It has been a quiet few months here on the farm. After a long and satisfying 2025 season at the Easton Farmers’ Market, we spent the winter doing what we love to do in January and February: resting, planning, and watching the snow pile up outside the window of our cozy farmhouse. It has been one of the snowier winters we can remember since moving to the Eastern Shore, and honestly, we have not minded one bit.
But the seeds do not wait forever, and neither do we.
The Greenhouse Is Alive Again
Seeding began in the greenhouse on February 27th, and there is nothing quite like that first tray of tiny green shoots to remind you why you do this work. We started with the fast movers: arugula, Swiss chard, kale, Asian greens, along with leeks, onions, and some thyme and oregano. Arugula in particular is remarkably eager. Some of those seeds germinated in just three days with the help of heat mats. Give it a warm, damp spot and it is off.
Most crops take longer to germinate, sometimes a week or more, and there can be surprising differences even between varieties of the same plant. That variability keeps things interesting and demands attention. This time of year each tray we seed holds anywhere from 216 to 648 seeds, packed tightly to make the most of limited heat mat space. It does not look like much from the outside, but there is a lot of life condensed into those small squares of potting mix.
Tomato seeding began on March 4th after the last cold spell had eased. Heirloom and cherry tomatoes are the heart of our summer market booth, and they need a good long head start indoors. More on those as they develop.
Come early April you can expect spring seedlings ready for transplanting including arugula, mustard, kale, peas, onions, leeks, and more. Summer seedlings, like tomatoes, tomatillos, and peppers, will be ready toward the end of April once the frost risk has passed.
Out in the Field
While the greenhouse has been the center of activity, the field is not entirely asleep. Our heirloom garlic has been quietly doing its thing under a straw mulch blanket all winter, and it is starting to poke through now. Those weeks under the snow seem to have done it good. Garlic needs a cold period to develop properly, and this winter delivered.
March is also one of our favorite months for the light alone. It brings the most rapid increase in daily daylight of any month in the Northern Hemisphere. As the earth tilts toward the sun on its way to the solstice, we gain roughly two and a half to three minutes of daylight every single day. You can feel it in the morning and in the evening. The garlic feels it too reaching its leaves towards the sky.
And this Tuesday morning, our first daffodils of the season opened up, growing through a crack in the walkway beside the driveway. Persistence rewarded.
We Are Coming Back April 4th
Quarter Acre Farm will return to the Easton Farmers’ Market on Saturday, April 4th, and we will be there every Saturday through December 11th, 8am to 12pm, rain or shine. Same double booth in downtown Easton, same smiling faces, and a full table of what early spring on the Eastern Shore has to offer.
About a week before opening day, we will send out an email with our complete seedling list and reopen the online shop at quarter-acre.com/shop for pre-orders. If you are not on our newsletter list yet, now is a good time to sign up so you do not miss it.
Of course Juan Carlos will be at the market whipping up his breakfast tacos and quesadillas to keep you going while you shop. Bring friends. Bring family. We would love to meet some new faces this season.
We have missed seeing all of you. April 4th cannot come soon enough.
Follow along on Instagram @quarterafarm and Facebook @quarterAfarm as the greenhouse fills up and the fields wake back up.