Morning all, 11 October 2010I


Just a quickie this morning as I’ve got to rush off to BBC radio Solent in a minute to be interviewed live about the wind turbine project on their Good Life programme. I’ve done a couple of spots on there before and it’s pretty laid back and I don’t think the listening figures are going to make me an overnight star! I’ve been trying not to think about it this morning, as the shakes begin as soon as I do, but I’m sure it will be fine. Background preparation has gone well, none, but then that’s like any normal day I suppose.

We had a week full of various visits this week the most exciting of which was the installation manager for the turbines. He checked over all the practical challenges on the site, which luckily appear fairly easy to overcome. We looked at the likely order of play with surveys, electrical substation, meter and cable installations, trenching and ground-works etc, but still came out the other end with no real idea how long it will take to come together. At least he was impressed with the site as a whole, great uninterrupted wind flow from all directions, easy access and solid chalk under the foundations. One thing I did learn was that the foundation slabs under each turbine are buried 60cm down and the soil replaced on top so we can replace at least half of the short bit of hedge we remove at each site. This should help the ecology plan that has to be written before we are allowed to start. The archaeologist is lined up to write his pre-commencement proposal and attend the site while digging takes place and the power company are half way to sorting out the new connection quote, so things are moving even if nothing actually gets done for a bit.

Our electricians have been in to sort out a quote for moving all our circuits about to make best use of the renewable supply when it comes in. At the moment we have several separate circuits and meters which have evolved as the nursery grew over 26 years so a bit of a re-jig is necessary. We are looking to disable some parts of the nursery that no longer need a supply and reuse the armoured cable and bits and bobs, where they are still within regulations, this helps with the sustainability of the project and hopefully with the cost too.

I attended our monthly PLATO Sustain meeting this week and we had a new member present his company and products. He was from the UK arm of Hansgrohe who make bathroom fittings. It was amazing to hear some detail of what goes on in other industries. They make very swish fittings, but although more expensive, are so much more efficient in their use of water and energy that they can pay for themselves in a matter of months, all done through clever design and thought. Although you get less water through it doesn’t feel like it, due to the way they introduce air into it and ‘bulk it up’. The reduction in water means less heating hence the energy reduction. Another member who specialises in roofing systems for big buildings was saying that they are taking on a new PV solar panel design that is mounted on a roll of plastic, making it much lighter and easier to install and it is supposed to be less affected by the angle and orientation to the sun. With a life expectancy of 50 years it sounded interesting, although I suspect this sort of technology has plenty more developments to come over the coming years. It’s all go.

Eco news

Electric consumption on nursery down by 23.37% for 2010 up to the end of September. Water consumption down 15.6%.

Nature notes

Nursery rabbit control has taken a leap forward in the last month or two with the arrival of a new cat. We have now officially adopted this stray that just turned up. Younger and fitter than our other two, who now struggle to find the energy to get out of the cat-flap, he has been named Spare as that was what he got used to while we were trying to locate a possible owner. He does have an interesting drinking technique, he hasn’t mastered lapping so dips in his front paw and licks it off. We can now tell when he’s been in the house by the trial of single foot paw prints across the floor. As our friend Roger would say there is more than one way to skin a cat!

Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries