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In French, La Laiterie means dairy or creamery. In Machias, it means exquisite coffees, local vegetables, and French-inspired pastries prepared and served inside the former milking shed of Schoppee Farm. They’re open now for the season, Thursdays through Sundays at 313 East Kennebec Road. More details here.

Traveling to Texas this month we left behind a county with just the barest hint of leaves and returned to summer, complete with nine inches of grass in the front yard.

I’m a little giddy.

Summer in Washington County means more time to be together in real life, as they say. This week, Griffin and I attended the relatively new Machias Area Community Supper for the first time. It will be held every Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m. at Centre Street Congregational Church in Machias, and is prepared with the help of food donations from local businesses, and the work of many adults and some local high school students, too.

Last night, we all attended a wine tasting at The French Cellar in Machias, which has recently transferred hands from the eponymous French family to Emily and Chad Fitzsimmons. The music was great, the refreshments were chic, and the wine was excellent. The next event is planned for Friday, July 5. Follow them on Facebook here. 

Down south they’re closing in on tomato harvest and their corn is already five feet high but here in Maine, Memorial Day is considered the savvy gardener’s safest time to plant. Of course it’s down to your microclimate -- most years I can safely plant in early May. But it’s been a busy six weeks, and so this weekend is crunch time. 

One thing that kept me busy was securing the signatures I needed to run for selectman in my chosen hometown of Machiasport. The election will happen at town meeting this year, June 24. I’m excited and nervous but enjoying the process.

I’ve never seen local social media respond to a photograph the way it has responded to Joseph Buchanan’s photos of this male pheasant, seen around Eastport. If the avian experts of Facebook land are correct, it’s a ring-necked pheasant likely bred and released, as they often are, for hunting. Lovely. Photo by Joseph Buchanan

In the greater Machias area (The Machopolis, henceforth) plants are for sale at the Machias Marketplace, Pineo’s True Value, and in Jonesboro at the greenhouses formerly known as Green Thumb. I am sorry I don’t know the current name, but they’re located at 150 Bay Road, Jonesboro, not far off of Route 1. Also, don’t forget Elmer’s Gardens in Columbia, for trees, shrubs, and flowers. 

If you’re also looking for garden vegetables, herbs, and flowers, check out the list of plant sales below. Tide Mill’s sale is iconic, so I’ll be heading that way shortly. I’ll be taking the Rim Road to Route 1 in hopes of missing the road construction that we will someday appreciate but which currently just reminds us all to be grateful that we don’t live somewhere with real traffic.

Today I realized it’s been a full year since I started this newsletter. Thank you for being here, for reading, and for corresponding with me, too. I’ll be back more regularly through the summer months, and so will the Way Downeast podcast!

This is the first year the deer haven’t enjoyed eating my tulips, now that I’ve moved them into the protection of the electric fence, and Dot’s watchful eye. Read about them here.

Tide Mill 24th Annual Seedling Sale to be held this weekend from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, May 25 and 26, featuring a wonderful selection of vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Bring a box or tray (or several!) to carry them home, if you can. The event is held at the Whiting Community Center, 169 US Route 1, Whiting. Call  207-733-2551 for more information.

St. Aidan’s Perennial Plant Sale will run from 9 a.m. until all the plants are gone (1,000 of them!) on Saturday, May 25. In 2019 all of the plants were gone by noon! St. Aidan’s is located next to the University of Maine at Machias on Route 1, Machias. Hurry!

Friends of the Library Seed and Seedling Sale Porter Memorial Library’s wonderful Friends group is once again hosting their annual seed and seedling sale, this year from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 8, at the library, 92 Court Street, Machias. The sale is held on the lawn of the beautiful stone library, under tall old maples, and will also include a yard sale, raffles for local merchandise, a book sale, and a bake sale! Summer in New England at its finest. Call 207-255-3933 for more information.

Memorial Day Observances

Monday’s weather should hold for the region’s many Memorial Day observances. If you plan to attend, you’ll find a list below. And if you can’t make it to Machias, I will live-stream the parade from our Facebook page starting just after 1 p.m.

Thank you to our local American Legions and all of the town volunteers who so lovingly lead our parades, mow our cemeteries, place our flags, and lay wreaths in honor of our fallen.

Acadia National Cemetery Remembrance Ceremony: A ceremony of remembrance will be held at Acadia National Cemetery beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 25. The service will include the posting of the colors, remarks from Post 8 Commander Jonathan Gay, and guest speaker Bob Ingraham, Forensic Archaeologist of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Agency. The cemetery is located at 1799 Route 1, Jonesboro. 

Calais: The Calais American Legion will lead several weekend activities including flag planting at Calais Cemetery on Saturday, May 25, and a procession on Monday, May 27, followed by a ceremony at Veterans Cemetery. For more information contact Mike Mclean at 207-904-7189.

Cherryfield: All are invited to attend a 1 p.m. Memorial Day ceremony at the Cherryfield bandstand, where observing Memorial Day is a town tradition going back for more than 150 years.

Eastport: A morning of services from 9:30 to midday on Monday, May 27. All the details are here. 

Lubec: American Legion Lubec Post 65 will lead Lubec’s Memorial Day Program beginning at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 27. Following the morning’s ceremonies, attendees are invited to the Legion for refreshments and to honor local veterans. Full details are here. The Legion is located at 491 County Street, Lubec. Call 207-733-2069 for more information.

Machias: See below.

NEW PODCAST EPISODE

It’s graduation season! Maine’s colleges held their commencement ceremonies on the first weekend in May, including the University of Maine at Machias where on Sunday, May 5, 82 students marched to Pomp and Circumstance played by local pianist Ellie Larson.

A few days before graduation, I had the chance to interview members of the UMM Class of 2024. and I asked them what they appreciated about their soon-to-be alma mater, what they liked best about Machias, and where they’re headed next.

You can listen by clicking the image below, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

We enjoy sharing our love of Washington County, Maine, so much that we’d honestly do it for free. In fact, we do. But if you wanted to buy us an oatmilk latte for our troubles, we wouldn’t say no. You can donate by check to our new PO Box, by Paypal, or by Sripe!

Thanks!