What a great win by Mo last night, it had us cheering him on in a great race. I love an uplifting feel good experience and that was certainly one to file away in the memory to draw on in times of need.
A slightly quieter week last week allowed us to get properly stuck into the potting and with no machine breakdowns plus a couple of extra bodies we rattled through some of the backlog that had built up. It is difficult to believe we are already potting big batches for next spring sales already when this season still is still rolling on. Let’s hope we can keep up the momentum over the next few weeks, it’s going to be tricky with the usual summer holiday interruptions and the amount of tunnel tidying we will have to do in preparation, but after years of practice I know it will all get done in the end so no point getting too tense about it. Having an hour or two extra available in the week has helped me catch up with a few maintenance issues which is always satisfying, I still haven’t manage to get out and replace the perforated work trousers and now it has been pointed out that my two ‘best, pairs are similarly affected. That’s the price you pay for sticking to your favourites and not getting out much.
Meanwhile I have been shorn by Caroline to tidy me up a bit and sorted out my failing hearing. A fabulous investment in some drops and a syringe kit has brought me back to some form of normality and created a couple of new tea lights for Christmas! Reduce, reuse, recycle.
The run of unsettled weather has been frustrating on the farm with harvest stuttering along between the bands of rain and showers. At least the breeze has kept up which helps dry things off quickly and they have done better than expected today with the showers mostly slipping us by. I can hear, thanks to my new aural powers, the grain trailers rumbling up and down the road which should hopefully mean some more relaxed party goers later tonight.
Thankfully the new potting machine drive belt and new chain arrived last week so Sunday should be the perfect opportunity to get them fitted without interrupting production, I’m just hoping I don’t get too ‘overtired’ tonight and sleep in too late. A few friends are giving a big party to celebrate their shared 25th wedding anniversaries with the promise of a lift there and back, plenty of refreshment and a live band, and we are both looking forward to that. It’s a ‘black tie’ do but luckily those trousers are intact so I won’t be embarrassing myself in that department, although there will be loads of dad dancing going on judging by the overwhelming numbers of aging attendees. I’d better get the watering finished so I can go and scrub up in readiness, wish me luck.
Availability highlights
Signs of high summer are here with the last few Crocosmia now in bud and showing colour. The gold of George Davidson is always popular, as is the lovely red/orange big bloomed Babylon. Star of the East actually has the biggest individual orange flowers of all the ones I’ve seen, a stunner.
There are a few nice short Nepeta Six Hills and Walkers Low in bud at the moment. The dinky little Junior Walker has just been trimmed again to get another flower flush in a week or two. We still have a few of the pretty Rhodanthemum Casablanca and Marakesh looking good with a fresh batch of bud on show. We have a great range of mini garden Chrysanthemums in bud. Naturally very bushy (no pinching required), they will produce masses of flower from now until the frosts (these are not fully hardy plants so will not always survive a winter outside). Several of the Asters are busting a gut to get into bud, Flora’s Delight is the first to actually show colour, the others are not far behind. The mildew free Asmo, Asram and Eleven Purple now have well developed bud and the odd open flower. Best crop ever so don’t miss out. Lady in Blue and Starlight are both looking very smart with loads of bud developing.
We have a fantastic crop of Ajuga in range of leaf colours just bursting to get into the garden. A small fresh batch of the pink Armeria are now producing plenty of bud, neat and pretty. A fresh batch of the lovely Anthemis Sauce Hollandaise is short and bushy with bud showing. Just a few left. Buds and flowers are in abundance on the very popular Sage Hot Lips. Dinky Erodium varieties are back again, low growing and flowering for ages. Flower stems and bud are appearing on many of the Japanese Anemones already. Strong and bushy, the hardy Fuchsia range is doing its thing. Loads of colour. There are fresh batches of Achillea Terracotta and Red Velvet in bud and flower.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
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