Simms Millennium Park in Courtenay from June until the end of September and holds an indoor market Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon at the Native Sons Hall in downtown Courtenay, extending the market season from October to the last Saturday before Christmas.
In Black Creek, the Miracle Beach Farmers' Market begins in late June and and runs Thursdays until the end of August from 4 to 7 p.m. at Miracle Beach Landing, the property that includes Horsefeathers Marketplace and the mini-golf course, on the North Island Highway.
Take the ferry from Buckley Bay to explore Denman and Hornby islands, and you'll discover two more fantastic farmers' markets.
Denman's market runs Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. from the May long weekend to mid-September at the Old School Centre.
The Hornby Island market is held Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in June and Wednesdays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in July and August on Sollans Road between the RCMP detachment and the health care building.
The farmers who fill the market stalls stretch across the Comox Valley, producing everything from meat, poultry and potatoes to berries, vegetables and apples in the shadow of the Beaufort Mountains.
Bringing their food from their fields to your plates, many of these producers also hold their own farm markets and offer seasonal farm gate sales.