Hairy Drips

Morning all,

Another week rushes by. Not only a shed load of jobs (literally) but plenty of orders, plants and bulbs to pot all squeezed in around a difficult week or so. We sadly lost one of our elderly neighbours earlier in the week after a quick decline at the end of a long period of being looked after in a local home. Thankfully she slipped away peacefully in the company of friends and relatives and you can’t ask much more than that really. The funeral is later this week so forgive us if we are slightly less available than usual, there will be a few commitments to be fulfilled from this end through the week.
The mess room shed is progressing slowly, we are now more or less water tight after battling with the elements for the last couple of weeks. Every time we started a critical job it took twice as long and started raining halfway through. The last piece of felt went on the roof on Thursday after we abandoned finishing it the day before, when a combination of wet, wind and cold stopped us in our tracks. The sun was out when we started! I’m pretty sure we haven’t sealed in too much moisture, the inside is certainly dry and cosy at the moment. Quite a bit of the plumbing and electrics are done, so hoping to be in their later in the week for the first brew. Even more frustrating than shed building is anything associated with water and irrigation systems. We had to fit a new water meter this week. Got off to a good start in that I actually ordered the right size in the first place which makes a change. We were fitting it in the same position as the old meter in a line of fittings next to the super efficient variable speed water pumps so it could have been a simple job of undoing a couple of big nuts and slipping in the new unit. However we have always have a couple of niggly little leaks from the fittings since they were originally installed, just a litre or two a day into a bucket, just enough to keep the floor damp when the bucket overflowed. The perfect occasion to mend these leaks we thought. Well two days later after a repeating dismantle and rebuild marathon we thought we had cured it only to step outside the pump shed door to find the main tank feed to the pumps pissistantly leaking having never leaked before. Oh dear. Another battle ensued and only after replacing the flexible pipe and gunging each end up with Pufty tape and sealant did we succeed in a drip free zone. Great sense of relief and satisfaction in the end as long as I don’t think of the value of our time!
Record day yesterday for our turbine output, not particularly strong winds but good and steady. February will be another above prediction month which will hopefully help the teetering cash-flow over the next couple of months with the extra income and reduced bills. It’s not been a very nice winter on the wet and flooding front but it has kept those blades turning.

Availability highlights
Still early days yet, but there are a lot of early signs of plant activity, many not quite ready for the list but it won’t be long if the weather doesn’t take a dive. The relatively mild winter, so far, has encouraged the Pulmonaria’s and Erysimums into bud and some are even showing some colour too. Pulsatilla’s are now coming through nicely with a few buds developing nicely. Doronicum Little Leo has just got going on its bud and flower production, not many left but a nice splash of early yellow bloom none the less.
The Tulips and Alliums are bursting through with roots ripping through the pot sides, if anyone needs a few bulbs, Fritillarias are nicely showing now and there is already the odd nodding bud appearing too.
Evergreen Liriope muscari looking verdant, definitely the best crop of these we have ever grow, always a tricky one to get leaf and roots both doing well at the same time! We have changed the production process completely and although a bit longer and more effort the results are really satisfying.
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter.
During the winter our range of available stock is limited by the lack of enthusiasm of a lot of stock to show their face in the cold, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing and a few early season show offs too. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield. Just a week or two for this offer to run then we hit Spring proper!
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries