Hairy plants for people

Hello all you lovely people out there. 
Hope you are all coping ok in this rather bizarre world? Some of you may be going stir crazy in lockdown at home, while others will be dashing about like mad things trying to get through extra workloads caused by the current situation. We can count ourselves in both categories really, some staff are sadly furloughed at home for various reasons including a lack of funds our end to cover the wage bill, while those that are on the nursery are full steam ahead trying to cope with a huge workload. At least those of us on the nursery now have a huge all enveloping focus on our Plants for People project, which is providing lots of output and big rewards. Unfortunately the very useful financial rewards are unlikely to get us completely out of the hole we find ourselves in, without some other assistance, but the mental and emotional rewards have been immense. The amount of good will and gratitude we have received is just overwhelming, for a little business that most of the time desperately tries to keep a low profile! Over two weeks we have distributed plants with a retail value of over £246,000 and social media seem to be having a field day. We are not on Facebook, but we seem to now have an instagram account, but run by an expert, not me. I don't understand how it works, but there is apparently a lot of stuff out there under #hairypotplants and #thehairypotplantcompany. The overall effect is that we have a very long list of coordinators looking to distribute plants which is fabulous, plants are disappearing off the nursery at rates very close to peak season levels, deliveries are extremely local and very quick, and all run by a limited number of staff and some very wonderful volunteers. We may well be continuing this for several weeks yet, so not sure what will be left afterwards on either stock levels or business well being. I know there will be masses of local goodwill and improved spirits, but in the end the bank aren't interested in that. The stock will not hold and we can't just wait on the off chance of a change in circumstances, we have to keep clearing it. I couldn't stand stopping and having a mountain of spoiled crops to put on a compost heap. The clearing out of the crops actually puts us in a very good position to re-pot ready for the moment when the lockdown is eased and we can return to 'normal' deliveries, I just need to find the nerve to risk restarting production. We just can't be sure of when we can get going again and will we end up redistributing another raft of crops. I can't resist doing something, I'll just have to be careful. We have in stock the pots, some young plants to pot and potting compost so I can make a start. Just need to pick the moment to start. 
As well as last weekend's Radio Solent interview (now available to listen to here)  it looks like we  are going to be featured on a BBC Panarama programme which is covering individuals and businesses that have been hit hard by the lockdown and perhaps slipped under the radar. It is going to cover progress over a couple of weeks so isn't due for broadcast until April 27th. They were here for nearly two days which added a bit to the weeks excitement! Lovely people and hopefully will produce a sympathetic piece (probably only a couple of minutes worth). There were interviews, drones, sunsets, packing, loading and distribution shots and a session at a local village with a family distributing the plants to their neighbours, which the crew were delighted with. Had to tidy up a bit for the tv appearance, ear and nose grooming and all that, you know how it is when you get to that certain age, well you won't of course, I'm sure it's only me. If you want to keep up to date with progress do keep an eye on the website. Please take care out there, there are still going to be some tough times ahead, but hopefully a huge amount of good things will come out of it in the end.
Availability list highlights 
We have a couple of customers taking a few plants for home delivery services they have started up since the lockdown took effect, so I have updated the old availability list as best I can at the moment. It won't be fantastically accurate as lines are being cleared each day under our Plant for People project. We may have to adjust the content slightly of any orders we might receive to get the numbers right, so apologies for that in advance, Circumstances mean we are going to have to be a bit flexable at the moment. Under the current rules we are not comfortable sending out any stock that may be placed in a position that will attract browsing or handling by the public. Now is not the time to encourage that type of sale. Phone us to discuss options if you are doing mail order type deliveries and we can chat and take a view.
Take care out there, from all at KirtonFarmNurseries.