Morning all,
Nice cooler weather again which is great for me. We had a scorcher for just one day last week which was a bit different but luckily it takes a few days for the fabric of the house to heat up so there was some respite there in the evening.
The farm are having a good run at the moment with harvest well underway after the late start. They grow a wide range of crops, mostly as high quality seed crops which include the usual wheat, barley, rape and oats as well as some other more minor crops like peas, grass, linseed and opium poppies (a low opium form grown under license for morphine extraction by a medical company). It makes for a long harvest as one crop is planned to follow another, some of them are a bit tricky to cut and lift successfully but so far so good. They have just finished one of the trickiest which is the grass seed, which lies down low to the ground and can be difficult to get the combine cutters low enough to get cut. Any delay allows the seed to drop or too much damp or rain messes it right up, if there is grass re-growth from the base it can cover the seed heads it can be a real challenge. The rewards are good with prices way over £1,000 a tonne although you don’t get huge yields from an acre compared with the grain crops. Luckily this last week has been great for getting the grass in, good timing not too much damp and gentle drying breezes so they finished yesterday. It looks like things might come to a stop on Monday with a wet spell so they are making the most of the current window. They started on the peas late last night and will be in the field by the nursery today (Sunday) hoping to get them done before the rain arrives. I know it can be a tense and tiring time so our thoughts are with them all as they fit everything in around the weather.
The farm are having a good run at the moment with harvest well underway after the late start. They grow a wide range of crops, mostly as high quality seed crops which include the usual wheat, barley, rape and oats as well as some other more minor crops like peas, grass, linseed and opium poppies (a low opium form grown under license for morphine extraction by a medical company). It makes for a long harvest as one crop is planned to follow another, some of them are a bit tricky to cut and lift successfully but so far so good. They have just finished one of the trickiest which is the grass seed, which lies down low to the ground and can be difficult to get the combine cutters low enough to get cut. Any delay allows the seed to drop or too much damp or rain messes it right up, if there is grass re-growth from the base it can cover the seed heads it can be a real challenge. The rewards are good with prices way over £1,000 a tonne although you don’t get huge yields from an acre compared with the grain crops. Luckily this last week has been great for getting the grass in, good timing not too much damp and gentle drying breezes so they finished yesterday. It looks like things might come to a stop on Monday with a wet spell so they are making the most of the current window. They started on the peas late last night and will be in the field by the nursery today (Sunday) hoping to get them done before the rain arrives. I know it can be a tense and tiring time so our thoughts are with them all as they fit everything in around the weather.
A better week on the technical front with the mildew predictor programme sorted out. After a frustrating day last weekend when I was unable to get the different bits of the computer to talk to each other it was sorted in ten minutes by someone who knew what they were doing! Now the printer is playing up although not quite badly enough to report it, that will wait until t he warranty runs out.
We have a couple of our trailers down at a local fabricator/welder who is doing a refurbishment of them which will be a welcome improvement. Designed and built by engineers who don’t use them for their purpose they fell apart over the seasons in all the obvious places to a nurseryman. Don’t use wishy-washy rivets to hold things together, they snap too easily. Armour- plate the high wear/pressure bits like wheel axles, tow hitches and floor pressure points. support the floor areas that take all the weight and movement like under the trolley wheels. Basic simple stuff you would think. We have done little modifications and repairs ourselves along the way but they reached the stage where they needed a complete refresh and that’s what they are getting. A combination of nursery experience and engineering expertise should provide us with bullet proof east to use kit at long last. Probably need a JCB to pull it now rather than the little electric buggy’s but I live in high hope.
New drill bit arrived for the potting machine which we are all very excited about. It fills a s ize gap in our module potting drill range so the job is easier and neater. Does life get any more exciting than this?
Availability
Aster Purple Dome is about to burst forth with its short height and big purple flowers. Mildew resistant and showy, a great plant for any garden.
Still stunning Hemerocallis are showing plenty of bud with colour. The dark flowered varieties Crimson Pirate and Pardo n Me looking great, and the two-tone stricking blooms of Frans Hals and Pandora’s Box are open. The deep colour of Pink Damask contrast beautifully with the deep gold of Aten. Don’t forget the large flowered Catherine Woodbury with her big pink blousy heads and of course the ever flowering Stella de Oro.
Stunning foliage colours of Heuchera Melting Fire, Marvellous Marble and Palace Purple alongside the fresh strong green of Malachite, all great additions to any garden.
Stunning foliage colours of Heuchera Melting Fire, Marvellous Marble and Palace Purple alongside the fresh strong green of Malachite, all great additions to any garden.
We have our best Japanese Anemones ever at the moment, stonkingly bushy plants. Numbers and range are dwindling fast.
The grasses are coming into their own at the moment. Carex Evergold and Ice Dance both look fantastic and the silver variegated Miscanthus Morning Light is very strong this year with the first delicate flower heads just appearing. Panicum Prairie Sky looks great too with its upright elegant blue/grey foliage.
Nature notes
Two days this week we had spectacular numbers of swifts feeding low over the nursery all gathering ready to fly south. That’s it for the swifts for this year, they all disappear by early August. The others are still hard at it. The second swallow brood are just about to fledge and the house martins are very busy feeding their first youngsters so we will have them all for a while yet.
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
No comments:
Post a Comment