Island Living on Gabriola

Next stop was Nesters to pick up some groceries. Here is picture of a little pop-up market set up just outside the parking lot.

Wishbone recently moved to this new location and expanded their store. In addition to gifts, and speciality foods, they have the best selection of cards. I found the perfect card for my friend Del, whose 90th birthday was in the afternoon.

Woodfire is the classiest restaurant on the island, only open for dinners, with a nice outdoor patio in the summer months. It also has a take-up menu for pizza and other things. In the summer, Woodfire sets up a food truck on the south end of the island overlooking the marina.

While the farmers' market is open year round now, it is only on the May long weekend that all of the vendors show up. This larger market wraps up on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving weekend attracts many visitors because of the Artists Studio Tour. In addition to local artists' ware, there is produce grown by Watercliff Permaculture Farm. It always has a long line-up, and some things sell out early on. The other most popular vendor is Slowrise Bakery (often a line-up of 20 people or more) which makes delicious sourdough bread, scones, bialies, and other yummy breads and baked goods.

The Garden Bed (which as you can tell by their sign, also has llamas), has good produce. I picked up some eggs, spinach and salad mix. Payment is cash, cheque or e-transfer. They ask you to do e-transfers on the spot, which is impossible because cell service is spotty on the island and I couldn't do it until I got home.

Along with Watercliff, the Good Earth is another great farm. Today they were selling veggie starts and flowers. Unfortunately they accepted payments by credit card, so I ended up filling a tray with bokchoi, kale, straw flowers, red hollyhocks, and few other things.