Monday 22 October 2012

Morning all,


Feeling a bit dented this morning and lots to do so just a quickie. Dented on several fronts, perhaps most literally because I stopped a shot on goal in yesterday’s victorious hockey game on the underneath of my chin. Luckily just superficial damage, sore throat, bruised chin, couple of achy teeth and a small cut on the lip where I bit myself! The most disappointing thing was that there is nothing dramatic to show to attract any sympathy.

Brain a bit dented too after a punishing Saturday night at a 1940’s themed dance. A great atmosphere with loads of people all dressed up, a live concert band and nice beer. There were some great dancers swinging their 1940’s stuff as well as us shufflers making up the numbers. Must fit some dance lessons in. As part of my outfit I reinstalled a side parting with slicked down hair. Not had a side parting since I went peroxide and spiky 30+ years ago. Don’t think I’ll go there again soon, the side parting that is.

Had a few meetings this week and it is easy to see how many are suffering from a dent in confidence levels after such a very difficult season for such a wide range of horticultural and agricultural businesses. We got a lot of verbal support from the bank manager this week encouraging us not to step back too far because of any fear of repeat weather problems next year.

Statistically it is extremely unlikely and fundamentally we are doing all the right things. However we will be battening down the hatches over the next few months desperately trying to keep the overdraft from stretching too far before next spring’s income starts to appear. Times are tough but at least we are still able to look forwards in a positive and groovy way. We are now peat-free in all the hairy pots, we are top dressing the pots with bark chips to reduce liverwort and moss growth so saving time in despatch. We have re-covered our production beds which will save clearing up time next year, virtually all the crew are all trained up in Lean Management techniques to help us get things done more efficiently and safely and we will continue to generate a nice dollop of energy from our ace wind turbines.

SAVE, SAVE, SAVE. Energy prices on the way up? The Eden Project have set up a buying group called Cornwall Together which is looking to get groups of individuals and companies together to buy energy. They have set a deadline for people to join up (no obligation) and then they go to the energy companies to get a better deal. The deadline is only a few days away so take a look if you are not already tied into a contract. You don’t have to reside in Cornwall. www.cornwalltogether.com/en/

Naked Coir pots

Our pot supplier is now offering you the chance to retail cartons of empty coir pots (10 pots in a carton). The pots are a smaller size than those we use but the pack looks great and I said I would attach his promo flier to our lists for a while. They would make an ideal stocking filler, if a little scratchy. The whole deal is an entirely separate operation from our nursery, not run by us, so please contact Joe if you are interested. His details are on the flier.

Sustainability promo

After last week’s Winchester Carbon Smart accreditation launch I have a couple of bankers from NAT West coming on a visit next week. They seem keen to look at our sustainability experiences on the nursery so it will be interesting to see what they are hoping to gain from the visit. I am also wondering if I should be asking myself, what am I going to get from it? Let’s see what happens.....

SAVE, SAVE, SAVE. Don’t forget to think about insulation and draft proofing. It can still be free installation or very cheap and it saves money every year. We have just finished our third year recording the house heating oil use which has reduced from 7,400 litres to 2,500 (not all due to the insulation but a good dollop). In that time the price has nearly doubled which makes the savings even better and oil prices are only going one way in the next few years.

Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

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