Hairy Holidays

Morning all,
Thundering tractors this morning as the farm are harvesting the field of very dark looking wheat behind the nursery. At least they are getting a few fine days now to get a good run going and grab the last few remaining fields which must be some sort of relief. The dodgy August weather has brought about a few extra challenges too. Apparently it has been perfect conditions for bindweed growth and the combination of this and the late cutting has produced green patches in some fields where the bindweed has climbed the stems of the wheat resulting in clogged up combines and very frustrated farmers. Looks like their weekend is sorted anyway, no worries about getting caught up in any holiday traffic which might be some sort of thin silver lining.
We have just hosted our NBIS nursery group meeting, with a tour of all our new kit we invested in during the winter and a review of all things horticultural, oh yes, and lunch at the pub. It was really refreshing to recap on all the changes over the last few months with, the new LED’s in the growth room, new lab cold store and media storage building (posh wooden shed), new mess room (another posh wooden shed), improved drainage works, new acid store, updated air con in the lab work room, new van and the new roof structure put up over the leaking lab buildings. Over the manic main selling and production season it’s easy to forget all the advances we made so a meeting like this can be a great opportunity to take a step back and see things a bit more clearly. Sharing a few worries and experiences with fellow sufferers always seems to produce a positive outcome, even if a lot of the content is potentially a bit negative (exchange rates, pesticide and imported disease issues, labour availability and ever increasing costs, Brexit worries, the list goes on (and on)). A problem shared is a problem halved and all that, it certainly keeps your feet on the ground and makes you grateful for what you have. I think the secret of the success of our group is that we are not afraid to be open and sometimes brutally honest, but above all not afraid to laugh at ourselves. The release of tension after a good laugh among friends beats most things.
I know many of you will be tied up with a busy bank holiday weekend, at least the weather looks like being ok for most of you. I hope you all have a good one without too much hassle, I’m still hoping for an afternoon at CrawleyFest to soak up some music and beer and if I can get up in time, slip away on our annual summer cruise/holiday (day trip to the Isle of Wight). Can’t wait.
I’m just hoping I can keep my back intact long enough to enjoy it all. The anticipation of a new mattress to help things along has evaporated with some very dodgy mornings, to the point where assistance has been required to get my socks on. A weekly evening yoga session has definitely helped with general bendiness and relaxation (I hesitate now to say ‘wellbeing’) although I do struggle with breathing through my feet and those other tricky skills I am supposed to pick up. I’m much more of a practical skills sort of chap, you should see (or maybe not) how in a matter of just a couple of steps I can drop boxers to the floor, step out with one foot, flick them up with the toes on the other, catch and deposit them in the laundry basket in a single movement. It promotes my feelings of accomplishment nearly as much as getting the tea bag in the mug from the other side of the table on route to the fridge. It’s the simple things that give back the most.

Availability highlights
There is a fresh batch of Erigeron karvenskianus on line again with bud showing and first flowers now opening. We have never had this as a late summer line before but last year our trial plant in the garden flowered almost till Christmas and has flowered again nonstop since about April. We don’t have many, I just wanted to try it out.
Fresh batches of the ever popular Achillea coming on nicely with new flowers shoots appearing. There are a few nice short Nepeta Six Hills in bud at the moment. The dinky little Junior Walker has shoot back after a trim to make nice bushy plants with another flower flush due in a week or two.
The short blue Campanula carpatica is in bud again after an earlier trim, we have white too but not so much bud on these yet. Lots of the Asters are busting a gut to get into bud, The mildew free Ashvi, Asmo, Asram, Starshine and Eleven Purple now have well developed bud and the odd open flower. Lady in Blue, Jenny and Starlight have loads of bud developing. We have a fantastic crop of Ajuga in range of leaf colours just bursting to get into the garden. Fresh batches of Euphorbia are looking nice in a range of foliage colours. Bright variegated leaves of the short tufted grass Carex Evergold are looking very neat and smart.
Just a few Hemerocallis Big Time Happy left, with a fresh batch of flower buds now on show. This recent introduction is a repeat flowering variety with nice big flowers, producing colour over a much longer season than most varieties.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.