Phew it’s gone all steamy here with the promise of a couple of days of hot summer in the offing. Luckily for us old folks who have hot flushes at any opportunity it should cool off again pretty quickly but BBQ sales should pick up again.

Potting here for next season is well under way with some of the slower growing lines settling in for a good summers growing. Without the distraction of production for the multiples this year it is great to feel that we are getting things done at the right time and we can concentrate on further improving everything we do. Unfortunately there still don’t seem to be enough hours in the day or days in the week to fit it all in but it’s definitely improving.

Among this week’s distractions was a tour of the nursery and farm organised on Saturday for the local village as their summer ‘do’. It was a great idea to show the villagers, who no longer have very much to do with their immediate local environment, what goes on locally. Several people said how they always wondered what went on under all our tunnels which they drove past every day. It ended up being over-subscribed with over 60 attendees and they all seemed to enjoy it although the kids were well ready for tea by the end. Sometimes it is easy to take what you do for granted forgetting how fascinating it can be for an outsider looking in. Must make more effort to do more.

We are enjoying our usual Glastonbury experience this weekend, a great way to see bands an old fart like me would otherwise miss. The BBC coverage is excellent although seeing more of the smaller stages would be good. Everyone looks to be having a great time which is quite contagious despite the wet and cold on Thursday and Friday. But for me a beer at home, some good ‘live’ music even on tv, home cooking, my own loo, a shower and a comfy bed with clean sheets is just fantastic. I’ve spent the last three weeks caked in mud from all the turbine earth works and trenches and I spend most of the year in the open, so the attraction of paying a fortune to do worse all weekend is lost on me. Long may it continue, there is definitely something very attractive about watching the antics of others having a good time, it’s a bit like the fascination of watching others work.

Eco News

PTT (Pre Turbine Tension) is building here as things sort of come together for the imminent erection of the turbines. Cables are now all in position if not quite all joined together, most trenches are filled in, the grid connection terminal is in and the erection team are primed and ready to go starting on the 4th. The inspection man from Scottish Southern Electric is booked in for the 7th to check all is ok to switch it all on and generate. However with only 5 working days to go we have no date yet for the removal of the overhead supply which has to go before the turbines go up and there is no word yet on the installation arrangements of the special import/export meter needed to measure energy going in and out of the system. We haven’t even been able to tie down contracts for supply and export as they need meter numbers allocating before paperwork can be done and we only have one at the moment, and the supply can’t be connected until contracts of supply are in place. It seems to be really hard to find a way through the maze of departments and teams involved in the energy system and the lack of communication is scary. With each passing day we make a little progress but I have no idea whether it will all come together on time as we get so little feedback from the teams involved despite numerous one way phone calls and messages.

At least we now have the outline contract quotes here even if I can’t understand them. There are lots of new sections in them on which I will have to get clarification but the importing rate looks frightening at the moment. Let’s hope the wind blows a lot!

Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries