Good morning to all.

What a relief that the worst of the series of intense storms seems to have drawn to a close. I see that the coming week may still be damp and breezy but coming in on ‘normal’ depressions. That last big one on Friday and Friday night was pretty intense down here with more trees down and another good splash of wet stuff. The wind just went on and on and I must admit to having a fairly sleepless night listening to the roars. I was quite surprised to see all three turbines still going at first light as I had seen the closest turbine stopped after a particularly strong gust in the moonlight earlier. Judging by the readings overnight I suspect they stopped a couple of times in gusts above 55mph which they are designed to do, and then restarted when the wind dropped. The key for no blade tip deployment seems to be a continual electric supply which results in a more controlled braking process and we were lucky enough to keep a supply this time although a couple of miles down the road power was in and out all evening and night. Caroline has earned her keep during these storms with 6 of them causing stoppages when the power supply dropped, resetting 13 blade tips with our specially made extending poky stick. By resetting the tips ourselves we have made the most of the windy weather by getting up and running quickly. To see some snaps of one of our blade tip resets to see what is involved follow this link; https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ke42yu57wdezy7p/VLdorWdGNV

It’s a stunning day today so hopefully we start thinking some more positive thoughts about the spring and the glorious sales to come. The mood is nice and buoyant in places with the Dunkirk spirit in evidence around all the weather hit areas. It’s always great to see a positive response to people in need from those around them it gives us all hope.

Around here it is the groundwater levels that are causing most concern with the levels rising dramatically over the last week.The road past us at the bottom of the hill now has a fast flowing river running across it and it has taken away a lot of the road surface as well as flooding the lane beyond it. Luckily we must be 80ft above this so will be fine but there are already plenty of properties with water in the cellar and filling the cess pits etc, not much fun. So good luck to all still battling away w ith the elements, keep it up.

All the nursery repairs seem to be holding up in the storms so hopefully we are now on top of that. There are still a couple of torn tunnel sheets but we should be able to patch those
on a quiet day. We have started pricking -out some micropropagated plantlets this week so had to bump up the heated tunnel temps which always hurts. With the reclad twin tunnel sheets and the new inflating fan we should at least keep more of the heat in the tunnel and the reasonably mild temps should keep the bills and carbon footprint down. I know it is still mild as we haven’t had the central heating on at all yet this winter, the wood- burner and new wood store have done enough. 
If you would like to see a quick preview of the new 2014 catalogue try the following link which takes you to a downloadable version or visit our website https://www.dropbox.com/s/gm72fckfp2f2wbm/herbaceous%26herb%20catalogue%202014%20Oct%2013%20full%20DL20no%20pr.pdf

Availability

I know it’s still early in the year but the wild weather has at least kept things fairly mild so we have some very nice looking stock at the moment should you wish to do a little restocking for the impending spring. Growth is flushing nicely on many lines with inspirational flower and bud appearing on some.This seasons Euphorbia’s are looking great and many of the Erysimums are already budding up. The Helleborus niger have buds too and the primroses and cowslips are showing their spring colour already. The Aquilegia and Digitalis ranges look very fresh and vigorous all raring to go. Our new dwarf spring daffs are up and chunky, although I only have a few.Many other bulbs are now close behind. 

Box returns

Lots of boxes have been successfully repatriated so thanks for the great response to the appeal I sent out for their return. I know there are still a few out there so please do let us know if you have any ready to collect and we will schedule them in f or collection when we are next close by. Alternatively if there aren’t too many we may elect to pick them up on the next delivery in the up and coming spring.

Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries