Morning all,
Ok tan had washed off now, definitely feeling autumnal. Looks like a damp windy few days to come, not great for retail or visitor footfall but great for our wind turbines.
We are needing to make up a bit of lost ground on the wind front, as it has been the quietest year on kW hours output so far, over the 8 years we have run the turbines. Luckily other factors, like our continued reduction in electric use (approx 25% less over the 8 years and 45% since 2008) and increases in income per unit, mean that the combined income and savings over the year so far, are not so bad at 5th out of the 8. Can you tell I am sadly obsessed with the numbers, I have a fab spreadsheet with all the daily meter readings, both in and out, and I have had the time this week to get it all up to date, it was the highlight of the week.
The bulb peat-free compost is tipped out and ready to go, and the bulbs arrived on Thursday so no excuse, it's heads down for the rather long winded job of counting out the right number of bulbs into each pot for each different variety. It takes at least three times as long to pot them as it would to pot a growing plant but needs must, we haven't yet found a short cut.
We had some very intensive downpours this week. The rain gauge only goes up to 44mm and it overflowed one day. Luckily we are on a sloping site and shallow top-soiled chalk land so it drains away pretty readily but not before it overwhelms the track ways and drains and floods and deposits mud where it shouldn't be. It is happening more often and another reminder for us to do more both on the preparations for such events and reducing carbon output where we can.
I've started doing a bit more planning preparation for our first electric van investment. It started with another exciting spreadsheet, with all the daily delivery mileages done over the last few years. Luckily we fill in a daily safety check sheet on all the vehicles and that records the milometer readings each day, so it is quite easy to transfer the data and work out how many of the trips could be within the scope of an electric delivery. The basic vehicle range is a starting point plus we have the
option of recharging over breaks to add a few more miles. I may have to wait for more accurate practical figures for the ranges and charging times of the new models coming out, but at least I will have a much better idea of the range we will need. We will need to keep the electric recharging cost as low as we can to help the payback period, so recharging off site will be restricted and charging on the cheap from our turbines the priority. That would give us an extra small advantage and possibly help push an earlier entry into the market than perhaps other businesses. Can you hear me talking myself into this! It won't be in 2020, but perhaps the following year when one of the vans will be due a trade in.
Wooden box collections
Thanks for all the box collection responses, we have made a great start on our late summer/autumn box retrievals and will be trying to get round everyone to collect up all the empty wooden boxes we can over the next few weeks. The barn is filling up rapidly with cleaned, dried and mended boxes which is great to see. All that reuse/recycling is working. well done to all.
To keep it efficient we will try and tie in trips with other deliveries we may be doing in the area, so there is no obvious master plan, but the more trays we know about the better.
Availability highlights
Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme among the remaining stock in flower, We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with a few Hellebores in stock and the Bergenia's coming back on line.
Achillea Little Moonshine is back in stock. Short and in flower with its yellow flowers over grey foliage, it's looking good. Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is in colour, it just goes on and on. The next batches of our mini Chrysanthemum (Garden Mums) are growing away well. Lovely bushy plants with lots of flower and bud and more to come. A good range of colours, showing off nicely.
We have a few varieties of Phlox in bud and flower after a late haircut, looking fresh, full of promise and not too tall. The Soft Pink and Violet White are showing the best colour. Autumn must be on its way with a Sedum Autumn Joy in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still making a great show. The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages.
We have another flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue. It just keeps on going. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium Rose are now showing great colour. Cyclamen coum varieties are now beginning to bud up and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Sunday 29 September 2019
Monday 23 September 2019
Hairy Charging
Hi,
Topped up the nursery workers tan this week (head and forearms only, the rest is lillywhite). Not a good look on the beach, although everyone I meet socially seems to think I spend all my time on holiday. Might all get washed off next week, although the gardens down here will be glad of a soaking. All my rolls of sheeting arrived for the split tunnels yesterday, now we just need a bit of time, the sun to shine again and the wind to drop. Potting is nearly up to date so time may be available, although with the bulb delivery imminent, the Erysimums on the way and another batch of staff holidays in the diary over the next couple of weeks it will be a juggle. We always get there in the end so I won't get too stressed about it and the end of the manic season is definitely in sight.
I have already been having a look at what investments we might make over the winter, which combines the excitement at making some purchases and the fear of what it does to the overdraft during the critical winter and early spring months. We have just had our biggest sales year ever, which is really encouraging, but as sales grow and costs continue to rise we need to find ways of getting even more efficient so that there is something left at the end of the year to reduce our dependency on the bank and pay our wages. One of the potential purchases is another 3.5T van to reduce the time we are having to hire one. This year we used a hire van over a much longer period, which obviously increased the cost, but also reduced our delivery efficiency. The hire vans tend not to have anywhere near the payload level of our super-lightweight low loader van and also need a tail-lift to get the trolleys on board which reduces payload even more. We end up getting far less on board for each trip, which means more trips, more miles and more time. There is an electric version coming out later in 2020, but I think that will have to wait until next time, at an expected £60,000+ (more than twice the cost of a diesel version) and as yet untested in the real world, it would be a step too far at the moment. We would be ok on running costs with our turbines producing cheap electricity, but with the initial cost and with a range of just 230 miles between charges, it would be a bit tight. Hopefully it won't be long before we can take that step and at least deliver that way to the reasonably local customers. Recharging over lunch could get us another 100 miles, so it's not too far off.
Wooden box collections
We have made a start on our late summer/autumn box retrievals over the last couple of weeks and will be trying to get round everyone to collect up all the empty wooden boxes we can over the next few weeks. To keep it efficient we will try and tie in trips with other deliveries we may be doing in the area, so there is no obvious master plan, but the more trays we know about the better.
We do have records on the ins and outs of the wooden box stock, so I have a pretty good idea of where we need to go, but if you can let us know when you are ready for a collection and roughly how many you have, that would be great. It all helps. It may take a week or two to get to you but we will be there as soon as we efficiently can.
Availability highlights
Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme among the remaining stock in flower, We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with a few Hellebores in stock and the Bergenia's coming back on line. Achillea Little Moonshine is back in stock. Short and in flower with its yellow flowers over grey foliage, it's looking good. Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is in colour, it just goes on and on. Pale yellow Leucanthemum's Banana Creme are looking stunning, very strong, lots of bud and showing good colour.
The next batches of our mini Chrysanthemum (Garden Mums) are growing away well. Lovely bushy plants with lots of flower and bud and more to come. A good range of colours, showing off nicely. We have a few varieties of Phlox in bud and flower after a late haircut, looking fresh, full of promise and not too tall. The Soft Pink and Violet White are showing the best colour.
Autumn must be on its way with a Sedum Autumn Joy in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still making a great show. The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. We have another flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue. It just keeps on going. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium Rose are now showing great colour.
Cyclamen coum varieties are now beginning to bud up and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Topped up the nursery workers tan this week (head and forearms only, the rest is lillywhite). Not a good look on the beach, although everyone I meet socially seems to think I spend all my time on holiday. Might all get washed off next week, although the gardens down here will be glad of a soaking. All my rolls of sheeting arrived for the split tunnels yesterday, now we just need a bit of time, the sun to shine again and the wind to drop. Potting is nearly up to date so time may be available, although with the bulb delivery imminent, the Erysimums on the way and another batch of staff holidays in the diary over the next couple of weeks it will be a juggle. We always get there in the end so I won't get too stressed about it and the end of the manic season is definitely in sight.
I have already been having a look at what investments we might make over the winter, which combines the excitement at making some purchases and the fear of what it does to the overdraft during the critical winter and early spring months. We have just had our biggest sales year ever, which is really encouraging, but as sales grow and costs continue to rise we need to find ways of getting even more efficient so that there is something left at the end of the year to reduce our dependency on the bank and pay our wages. One of the potential purchases is another 3.5T van to reduce the time we are having to hire one. This year we used a hire van over a much longer period, which obviously increased the cost, but also reduced our delivery efficiency. The hire vans tend not to have anywhere near the payload level of our super-lightweight low loader van and also need a tail-lift to get the trolleys on board which reduces payload even more. We end up getting far less on board for each trip, which means more trips, more miles and more time. There is an electric version coming out later in 2020, but I think that will have to wait until next time, at an expected £60,000+ (more than twice the cost of a diesel version) and as yet untested in the real world, it would be a step too far at the moment. We would be ok on running costs with our turbines producing cheap electricity, but with the initial cost and with a range of just 230 miles between charges, it would be a bit tight. Hopefully it won't be long before we can take that step and at least deliver that way to the reasonably local customers. Recharging over lunch could get us another 100 miles, so it's not too far off.
Wooden box collections
We have made a start on our late summer/autumn box retrievals over the last couple of weeks and will be trying to get round everyone to collect up all the empty wooden boxes we can over the next few weeks. To keep it efficient we will try and tie in trips with other deliveries we may be doing in the area, so there is no obvious master plan, but the more trays we know about the better.
We do have records on the ins and outs of the wooden box stock, so I have a pretty good idea of where we need to go, but if you can let us know when you are ready for a collection and roughly how many you have, that would be great. It all helps. It may take a week or two to get to you but we will be there as soon as we efficiently can.
Availability highlights
Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme among the remaining stock in flower, We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with a few Hellebores in stock and the Bergenia's coming back on line. Achillea Little Moonshine is back in stock. Short and in flower with its yellow flowers over grey foliage, it's looking good. Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is in colour, it just goes on and on. Pale yellow Leucanthemum's Banana Creme are looking stunning, very strong, lots of bud and showing good colour.
The next batches of our mini Chrysanthemum (Garden Mums) are growing away well. Lovely bushy plants with lots of flower and bud and more to come. A good range of colours, showing off nicely. We have a few varieties of Phlox in bud and flower after a late haircut, looking fresh, full of promise and not too tall. The Soft Pink and Violet White are showing the best colour.
Autumn must be on its way with a Sedum Autumn Joy in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still making a great show. The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. We have another flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue. It just keeps on going. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium Rose are now showing great colour.
Cyclamen coum varieties are now beginning to bud up and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Sunday 15 September 2019
Hairy Box Collections
Hi,
A fantastic splash of sunshine and warmth down here in the south. A whole weekend of it too. Make the most of it. Caroline has gone off to the Romsey Show to check out all the farm animals and I suspect take part in a bit of well earned retail therapy. Unfortunately I have just got too much to do here today, just trying to catch up on all the stuff I didn't finish off yesterday. It's that end of summer holiday time and we keep running out of bodies to get everything done in regulation time. It's a time of year when every day counts when it comes to getting the plants into their pots in time to put on a healthy spurt of growth before the light fails and temperature drops. A days growth now is worth at least a week in December, so can't afford to slow up just yet although the end is coming into sight.
Looking at the records it looks like we are slightly ahead of last year's potting timing which is good as not only will the plants benefit but we should be able to get onto the recovering of the split tunnels before the temperature drops too low. I had noted 3 that were goners but had a recount yesterday and we are up to 6, so that will add a bit of excitement when the appropriate weather pitches up. We can usually get a couple stripped and recovered in a day if we get a good uninterrupted run and the right folk on site. It's a slightly tricky undertaking, quite stressful to uncover the crop and unfurl the new sheet. No matter how still it is when you make the decision to start, the wind always gets up as the new sheet is dragged out and when the breeze gets under one of those sheets you soon know about it. Having said that, there have been few occasions when we have had to actually abandon the task completely, and once the sheet is fixed on the sense of achievement is fab.
Wooden box collections
We have made a start on our late summer/autumn box retrievals over the last couple of weeks and will be trying to get round everyone to collect up all the empty wooden boxes we can over the next few weeks. To keep it efficient we will try and tie in trips with other deliveries we may be doing in the area, so there is no obvious master plan, but the more trays we know about the better.
We do have records on the ins and outs of the wooden box stock, so I have a pretty good idea of where we need to go, but if you can let us know when you are ready for a collection and roughly how many you have, that would be great. It all helps.
It may take a week or two to get to you but we will be there as soon as we efficiently can.
Availability highlights
Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme among the remaining stock in flower, We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with a few Hellebores in stock and the Bergenia's coming back on line. Classic summer flowering Montbretia (Crocosmia) still showing good bud and colour. Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is in colour, it just goes on and on. Pale yellow Leucanthemum's Banana Creme are looking stunning, very strong, lots of bud and showing good colour.
The next batches of our mini Chrysanthemum (Garden Mums) are growing away well. Lovely bushy plants with lots of bud already showing and more to come. The odd splash of colour, but they are showing off nicely. We have a few varieties of Phlox in bud and flower after a late haircut, looking fresh, full of promise and not too tall. The Soft Pink and Violet White are showing the best colour. The short orange Geum varieties Koi and Cooky are coming up with another batch of bud and flower.
Autumn must be on its way with a Sedum Autumn Joy in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still making a great show. The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. We have another flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue. It just keeps on going. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium Rose are now showing colour. Cyclamen coum varieties are now beginning to bud up and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
A fantastic splash of sunshine and warmth down here in the south. A whole weekend of it too. Make the most of it. Caroline has gone off to the Romsey Show to check out all the farm animals and I suspect take part in a bit of well earned retail therapy. Unfortunately I have just got too much to do here today, just trying to catch up on all the stuff I didn't finish off yesterday. It's that end of summer holiday time and we keep running out of bodies to get everything done in regulation time. It's a time of year when every day counts when it comes to getting the plants into their pots in time to put on a healthy spurt of growth before the light fails and temperature drops. A days growth now is worth at least a week in December, so can't afford to slow up just yet although the end is coming into sight.
Looking at the records it looks like we are slightly ahead of last year's potting timing which is good as not only will the plants benefit but we should be able to get onto the recovering of the split tunnels before the temperature drops too low. I had noted 3 that were goners but had a recount yesterday and we are up to 6, so that will add a bit of excitement when the appropriate weather pitches up. We can usually get a couple stripped and recovered in a day if we get a good uninterrupted run and the right folk on site. It's a slightly tricky undertaking, quite stressful to uncover the crop and unfurl the new sheet. No matter how still it is when you make the decision to start, the wind always gets up as the new sheet is dragged out and when the breeze gets under one of those sheets you soon know about it. Having said that, there have been few occasions when we have had to actually abandon the task completely, and once the sheet is fixed on the sense of achievement is fab.
Wooden box collections
We have made a start on our late summer/autumn box retrievals over the last couple of weeks and will be trying to get round everyone to collect up all the empty wooden boxes we can over the next few weeks. To keep it efficient we will try and tie in trips with other deliveries we may be doing in the area, so there is no obvious master plan, but the more trays we know about the better.
We do have records on the ins and outs of the wooden box stock, so I have a pretty good idea of where we need to go, but if you can let us know when you are ready for a collection and roughly how many you have, that would be great. It all helps.
It may take a week or two to get to you but we will be there as soon as we efficiently can.
Availability highlights
Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme among the remaining stock in flower, We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with a few Hellebores in stock and the Bergenia's coming back on line. Classic summer flowering Montbretia (Crocosmia) still showing good bud and colour. Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is in colour, it just goes on and on. Pale yellow Leucanthemum's Banana Creme are looking stunning, very strong, lots of bud and showing good colour.
The next batches of our mini Chrysanthemum (Garden Mums) are growing away well. Lovely bushy plants with lots of bud already showing and more to come. The odd splash of colour, but they are showing off nicely. We have a few varieties of Phlox in bud and flower after a late haircut, looking fresh, full of promise and not too tall. The Soft Pink and Violet White are showing the best colour. The short orange Geum varieties Koi and Cooky are coming up with another batch of bud and flower.
Autumn must be on its way with a Sedum Autumn Joy in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still making a great show. The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. We have another flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue. It just keeps on going. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium Rose are now showing colour. Cyclamen coum varieties are now beginning to bud up and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Sunday 8 September 2019
Hairy Onsie
Hi,
Another busy week with the potting now flying along. Once the orders where picked up we managed to have a good run on both the bed clearing and potting machine despite a bit of a shortage of bodies. We are really getting the hang of the bed cleaning beast now as our technique improves and experience accrues. We took delivery of a couple of monster double bladed floor squeegees early in the week for clearing the loosened muck from the bed surface, what a difference they made. We had been shovelling and brushing before, but the squeegee is much more effective, saving a bit more time and leaving an 'eat your dinner off that' finish. We have added a second pass of the beast after the initial debris clearance to achieve that near polished finish, very satisfying.
Plants are still pitching up to pot each week just to keep the pressure on, I think it's just the spring flowering bulbs and Erysimums to come now and both of those won't come until early October. The Erysimum are an amazing crop, they just keep growing throughout the autumn and winter despite the lower light levels and short day-length, assuming that is we can keep the rots at bay, we always loose a few. If we make the mistake of potting too early they are just too lanky in the spring, rather than the lovely pot full of bud we usually manage to achieve. Then we have the fun and games of finding enough trolleys and shelves to pot the bulbs onto. We keep them on trolleys away from the mice for as long as we can, but with my over enthusiastic ordering this year I wonder if we will have enough shelf stock to cope. It has been noticeable that the quality of shelf stock has deteriorated over the last year, we have stacks of broken stock with only a reduced small quota being allowed back to base for repair under our maintenance contract. We are going to have to get creative!
With the season beginning to show signs of slowing up we are able to retrieve a bit more personal time by reducing the working week to under 75 hours and it looks like we are in for a treat, heading for a whole day off on Sunday. A walk with friends near Oxford along the river and a pub lunch beckons, sounds great. Not quite as exciting as one customer who was lucky enough to see Ed Sheeran recently, supported by the Darkness who's lead singer apparently was wearing nothing but a black lace body suit. That must have been a sight to behold. Reminds me a bit of, no let's not go there, it was a long time ago. It'll be a hectic weekend with a gig tonight in Wimbourne to see our favourite boogie-woogie pianist Ben Waters who is approaching the end of his farewell retirement tour. I suspect there will be a few comeback special appearances over the coming years but we'll miss him. You never know who will pop up on stage with him, we've seen Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood, Chris Jagger (Mick's brother!) and a host of Jools Hollands big band players but even if he is on his own it will be an entertaining and sweaty night. If I'm fit enough there is a freestyle jive night at the Guildhall in WInchester on Saturday, but I suspect I'll be needing a lie down by then, especially as I've got about £250 worth of taps and fittings to plumb into the nursery on Saturday too.
Availability highlights
Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme among the remaining stock in flower, We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with a few Hellebores in stock and the Bergenia's coming back on line. Coreopsis Sunkiss and Illico are showing great colour. A bright show with more flower to come.
Classic summer flowering Montbretia (Crocosmia) still showing good bud and colour. Just Carmine Brilliant and Babylon left. Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is coming into colour, it just goes on and on. Pale yellow Leucanthemum's Banana Creme are looking stunning, very strong, lots of bud and showing good colour. The next batches of our mini Chrysanthemum (Garden Mums) are growing away well. Lovely bushy plants with lots of bud already showing and more to come. The odd splash of colour, but they are showing off nicely.
We have a few varieties of Phlox in bud and flower after a late haircut, looking fresh, full of promise and not too tall. The Soft Pink and Violet White are showing the best colour. The short orange Geum varieties Koi and Cooky are coming up with another batch of bud and flower.
Autumn must be on its way with a Sedum Autumn Joy in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still making a great show. The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. Rhodanthemum Casablanca are showing well with bushy grey foliage and lots of bud and flower on show. We have another flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue. It just keeps on going. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are on the way. A few flowers showing but not quite enough to highlight it on the list.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Another busy week with the potting now flying along. Once the orders where picked up we managed to have a good run on both the bed clearing and potting machine despite a bit of a shortage of bodies. We are really getting the hang of the bed cleaning beast now as our technique improves and experience accrues. We took delivery of a couple of monster double bladed floor squeegees early in the week for clearing the loosened muck from the bed surface, what a difference they made. We had been shovelling and brushing before, but the squeegee is much more effective, saving a bit more time and leaving an 'eat your dinner off that' finish. We have added a second pass of the beast after the initial debris clearance to achieve that near polished finish, very satisfying.
Plants are still pitching up to pot each week just to keep the pressure on, I think it's just the spring flowering bulbs and Erysimums to come now and both of those won't come until early October. The Erysimum are an amazing crop, they just keep growing throughout the autumn and winter despite the lower light levels and short day-length, assuming that is we can keep the rots at bay, we always loose a few. If we make the mistake of potting too early they are just too lanky in the spring, rather than the lovely pot full of bud we usually manage to achieve. Then we have the fun and games of finding enough trolleys and shelves to pot the bulbs onto. We keep them on trolleys away from the mice for as long as we can, but with my over enthusiastic ordering this year I wonder if we will have enough shelf stock to cope. It has been noticeable that the quality of shelf stock has deteriorated over the last year, we have stacks of broken stock with only a reduced small quota being allowed back to base for repair under our maintenance contract. We are going to have to get creative!
With the season beginning to show signs of slowing up we are able to retrieve a bit more personal time by reducing the working week to under 75 hours and it looks like we are in for a treat, heading for a whole day off on Sunday. A walk with friends near Oxford along the river and a pub lunch beckons, sounds great. Not quite as exciting as one customer who was lucky enough to see Ed Sheeran recently, supported by the Darkness who's lead singer apparently was wearing nothing but a black lace body suit. That must have been a sight to behold. Reminds me a bit of, no let's not go there, it was a long time ago. It'll be a hectic weekend with a gig tonight in Wimbourne to see our favourite boogie-woogie pianist Ben Waters who is approaching the end of his farewell retirement tour. I suspect there will be a few comeback special appearances over the coming years but we'll miss him. You never know who will pop up on stage with him, we've seen Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood, Chris Jagger (Mick's brother!) and a host of Jools Hollands big band players but even if he is on his own it will be an entertaining and sweaty night. If I'm fit enough there is a freestyle jive night at the Guildhall in WInchester on Saturday, but I suspect I'll be needing a lie down by then, especially as I've got about £250 worth of taps and fittings to plumb into the nursery on Saturday too.
Availability highlights
Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme among the remaining stock in flower, We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with a few Hellebores in stock and the Bergenia's coming back on line. Coreopsis Sunkiss and Illico are showing great colour. A bright show with more flower to come.
Classic summer flowering Montbretia (Crocosmia) still showing good bud and colour. Just Carmine Brilliant and Babylon left. Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is coming into colour, it just goes on and on. Pale yellow Leucanthemum's Banana Creme are looking stunning, very strong, lots of bud and showing good colour. The next batches of our mini Chrysanthemum (Garden Mums) are growing away well. Lovely bushy plants with lots of bud already showing and more to come. The odd splash of colour, but they are showing off nicely.
We have a few varieties of Phlox in bud and flower after a late haircut, looking fresh, full of promise and not too tall. The Soft Pink and Violet White are showing the best colour. The short orange Geum varieties Koi and Cooky are coming up with another batch of bud and flower.
Autumn must be on its way with a Sedum Autumn Joy in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still making a great show. The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. Rhodanthemum Casablanca are showing well with bushy grey foliage and lots of bud and flower on show. We have another flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue. It just keeps on going. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are on the way. A few flowers showing but not quite enough to highlight it on the list.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Monday 2 September 2019
Agent Hairy
Hi,
After the heat of last week it looks like a little taste of autumn for the weekend. Still plenty of good growing weeks to come but the pressure is on here to get as much potting done as quickly as possible to make the most of the day-length and warmth.
I know it must be close to autumn because I have just ordered in our bulb compost mix in readiness for the delivery at the end of September. I have been told not to get too carried away with things after the excitement of a very busy season, and I have tried to be careful, but on adding up the number of bulb pots to be potted I seem to have increased the production by about 40%! I couldn't resist a bit of upcoming spring optimism and a few new varieties. It'll be fine, no worries, just need to keep the mice and squirrels at bay.
With all the political turmoil over the recent days and weeks we are just having a few concerns as to how we keep the flow of cuttings and seedlings coming onto the nursery in the event of no-deal. HMRC have been on to us this week with all the new rules, regulations and processes we would need to do to bring in material from Europe. We are signed up with all the necessary departments I think, and got our ID codes, but they are suggesting that we may need to use specialist import/export agents to make sure all the admin is sorted and correct, to prevent any potentially disastrous delays. Luckily we won't be doing any plants movements for a few months after the end of October so the dust will hopefully have settled by then and we can make a bit more sense of everything. There could be some significant cost implications I suspect if we all start having to use agents, but it could well encourage more use of UK growers in the long run which must be good for the industry. Luckily a high proportion of our propagation stock already comes from UK suppliers so it's not the end of the world but it adds another challenge.
We have a bit of a mass exodus over the next few weeks as loads of staff take well earned holidays and students slip away back to university. The reduction in numbers potentially could easily dent the potting output, but I'm hoping that the time saved with the new bed cleaner will free up one or two staff to keep the machine going and get those numbers done. Just adds a bit of extra excitement at the end of a long season.
Apologies to anyone who tried to phone last week and missed us. We had a couple of days when the new phone system periodically dropped out. Something to do with failing to hold the internet gate open for calls to come in. Hoping it is now on a permanent latch. Having said that, the new router did drop out earlier today and we lost all hi-fibre stuff including the phones. We were only off for a minute or two as it was cured with the usual 'turn it off and on again' solution, but it doesn't exactly fill you with confidence when we are now so dependent on having that link.
Availability highlights
Rudbeckia Little Goldstar is now showing masses of bud and a hint of colour. We still sell lots of the taller classic Goldsturm which is a fabulous garden plant but Goldstar is dramatically shorter and neater. Only a few left. Coreopsis Sunkiss and Illico are showing great colour. A bright show with lots of flower to come.
Classic summer flowering Montbretia (Crocosmia) still showing good bud and colour. Just Carmine Brilliant and Babylon left. Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is coming into colour, it just goes on and on.
Pale yellow Leucanthemum's Banana Creme are looking stunning, very strong, lots of bud and showing good colour. The first batches of our mini Chrysanthemum (Garden Mums) are growing away well. Lovely bushy plants with lots of bud already showing and more to come. The odd splash of colour so far, but they will soon be showing off nicely.
We have a few varieties of Phlox coming into bud after a late haircut, looking fresh, full of promise and not too tall. The short orange Geum varieties Koi and Cooky are coming up with another batch of bud and flower. Autumn must be on its way with a few Sedum Autumn Joy and Matrona in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still going to make a great show. The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages.
Rhodanthemum Casablanca are showing well with bushy grey foliage and lots of bud and flower on show. We have another flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue. It just keeps on going. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are on the way. A few flowers showing but not quite enough to highlight it on the list.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
After the heat of last week it looks like a little taste of autumn for the weekend. Still plenty of good growing weeks to come but the pressure is on here to get as much potting done as quickly as possible to make the most of the day-length and warmth.
I know it must be close to autumn because I have just ordered in our bulb compost mix in readiness for the delivery at the end of September. I have been told not to get too carried away with things after the excitement of a very busy season, and I have tried to be careful, but on adding up the number of bulb pots to be potted I seem to have increased the production by about 40%! I couldn't resist a bit of upcoming spring optimism and a few new varieties. It'll be fine, no worries, just need to keep the mice and squirrels at bay.
With all the political turmoil over the recent days and weeks we are just having a few concerns as to how we keep the flow of cuttings and seedlings coming onto the nursery in the event of no-deal. HMRC have been on to us this week with all the new rules, regulations and processes we would need to do to bring in material from Europe. We are signed up with all the necessary departments I think, and got our ID codes, but they are suggesting that we may need to use specialist import/export agents to make sure all the admin is sorted and correct, to prevent any potentially disastrous delays. Luckily we won't be doing any plants movements for a few months after the end of October so the dust will hopefully have settled by then and we can make a bit more sense of everything. There could be some significant cost implications I suspect if we all start having to use agents, but it could well encourage more use of UK growers in the long run which must be good for the industry. Luckily a high proportion of our propagation stock already comes from UK suppliers so it's not the end of the world but it adds another challenge.
We have a bit of a mass exodus over the next few weeks as loads of staff take well earned holidays and students slip away back to university. The reduction in numbers potentially could easily dent the potting output, but I'm hoping that the time saved with the new bed cleaner will free up one or two staff to keep the machine going and get those numbers done. Just adds a bit of extra excitement at the end of a long season.
Apologies to anyone who tried to phone last week and missed us. We had a couple of days when the new phone system periodically dropped out. Something to do with failing to hold the internet gate open for calls to come in. Hoping it is now on a permanent latch. Having said that, the new router did drop out earlier today and we lost all hi-fibre stuff including the phones. We were only off for a minute or two as it was cured with the usual 'turn it off and on again' solution, but it doesn't exactly fill you with confidence when we are now so dependent on having that link.
Availability highlights
Rudbeckia Little Goldstar is now showing masses of bud and a hint of colour. We still sell lots of the taller classic Goldsturm which is a fabulous garden plant but Goldstar is dramatically shorter and neater. Only a few left. Coreopsis Sunkiss and Illico are showing great colour. A bright show with lots of flower to come.
Classic summer flowering Montbretia (Crocosmia) still showing good bud and colour. Just Carmine Brilliant and Babylon left. Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is coming into colour, it just goes on and on.
Pale yellow Leucanthemum's Banana Creme are looking stunning, very strong, lots of bud and showing good colour. The first batches of our mini Chrysanthemum (Garden Mums) are growing away well. Lovely bushy plants with lots of bud already showing and more to come. The odd splash of colour so far, but they will soon be showing off nicely.
We have a few varieties of Phlox coming into bud after a late haircut, looking fresh, full of promise and not too tall. The short orange Geum varieties Koi and Cooky are coming up with another batch of bud and flower. Autumn must be on its way with a few Sedum Autumn Joy and Matrona in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still going to make a great show. The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages.
Rhodanthemum Casablanca are showing well with bushy grey foliage and lots of bud and flower on show. We have another flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue. It just keeps on going. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are on the way. A few flowers showing but not quite enough to highlight it on the list.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
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