Tuesday 26 August 2014

Hairy Holidays

Good morning all.

Bank Holiday time, hurrah.
Never very good at these events, can’t make up my mind whether to rejoice in the extra day in the weekend or lament the days production lost when we have so much stock just perfect for potting! Let’s rejoice, although I seem to have already managed to spend most of the first two days fiddling about on the nursery trying to get those odds and ends of jobs done which I didn’t get done during the week. Tomorrow looks a bit damper so might go out then!
Three of us here are getting closer to completing our 5 days of compulsory drivers CPS training to allow us to still drive the big van. It’s not too bad so far although the day can drag after a few hours and I can think of so many other things I could be doing. Looking forward to the days training on driver wellbeing, customer relations, and ‘you are what you eat’. You should see the stampede for the sandwich/burger van at 9.00am when it pulls into the training company yard and it’s not for a bag of mixed organic seed!
Another big batch of pest predators released this week which seems to be keeping on top of most of the main pests and the nursery has a helpfully huge population of young frogs this summer. The first of our late summer and autumn applications of nematodes against vine weevil goes on this weekend. The spring applications where applied slightly later than they should have been, but the build up of weevil many growers have seen over the last few years seems to have taken a severe dent in the wake of those applications. Quite a relief after the disappointing results many have seen after a few seasons using the bacterial spores incorporated in the compost mixes. We hope that the new regime of 3 x half rate applications of 3 different species of nematode in the autumn, repeated in the spring will have a much greater effect. In the past the application costs where high and just a single full dose applied, which made it a bit hit and miss in its effectiveness with us. But now with timed application through the irrigation system and my home designed aerated and self agitating nematode stock barrel we can not only apply them cheaply and accurately but also time it for the late evening which is better for the light sensitive nematodes. The three applications provide a longer period of nematode action and reduce the risk of nematode misses or losses. Sounds good, let’s hope it is as effective as the spring applications.
Brilliant walk round Stonehenge last weekend. Inspiring stuff and only got slightly damp. If only all summer holidays were as good as this.

Availability
We have a slight lull in flowering stock at the moment after strong summer sales. Fresh stock is growing well and the range should pick up again very soon for an autumn surge!
Asters just beginning to show bud and the first occasional flower, summer is going by so quickly.
We have a great range of good looking chunky Agapanthus we are producing for the first time this summer.

Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

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