Climate change is always a hot topic and perhaps no more so in the local farming community than this spring when we’ve seen everything come up very early. Most notably, our big red juicy Peninsula June strawberries were actually May berries this year! Raspberries, and quite possibly blueberries, will already be at the market in June. And we expect to see corn available much earlier in July than usual. When the Peninsula Country Market first started in the early 1990s in didn’t open for the season until the third week
of June when farmers had enough product to bring to the market field!
Kids and dogs are welcome at our market. Kids love the market on grass – it’s great fun to watch them bop to the beat of our market musicians. Free face-painting is offered weekly by teens from Beacon Community Services’ Youth Employment Program. Youth have always been an integral part of the market. 4-H groups operate a food trailer at the market (I like to start my market day with a 4-H breakfast bun – and watch for the new BT sandwich) and when work needs to get done, there’s no one better to call on than the hardworking 4-H. We host our annual Family Day at the market on August 15 complete with bouncy castles and other games in partnership with the Saanichton Village Association. This year we’ll be joined by the Central Saanich Lions for a yummy Pancake Breakfast.
We’re happy to welcome back Peninsula wineries for a second season on the market field. You can sample and buy quality local wines and ciders every week. We also have a great music lineup for July, starting with one-man band Dave Harris on July 4, followed by bluesman Bill Johnson, guitarist Brad Prevedoros and the popular Water In The Crawl Space. Our weekly Facebook contest continues throughout the month – you could win $50 in Market Buck$ by simply ‘Liking’ our weekly contest post. An ATM machine is accessible at the Fairgrounds and some vendors use mobile sales tools like the Square (the Fairgrounds is a Shaw Go WiFi hotspot). For the latest market news, visit www.peninsulacountrymarket.ca.
