Hairy Lull

Hi,
Lull before the storm here today. I'm a bit tense about tomorrows forecast, which looks a bit too exciting to me. Just hoping there is not too much damage, I know there is one tunnel cover likely to go, as it developed a small split during the cold snap. It's pretty old, but we always leave them until they give up completely, because you never know quite how long they will last. It all depends on the tunnel exposure, how tight we got it when we last recovered, the condition of the hoops and tape and the manufactured batch of sheet material. The odd sheet has lasted 15 years and others only 6 or 7 so you never can tell.
Luckily there is only critical heating in one tunnel and that has two inflated covers anyway, to give us extra insulation. All the covers go for recycling at the end of their lives here so all in all, they have served us well. The other critical areas of concern are potential tree damage and power loss in the lab growth room, so I will have to test start the emergency generator this afternoon, just in case. The safety blessing in this for us, is that it is early in the season and peaking over Sunday when there is only the two of us here. Hopefully the worst will have cleared through by Monday as we can clear up quickly and get started on the mountain of work building up.
The high winds over the whole UK is quite unusual, it is normally a bit more localised, I hope the power companies and local authorities have the resources in place to cope. With luck it might not be as bad as they say, fingers crossed for you all.
We came close to starting a bit of potting this week, but the replacement drive chain for the machine was too long, very frustrating. That did mean we were able to press on with the new plywood label boxes, and start to put away the pallet of new colour labels that arrived on Tuesday. It is difficult to get my head round the cost of a few labels, but you could get a nice car for that. Mind you we might struggle to sell anything without them, so needs must and all that. They are all made from card again, just like last year, waterproofed with plant based starch, so properly biodegradable. I might let the press know about it this time, as the vast majority of our labels this year will be now be this type, or wooden for the herbs. I don't really want to make too much fuss, it just looks like someone else jumping on the bandwagon. Perhaps I'll combine it with the completion of the label boxes, that will add another twist.
I'm nearly there on the box making, all the individual variety ones are made, now just the larger price label ones to do, and a bit of shelf making. Slight error made on the space calculation front, I didn't quite appreciate the number of new varieties and labels I had ordered! Oops. Price changes for 2020
Don't forget the new prices for the new season. A very modest rise for the year of an average of less than 2% can be seen on the prices page of the 2020 flipbook catalogue which came into force on January 1st (link attached to this email). If we pre- price your deliveries, you might want to review your prices for the year and let us know of any changes so that we can adjust your records and make sure we have the printing plates and labels ready to roll for your first delivery.

Availability lists
Plants are definitely waking up. A flush of tight fresh green growth is showing through on many, the buds are swelling and the odd flash of colour showing. More varieties have made it to the list this week with the mild weather pushing things along.
The snowdrops (Galanthus) are thrusting through nicely, with the flashes of white flower showing well. We have a few new small Narcissus to look forward to this spring, they are looking strong and most varieties are now in bud. Jetfire and Tete a Tete are showing loads of bud on super short stems, which is encouraging. I wish I'd done more. Polemonium Heaven Scent always puts on a great early show and they are currently sprouting attractive chunky bronze foliaged rosettes, before the buds appear in a few weeks. The earliest of the Pulmonaria are budding up with the odd open flower.
Crocus Remembrance are well up and their little fat flower buds are there.
The dark blue flowers of Scilla sibirica are breaking the surface of the pot, such a strong colour so early in the year. It's sister plant S. mischtshenkoana has pretty pale two tone flowers which are showing really well, although only a few left, so be quick. There is the odd flower opening on our home sown wild primroses (P. vulgaris) above tight little plants. The plants will expand and more flowers appear as the temperatures and light levels improve.
There are more Erysimums budding up too, it might be a little while before colour appears but they are there. Primula denticulata Rubra is showing colour now, with the lilac/purple form close behind.
There are also quite a few evergreen plants looking happy enough over the winter period, so we can make a nice display up of stock with the promise of the good times ahead. Spring flowering Euphorbia, Bergenia and Doronicum are good as are Leucanthemum, Papaver, Stachys and Digitalis.
Best wishes for a great season, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.