7 stone carvings of humans in a boat

Grand Opening of the Outdoor Friday Market

The Grand Opening of the Outdoor Friday Market was on a warm summer day and hundreds of people may have passed through before it ended. There were 14 stalls clustered beneath the cedar trees and around the edges of the parking lot. I did not go inside the hall, which is always packed with tables. This was also the first of this summer’s live music performances at the adjoining Village Commons.

Sign directing people to afternoon concerts stands in front of the cedars – Photo by Roy L Hales

I asked Shivon Robinsong, one of the founders of Hollyhock and the Friends of Cortes Island, “What do you think of the market?”

“It’s fabulous, I love it,” she responded.

A visitor from Vancouver, named Meta, replied, “It’s my first trip to Cortes Island. Friday market is wonderful. Really nice vibe.” 

CC: Is there anything in particular that sticks out? 

Meta: “I had a very delicious chocolate brownie by ‘Black Jaguar Chocolate.’ That was wonderful.” 

There were customers at most of the booths. Three or four people were lined up at some of them. I looked around for a vendor who might be available for an interview.

Local stone carver Donna Naven is at every Friday Market during the summertime and also has a booth at the Christmas Fairs. 

CC: Why does having a booth at the market mean for you?  

Donna Naven: “It’s an income and an interaction. I meet a lot of different people from all over.  If you’re a rock person, then we probably will have a connection and it’s fun to talk with people.”

“Most of the rocks are from the beaches around here, we’ve got granite, basalt.”  

She had a number of carvings of owls, a raven and a bison on display. There were also a lot of carvings of women.  

Donna Naven: “I mostly do the feminine, I do a few males, but not often, and they just sort of happen on their own.”

I was particularly intrigued by a number of figures in a model boat.

Donna Naven: “There’s seven women in this boat (Photo at top of page) and they’re all holding something. I’ve got one that has mushrooms, and that represents medicine. Three have fish that represent food. There’s one holding three songbirds, so that’s music. I have one holding a bouquet of flowers, so she holds the plants. One has a baby, so she has new growth.”

This was the last day you could purchase early bird tickets for Lovefest. A few customers arrived while I was there and Rex Weyler said sales were going well. However the thing that really caught my attention was the T-shirts designed by Lisa Gibbons. 

Lisa Gibbons: “My husband has been organizing the festival since 2017, so he asked me to design the T-shirt. I’ve done that I think every year except last year. We’ve mostly had a new shirt design every year. There’s been four. We had a break during COVID.” 

The ‘Plant Magic’ booth was directly across from Lovefest. The most striking visual element was a table, totally covered by a black cloth, with a  few dozen small bottles arranged on it. There was a black cauldron in front of the booth. The wall hanging behind it depicted a horned forest creature, wearing a crown like that of the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis.

CC: So who are you? 

“I’m Connie Quail, the High Witch of Moon Cat, magical among other things. I am selling my magic potions and plant tinctures, the magic potions. They’re all made with plants I harvest them myself from the old growth, or from my own garden. I harvest them by moon phase, fuse them with crystals and gemstones, mix them in ritual and my magic cauldron. I have so much fun with it.” 

CC: What would people buy them for? 

Connie Quail: “Oh, the potions are for a whole bunch of different things. I started with Love Potion as my first one that  was working with these different plants,  trying to cultivate love in my life. I came across this formula in my dreaming and journeying that just transformed  my relationship with plant medicine. I mixed pink hawthorn blossoms, wild rose petals and apple blossoms in a honey alcohol for that extra sweetness, and then mixed in some honey and infused with rose quartz. I did a ritual calling in the deer spirit for the big heart.  Just a few drops of that, it’s like, ‘Oh, this is liquid love!’ From there I’ve started making them for grief and boundaries and hope and protection. I have one that is liquid light, just amazing for getting through the dark days of winter. A few drops of sunlight in your tongue and you’re like, Oh!”

CC: Does it work? 

Connie Quail: “Yeah, I find it works. A lot of people come back,  it really works for them.  I don’t know if Health Canada would agree, so I don’t make biological claims, but magical claims – yeah.”

Both of the produce stalls I visited did well. 

Anne Dzakovic and Sam Gibb are market gardeners from Blue Jay Farm. 

Anne: “We do 10 weeks of market in the height of summer and we deliver to the Cortes Natural Food Co-op for about six months of the year.” 

CC: Are you delivering to the Co-op right now?

Anne: “We are delivering to the Co-op. You’ll find our snap peas there, as well as our lettuce, carrots, scallions and herbs.”

The photo displayed above was taken strategically. The viewer does not see the empty counter space to the immediate right, or the empty bins stacked up behind the counter.  

Ann: “We’ve sold, out of all the beets that we brought, we’ve sold 57 pounds of peas. We’ve sold out of fennel, 28 pounds of cabbage, all our cilantro, all our dill and almost all our radishes. So it has been a fairly lucrative day.” 

Sarah’s Rainbow Organic Garden, from Hague Lake, was also running low, but I found a camera angle where the viewer mostly sees what remained.  

CC: How were your sales today? 

“It was really good, I sold most of it.” 

CC: What are you selling?

Sarah: “Before I had parsley, green onions, cucumber, zucchini, peas, chard, bell peppers, and lettuce heads. This is what I have left (laughs), but there’s more to come. This table will thrive from the bottom up.” 

That was just a taste of what you can expect to find at the market this summer. 

Top photo credit: Donna Naven’s carving of 7 women in a boat – Photo by Roy L Hales

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