Monday 11 June 2012

Plenty of weather again this week. Very strong winds for a couple of days did push the turbines around well but did rip a lot of leaves from the poplar windbreak. June is one of the three quietest months for wind on average but we had our second windiest day of the year followed by the fifth, not that I’m getting obsessive about recording these things! Luckily we seemed to miss the worst of the rain although it was hardly perfect gardening weather. Hopefully the holiday mood carried people into a buying frenzy although we are passed hoping to recover from the disappointing spring. We can just move on from this moment hoping that the weather is kinder and the positive atmosphere of the Jubilee and the Olympic touch relay keeps building through the summer.

Even the Euro football has got off to an entertaining start although we have to wait until Monday to see our boys do their thing. I was quite impressed that our chaps have been mixing a bit more with their local environment and even doing some serious historical visits with their trip to Auschwitz. I’m not sure how it will affect their playing but it can be a very valuable experience to see a bit of recent dramatic history to make anyone appreciate how lucky we are to be living in these times, despite all the current issues. Those footballers certainly live in a bonkers world but then most of us live in quite a limited environment really. Nothing wrong with that, especially if you are getting what you need out of it.

We support quite a few local fetes through the summer each year but this week saw a first with the cancellation of one, in advance, due to the high winds and poor weekend forecast. I suspect that the big marquee they use couldn’t be safely put up in Friday’s winds, so no weather-proof cover to help out over the two day event. I have also heard that generally fete donations from contributors are harder to come by this summer with the tough times, which is understandable although I suspect our plant donations/offers are a bit bigger with our reduced sales providing extra suitable fete stock. At least someone is benefiting from our misfortune. Besides we will often get a lovely response from the organisers too which makes us feel good, and we all just want to be loved really! Who needs money? That reminds me, we have had a request this week to make an appointment to see the bank manager to review the season, oops.

Eco News

Lots of power produced from the turbines this week and next week looks ok for a bit more, but hopefully for sales not too much. We have Sparsholt WI coming to have a look at them on Friday, the forecast looks ok for wind for the moment I just hope it’s not too wet.

Huge numbers of fledgling birds all over the place this week, sparrows, tits, starlings, wagtails, finches, jackdaws. The native hedge we planted around the nursery 12 years ago is awash with tweeting and looks a picture as the dog rose is just beginning to bloom. It’s a shame we can’t make a living out of growing a lovely hedge. Last winter we planted a few islands of native hedging at some of the tunnel ends where we could fit them in and where they were a bit of a distance to the big hedge.

These should provide overwintering sites for some of our predators we introduce into the tunnels although it will be a year or two before they are a decent size. They are growing away well at the moment.

If you need a fax list please let us know, pick it up from the website or alternately send an email address. Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

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