Fireweed Farm Community

09/03/2026

The second day of school went well but everyone is tired. It usually takes us a week to adjust to the new expectations. One of Ababu's favorite things to do is go to the movies. I've been telling him for a while that when the girls went back to school that he and I could go to the movies. We did that today and he was just delighted. I used the time to take a nap in the theater. Annabelle was drooping at dinner and went to bed early. The kids loaded the dishwasher after dinner. Check out how they did that tonight. Everyone was a bit off their game.

We just lay low and stayed close to home. Dawson and Marceline came over briefly and captured a great photo of our resident wild turkeys and all their babies. They were hanging out at the goat shelter. It will be interesting to see what happens when we actually get goats into that space. In the meantime, it was fun to see all the little turkeys around. Dave also saw a bald eagle flying over the Farm today. The abundance of wildlife here is one of our favorite things about living in the country.

We finally have all the dirt installed in the Sensory Garden. We're going to start in on the fence and gate tomorrow. We also have some perennials to get planted. I'm looking forward to seeing it all pulled together. We now have three frogs in the pond, and the kids enjoy just watching the frogs swimming around and hitching a ride on the floating fountain. It's a pretty good place to be a kid.

Dave worked to keep the Farmstand full all day. Dawson picked some more apples so Dave will have more fresh Baked Apple Fritters at the stand in the morning. He'll also have:

Salted Caramels

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Million Dollar Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Molasses Crinkles
Coconut Macaroons
Tim's Favorite Crunchy Peanut Butter

Double Chocolate Muffins
Baked Apple Fritter

Dave's Zombie Sourdough Bread
Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake

Dunkin's All Star Dog Treats

Children's Books

Cherry Tomatoes
Hot Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Tomatoes
Green Cabbages

I hope you're getting you own good night's sleep!

We'll see you in the morning!

09/02/2026

Did you know that fastest growing demographic in Maine is grandparents rearing their grandchildren? If you know someone in that role, encourage them to reach out to Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine for support. Parenting is hard work and it's even harder when you're doing it all over again without your peers for support. Help Kin Families find a village of caring support. Events like this one happen all over the state, especially this month! Spread the word!

🍎Happy National Kinship Care Month! 💙
Kinship families, this celebration is for YOU!

Join us on Sunday, September 13, 2026, for a special day at Conant Apple Orchards filled with fun, connection, and appreciation as we celebrate the incredible dedication and love of kinship families.

Bring the whole family! Enjoy a day of outdoor fun, connect with other kinship families, and celebrate the important role you play in the lives of children and youth.

📅 Event Details
Date: Sunday, September 13, 2026
Time: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Location: Conant Apple Orchard
RSVP Today: https://affm.my.site.com/s/Event?inputSession=Kinship
We can’t wait to gather together and celebrate ALL kinship families during National Kinship Care Month! 🍎💙

Mark your calendars and join us for a day of family, community, and celebration!

09/02/2026

What a lovely day! It was a beautiful first day of school with a cool enough morning that a sweatshirt was a good idea and a nice breeze gently blew on us at the bus stop. The birds were very excited to have us all out in the yard with them, and they swooped and chirped the whole time we waited for the bus. The girls were charming as they watched for their bus (always late the first day) and lit up when they saw it coming.

Dave made sure everything was done for the Farmstand before we went out to wait for the bus so we could concentrate just on the girls and the special day. Both girls ride the same bus (not ideal) but the bus driver and helper were ready to place them quite distant from each other. They had an uneventful ride, went to school, and came home smiling. Success!

While the house was empty of kids, Dave and I hustled around and found some free pallets to use to make our new and improved compost bin system. This source is proving to be a wonderful find as the very kind business has offered us all the pallets we can use for however long we need to access them. We schlepped a bunch home in the back of the Highlander, scheming the whole time on what else we can use pallets for. When you find a raw material like this for free, you have to maximize it. What have other folks used pallets for? I'm keen to learn! I'll post the very glam (read: FREE!) compost bin when we get it assembled.

While we were out, we checked out the placement for Ababu's potential new job. It's at another athletic club so his skills will be building on what he's already been doing. His placement coach is working on the details now but this looks to be a promising next step.

Finally, we took ourselves out to lunch. One of the things that people parenting kids with special needs don't talk about much is the constancy of this work. While many of us qualify for respite care for one or more of our children, the reality is, there simply isn't anyone to do that work. In the 21 years that we've been parents of children with special needs, we've NEVER had respite care. That means we have to hire someone ourselves to provide childcare (as do most parents) but very few people are actually qualified to do the work and fewer still are folks we can trust to watch all three of our kids at once. We're extremely fortunate that our adult children are some of those people and about once a month we can go out for something romantic like shopping at Target together. Most of the time, if we go out, it's one of us with one of the kids. So, when the kids go back to school/program, we take advantage of those precious hours to have a midday date.

In all, it may not have been the Best Day Ever, but it was right up there! We hope your day was awesome, too!

We'll have the Farmstand all recharged for you in the morning with:

Salted Caramels

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Million Dollar Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Molasses Crinkles
Coconut Macaroons
Tim's Favorite Crunchy Peanut Butter

Double Chocolate Muffins
Baked Apple Fritters

Croissant Sourdough Bread
Zombie Sourdough Bread
Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake

Dunkin's All Star Dog Treats

Children's Books

Cherry Tomatoes
Hot Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Tomatoes
Green Cabbages

We'll see you in the morning!

09/01/2026

Twas the night before back to school and all through the house, every single creature is stirring with excitement/anxiety/crabbiness/glee/fear/you name it, we got it. We've had a heapin' helpin' of difficult behaviors today as we move into returning to school in the morning. Even Ababu, who doesn't go back to school, has been testing things today. Both girls have their backpacks and clothes picked out for the day and have planned what they'll take for snack, baths have been taken, but planning for bed seems elusive. We've talked through what the day will hold, what happens when they get to school, how they will come home, driven past the school and through the parking lot a bunch of times, talked about how great the year will be, and how kind their teachers are. All the things. They are happy about school. But they're still nervous. If you've got any good vibes/prayers/light to send their way, we could use them!

Dave spent his day getting a delivery together for our friends up at Windswept Gardens who are selling our goodies up there again. They reopened this weekend for fall so you definitely should go check to see what they've got going on up there. While he was at it, he kept our Farmstand full all day so it will be ready in the morning. That way he can focus on being a dad on the first day of school instead of the baker I chain to the stove until the Farmstand is full. Our favorite commercial is the old Staples commercial that has The Most Wonderful Time of the Year as its soundtrack. We can't wait to get these people off to school and back in the routine that we so desperately missed this summer.

So, the stand will be full in the morning with:

Salted Caramels

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Tim's Favorite Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies
Molasses Crinkles
Oatmeal Raisin
Macaroons
Million Dollar Cookies

Apple Fritters

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
Death by Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Dave's "Zombie" Sourdough Bread
Croissant Sourdough Bread

Cherry Tomatoes
Tomatoes
Zucchini
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers

Dunkin's Favorite All Star Dog Treats

Children's Books

If you have dear ones heading off to school too, we send you our own good vibes and well wishes for a wonderful school year of growth. If you've got the morning to yourself now, feel free to swing by and treat yourself to some goodies. You can also just honk and wave in solidarity!

We'll see you in the morning!

08/31/2026

Well, we're all back together at the Farm and getting into our rhythms for returning to the school year. Bedtime is a little earlier than we've done for the summer and we're making sure we have all our clothes and materials ready to start school on Tuesday. Ababu doesn't go back to school, but he will be finishing up his job placement this week and starting with a new placement soon. He also has a new job coach coordinator so it's new beginnings all around!

Everyone is tuckered out tonight because it was a working day on the Farm. Dawson, Violet, and Marceline came over and secured the frame for the goat shed. They also worked to add the roof. Dawson will be spending next weekend adding walls and installing the fence. And then....goats!!!!! Can't wait!

Dave worked hard all afternoon to get the sensory garden's soil in place for the big bed that will house. Annabelle and I also brought a rain drum back from Eastport to add to the sound array of the garden. Our windchime tree is making beautiful music with the chimes we've added this weekend.

Many thanks to John Nadeau for dropping off the excellent potato frames for us. We are grateful for the donation and potatoes are a wonderful thing for us to grow on the Farm. They sell well and as a family we go through a lot of them. When we have additional residents on the Farm, planting and harvesting potatoes are relatively easy tasks for novice farmers to learn. Plus, they're just good-looking frames!

The tomatoes and beans are going bananas! We picked a lot of tomatoes tonight and will process those over the next couple of days. We also had a nice mix of varieties so we hosted our annual steak/corn/tomato feast with the kids. My folks started that tradition years ago and it was often celebrated the weekend before school started. This is our first one at the Farm. It's so lovely to work hard and then spend a relaxing dinner with everyone that worked together. This is exactly the life I've envisioned for decades and am so intensely grateful that we get to share it with our kids and their partners.

We're also celebrating the anniversary of our offer being accepted on this house. It's hard to believe it's only been a year since we first saw this place. It feels like it's been home for a very long time. We've stuffed a lot of living into a year! I guess we always do. I think the best way to do that is to live in the moments but reflect on the years. We've had an awful lot of beautiful moments here this year and we've reached a lot of goals in a short amount of time. Here's to the next productive year on the Farm!

We're starting off the week with a full Farmstand. Here's what's up for tomorrow:

Salted Caramels

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Tim's Favorite Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies
Molasses Crinkles
Oatmeal Raisin
Macaroons

Double Chocolate Jumbo Muffins
Apple Fritters

Death by Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Dave's "Zombie" Sourdough Bread
Croissant Sourdough Bread

Cherry Tomatoes
Tomatoes
Zucchini
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers

Dunkin's Favorite All Star Dog Treats

Children's Books

It's a big week ahead for a lot of us. I hope you find it full of promise whatever it brings you!

We'll see you in the morning!

08/30/2026

I mentioned yesterday that Dave and I are each spending the weekend with one of the girls, Dave with Abby and me with Annabelle in Eastport. My day started early with our beautiful Eastport sunrise that woke Annabelle. She was up and ready to swim before 7:00 in the morning. It was pretty brisk out there that early, but my girl is tough. She went right in. Of course, I could hear her whimpering for a while but she did not succumb to hypothermia. She came in the house beaming and ready to enjoy a musical interlude on her laptop. Once I caught up with her and got dressed myself, we took ourselves out for breakfast and a hike at Moosehorn National Wildlife Preserve near Calais. They have lovely, paved trails that make the hiking easy and lots of beautiful things to see. A hummingbird flew right around Annabelle's head. She was completely still and it moved on but how exciting to have it so near! We also spotted a deer on the drive into town.

Nature walks for kids like ours with sensory issues are a little different than for kids that experience the world a bit more conventionally. There's a lot going on in nature and our kids respond really well to getting out in it. Annabelle in particular loves to have the breeze on her face and often stands still and just lifts her face into the wind. When the wind makes her hair move she just grins. She's always game for a hike and she can go a very long way. Our hike today was modest, but we heard a gazillion birds and squirrels as we moved along the path. I pointed out a lot of different kinds of trees and plants and found some Old Man's Beard. While very interested in it, Annabelle refused to touch it. Similarly, she refused to touch the moss, lichen, and shelf fungi I pointed out. She giggled at the toad stool we found but again, chose not to touch it. She was curious about the tip-over tree we found rotting near the path but didn't want to get too close. In all, it was very much a look and listen walk with the only touch factor being the wind on her face. It's clear that she was listening to my monologue, though, from the way she mirrored my pointing at different attractions along the path. I learn so much from moving through the world with these dear ones. This time with just one of them is so precious.

Meanwhile, back in Bangor, Dave took his girl to get the haircut she asked for. We have a marvelously kind and patient stylist that works so well with the girls. Abby is so ticklish it's hard to wash her hair. She ended up with an adorable, layered pixie cut that she likes but wishes it was blue. Oh, well. It's cuter than her mother could have done!

Dave also worked hard to get the Farmstand filled up again and tried valiantly to restock throughout the day. He is also tending the animals and checking the produce around the Farm. Our turkeys are getting so big they don't fit into the coop anymore. It looks like they'll have to go back to Dawson's farm since we don't eat our therapists here at this care farm.

Dave will be incorporating some of our apples into the offerings for tomorrow. Along with the Apple Fritters, he'll put out:

Salted Caramels

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip CookiesIt w
Tim's Favorite Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies
Molasses Crinkles
Oatmeal Raisin
Macaroons

Double Chocolate Jumbo Muffins
Apple Fritters

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
Death by Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Dave's "Zombie" Sourdough Bread
Croissant Sourdough Bread (Not until the afternoon)

Cherry Tomatoes
Tomatoes
Cabbage
Sweet Peppers
New Potatoes

Dunkin's Favorite All Star Dog Treats

Children's Books

I hope you're stuffing some summer wonder into your weekend. Annabelle and I found quite a few trees and plants whose leaves are starting to turn. Not much summer magic left, I think. How grand that Fall in Maine has its own share of magic! Have a beautiful rest of your weekend!

We'll see you in the morning!

08/28/2026

We have been so gratified by how much has been moving through the Farmstand the last couple of days. When Dave closed down the stand tonight it was Empty with a capital E! You can sort of hear the winds rustling in the photo and you half expect a tumbleweed to roll by. Thanks, everyone!

Dave had a nice visit with a customer earlier today who asked why we call it Zombie Sourdough Bread. Here's Dave's answer:
"Every sourdough starter is unique to its owner. That, and the fact that they need care and feeding, is why sourdough bakers often name their starters. I got my starter from a friend of my son and hers is called "Helga." Because I was still learning the ropes, I lapsed in its feeding schedule and feared it had died. But I cared for it and fed it and it came back from the dead - like zombies in cartoons. It's a great starter now - very robust - and only feeds on flour (white and a touch of rye) and water. It also makes fantastic bread!" He's sure right about the fantastic part. In fact, we kind of can't keep up with it. We keep selling out each day and the amazing Croissant Sourdough takes two days to make so it's not like we can just go whip up some more once it's gone. If you've been wanting some, please let us know and we'll hold a loaf back for you. The next time we'll have Croissant Sourdough out will be Sunday. There will be more Zombie Sourdough tomorrow, though.

Annabelle and I are in Eastport for the weekend to give each girl a grown up to herself. Annabelle will be swimming away this last weekend before school starts and Abby will be in town with Dave listening to her "teen music" without the annoying distraction of a younger sister with questionable musical taste and a fondness for volume. We try to have one on one time with each kid throughout the week but as anxiety seems to be rising in the run up to the return to school, we decided to up our game this weekend. Divide and conquer works great for the kids but it makes for tired parents and double the work. Give Dave a honk of support as you drive by this weekend. He'll be needing it!

Here's what you can count on for tomorrow:

Salted Caramels

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Tim's Favorite Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies
Molasses Crinkles
Coconut Macaroons

Lunch Lady Bars

Double Chocolate Mega Muffins

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
Dave's Zombie Sourdough Bread
Death by Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Cherry Tomatoes
Green Cabbage
Assorted Sweet Peppers
Tomatoes

Dunkin's Favorite All Star Dog Treats

Children's Books

Have a great weekend!

We'll see you in the morning!

08/28/2026

We've had a busy day here today with cookies and bread flying out of the stand. We've also had more honks as people drive by than any other day. It's nice to be noticed! We've also gained quite a few new followers, so welcome everyone!

We've been digging through our family recipes for favorite old recipes to add to the fall lineup. Marceline loves pumpkin cookies so those will definitely make an appearance. We also want to use some of the gazillion apples that we have growing out back. We have a great apple cake recipe from my dad's side of the family that will show up soon, but we'd like some cookie recipes, too. Do you have any favorites that you remember from your childhood that were special for you?

Our dive has led us back to some very old family cookbooks and one special book that profiled Dave's great grandma Flaherty who was a cook in the family logging camp for 20 years. She was responsible for cooking three meals a day for 65 men who worked hard in the woods and kicked up some big appetites. Get a load of this description: "Twice each week, she baked 35 loaves of bread and 350 buns. Every forenoon she baked a 50-pound keg of molasses cookies and a 50-pound keg of white cookies. (The kegs were probably former nail containers.) Every other day of the week she turned out a keg of fried cakes and every morning before daylight she had 18 pies out of the oven." [Written in the book Vinegar Pie and Other Tales, by Al Barnes and quoted in Michigan Cooking by Carol Eberly] Dave has been baking for the Farmstand since mid-March. He's just this week crossed over to 10,000 cookies. His great-grandma would have left him in the dust after just a month or so. You can see where his work ethic comes from, though, right?

Well, he's been working hard already tonight to get everything restocked for tomorrow. We'll be moving into the weekend with:

Salted Caramels

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Tim's Favorite Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies
Molasses Crinkles
Coconut Macaroons

Lunch Lady Bars

Double Chocolate Mega Muffins

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
Onion Herb Cheese Bread
Croissant Sourdough Bread
Dave's Zombie Sourdough Bread

Cherry Tomatoes
Green Cabbage
Assorted Sweet Peppers
Tomatoes

Dunkin's Favorite All Star Dog Treats
Children's Books

Share a story of your family recipes in the comments. I love hearing about other families' recipes and traditions. We especially like recipes that folks remember doing with their elders since we try to include our kids in the cooking whenever we can. Annabelle can cook darn near anything (and many things better than I can...she's the official onion caramelizer in our house since she's so patient) but the other two kids need some encouragement as they build their skills. We'll look forward to hearing from you!

We'll see you in the morning!

08/27/2026

It's amazing that we have only a few more days of summer vacation left. The girls go back to school on Tuesday so we've been trying to squeeze in a few more adventures before we're in the rhythm of the school year again. We find that all our kids benefit from time in nature and yesterday, there was a bit more agitation around here than usual so Dave took the two girls for a hike in one of our wonderful city forests here in Bangor. They hiked the whole bog walk loop and were in much better spirits back home afterward. Annabelle had led the way all the way through and there was no infighting at all. It illustrated the point of "Kids can't bounce off the walls if you take away the walls". Signs of the impending autumn were all around, including notices that warned of bears being seen in the area. It's a beautiful asset in our community and we've been hauling kids there for almost 20 years now.

Ababu attends an excellent day program in Brewer and all this week they are heading over to a summer camp designed for folks with cognitive disabilities, Camp Capella. He had a wonderful day with his buddies and got to enjoy a traditional Maine camp experience in a lovely setting. He'll be back again tomorrow and Friday as well. We're so fortunate to have this option in our area and are intensely grateful to all who donate both their time and funds to keep this treasure accessible for so many people. He came home talking a mile a minute about his day.

Dave spent the day nurturing a new recipe that he's been wanting to try. It's a sourdough bread made in the same way that a traditional croissant is made. The bread itself is buttery and delicious and nearly melts in your mouth. It made for a beautiful still life sitting on my counter cooling. It will be out at the stand in the morning.

In addition to his new bread, here's what's up for tomorrow:

Salted Caramels
Salted Dark Chocolate Caramels

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Molasses Crinkles
Tim's Favorite Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Coconut Macaroons

Lunch Lady Bars

Ababu's Favorite Blueberry Jumbo Muffins

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
Onion Herb Cheese Bread
Croissant Sourdough Bread

Cherry Tomatoes
Assorted Sweet Peppers
Green Cabbages
Tomatoes
Green Beans
New Potatoes

Dunkin's Favorite All Star Dog Treats

Children's Books

Fall is almost here. You'll be seeing more and more veggies hitting the stand in the next couple of weeks. I'll be up at the house canning up a storm. Feel free to honk as you zip by or stop in to see what's in store. A quick reminder that we're happy to do special orders or hold something up at the house for you if you're worried you won't be able to get here before another customer buys your (fill in the blank with your favorite goody). Dave loves to do special orders and I love to hand them off to people so I can meet our customers! Let us know how we can better serve you.

We'll see you in the morning!

08/25/2026

One of the fun things about having a farm stand is that we're constantly refining our recipes that we're using. Dave has made an herb cheese bread before, and it was really good, but he tweaked the recipe today and it's now otherworldly. The texture is amazing and the mix of flavors is both interesting and delicious. It's also just a pretty loaf of bread. The smell alone was enough to convince me to cut into a loaf that was supposed to go to the Farmstand. It makes great toast, too!

We've had fun for the last five months with remembering, finding, and refining our recipes. Our kids are having a yummy, organic childhood, not unlike the homemade childhoods of our youths. None of the kids who are still at home with us is particularly verbal about food, but we can tell what they like by what gets snitched off the counter and how quickly the goodie plate, that Dave keeps for overflow samples, disappears.

When you recall your own childhood, what baked goodies come to mind for you? Do you have old family recipes that you'd like to see offered? Let us know in the comments and we'll see if we can't add to our rotation. Watch for Cowboy Cookies in the coming days...I've had a hankerin' for them!

In the meantime, you can try some of this amazing Onion Herb Cheese bread or any of the other delights on offer for tomorrow:

Salted Caramels
Salted Dark Chocolate Caramels

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Coconut Macaroons
Molasses Crinkles
Tim's Favorite Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Lunch Lady Bars

Ababu's Favorite Blueberry Jumbo Muffins

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
Onion Herb Cheese Bread

Cherry Tomatoes
Assorted Sweet Peppers
Green Cabbages
Green Beans
New Potatoes

Dunkin's All Star Dog Treats

We'll see you in the morning!