I just realized that the whole month of March went by and I didn’t write a blog post. I try to write a new post every month but it didn’t even cross my mind until I was looking through my own website. Like everyone I have been engrossed with the COVID-19 crisis.
We are safe and healthy at Quarter Acre Farm. We have been taking all the necessary health precautions. We have been busy reevaluating what we will grow in 2020 with all the changes to the market place and the needs of our community. Our growing season has just begun as our first crop is vegetable and herb seedlings for the home gardener. We are anticipating and hoping that many people will start gardens for the first time this year or expand their usual edible garden. So we have been increasing the amount of seeds we had initially planned to grow back when we made our crop plan in January.
As a farm that sells directly to consumers through farmers’ markets we have been preparing for how to safely get our products into the hands of our customers. One way is to limit the amount of in-person contact we have with our customers. So we have set up an online store where you can order and pay for your seedlings in advance for local pick up in St. Michaels.
This way your seedlings will be packed up and ready for you to quickly grab when you arrive at the pick up location (the public parking lot @ 204 S. Talbot St in St. Michaels). The online store will also allow you to learn a little bit about each seedling variety. Certain varieties will have limited quantities and the types of vegetables, herbs, and flowers will change week to week as the season progresses. Orders for Saturday pick up (8:30am to 11:30 am) will need to be placed before 8pm on Friday.
The St. Michaels farmers’ market has delayed their opening until Saturday, April 25th. But we will start offering Saturday pre-order pre-paid pick up of seedlings starting Saturday, April 11th.
All of our seedlings are certified organic and are grown in fiber pots which allow you to plant the entire thing right in the ground. Making planting a breeze and eliminating transplant shock. Most of the seedlings are open-pollinated varieties and many are heirlooms. All the varieties we grow thrive in our Eastern Shore Mid-Atlantic climate.
As we all reckon with the impact we will face from the coronavirus pandemic, many have determined that gardening is a way to ensure that a source of stability, joy, and health remains in our lives, no matter what the next few months may bring. We agree that having your own garden is a great thing to have no matter if it is a few containers on your patio or a quarter acre field in your backyard. We are committed to providing you access to flourishing nutritious seedlings for all your planting needs.