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.