Sip some cider, take a gardening class, and enjoy locally grown produce in British Columbia’s Saanich Peninsula
Sea Cider Farm and Ciderhouse in the Saanich Peninsula
Michael Hanson

Why go in fall: It’s harvest time!

Michael Hanson

From downtown Seattle, a Victoria Clipper ferry ($89 round-trip; clippervacations.com) takes you to Victoria’s dock, where Budget Rent A Car awaits.

Peel your eyes for: Hand-printed roadside signs advertising fresh eggs and locally made jam.

Number of farms: More than three dozen of all sorts, with goods from apples to quince to Christmas trees.

Fruity wines: The relatively mild climate is hospitable to grapes―and to blackberries and kiwis, used by a handful of Saanich wineries.

Sweetest touch: Dark, raw wildflower honey at Babe’s Honey Farm, still carrying a taste of the honeycomb (334 Walton Place, Saanich; babeshoneyfarm.com).

Traffic hazard: Tractors share the backroads.

Kids will love: Island-made ice cream and feeding the goats at Dan’s Farm and Country Market (2030 Bear Hill Rd., Saanichton; dansfarm.ca).

Read up: At Country Life Books, browse old cookbooks and gardening magazines (2372A Beacon Ave., Sidney).

Take it home: Find inspiration for your own home harvests at Dig This, from patterned gardening boots to heavy-duty trowels (2387 Beacon, Sidney; digthis.com).

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