Hairy drainage

Hi Everyone, 

Happy holidays.

Another record week for sales, although thankfully it is definitely a bit quieter now. Not quite sure what's going on with the weather, from blistering heat to biblical downpours and now really cold nights. Yesterday I did wonder if we were going to get washed down the hill, the volumes of water flowing through the nursery were scary and the intensity of the rainfall just nuts. It has left a bit of a mess and we are going to have to spend several weeks through the Autumn reinstating and improving our drainage system which has now largely been blocked with silt and debris. It is something that we are seeing more of and we need to prepare for worse I think. It's not the end of the world (yet) but just needs a bit of planning and investment to manage these events and minimise the damage. I have already done some remedial shopping with a new mechanical trommel (rotating sieve to clean the drainage gravel for reuse) and replacement drain lining fabric to reduce the silt build up in the future while maintaining fast drainage. We already have more drainage pipe ready to lay and I suspect more pipe and channels will have to follow. Fingers crossed it all works.

It has been a good week for repairs. Our mechanical bed cleaner has had a new gearbox fitted and now runs very nicely so we have sent the manual bed cleaner off for a lie down. He has gone camping with the family on the Isle of Wight, oops, not brilliant timing. Hopefully they missed the worst of the rain and cold! Give me my own loo, shower and comfy bed anytime. I know my limits. Our brilliant battery operated knapsack sprayer (saves my pumping arm and nodding head) had to be dismantled after many months of having to hit it in just the right place to make it go. Half an hour to take apart locate the loose terminal and fix, three hours to put back together. Why me?

Have a great weekend whatever you are up to, I'm hoping for a few hours off the nursery at some point (we are not despatching on Monday) although I suspect I may be here. It is the last Saturday for the potting team, some of whom are off next week on a well earned break. We have sort of caught up although it is always a race to the end of the growing season and we never seem to win it!

It's getting dark out there, must be time to go.

Availability list highlights

Salvia nemerosa varieties are all budding up nicely. Particularly good this week are fresh plants showing colour of Pink Marvel and Blue Marvel too. They carry bigger flowers than most other varieties and good strong colour. Don't miss them I don't think they will hang around long.Fresh batches of Scabious looking good with buds appearing on Butterfly Blue and Pink Mist. Mariposa are close behind. Ajuga's are looking great, bold fresh foliage and a few buds coming too. New on for this week are a fresh batch of chunky strong Liriope muscari which are producing flower stems now. Achillea Terracotta are in bud. I don't have many but they look good. Persicaria Taurus and the more compact Inverleith are both in bud and showing some colour. Darjeeling Red have bud too. Strong batch of Nepeta Junior Walker now in bud. A properly compact form of catmint.

Osteospermum Tresco Purple are erupting into bud now with the odd open flower. just a few left. New batches of Salvia Amethyst Lips and Hot Lips are in bud again, strong and bushy and ready to go. Erigeron Stallone are back in numbers. Loads of bud showing and good colour on the current batches. As the summer moves on we shift into Aster season. We have a great range of healthy chunky stock at the moment and the buds are now showing. Aster frikartii Monch looking healthy. Nice bushy fresh batch with flower shoots shooting! A new crop of Verbena Lollipop are ready, plenty of colour but not too big. Just a few colourful Viola Etain left.

Tradescantia Blue and Gold still going strong, buds still popping up, just a few left. Fresh Helleborous are now on the list, ready to plant out now for a flower show this winter. We have the first few niger and orientalis on the list now as well as some strong chunky foetidus and argutifolius. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy escape

Hi Everyone,

 Marginally quieter this week, but still plenty of distractions from potting which we are desperate to get on with. We did get a fair amount done and we have a gang in again tomorrow just to catch up a bit again, so it's not a disaster, just not quite ideal. We seemed to have a lot of people missing this week, a combination of well earned holidays, illness and car breakdowns conspired to scupper the master plan, but hey-ho we are still here planning and producing for next year, which is something we weren't sure was going to happen a few short months ago.

We had one of our regular plant health inspections today which is always a bit of a worry, but thankfully all was well with the plants in stock. The main point of discussion was all the changes to plant importing and exporting that go along with leaving the EU. We have prepared as much as we sensibly can so far, signing up to the government online sites that deal with all the admin involved with all the new rules etc. These online sites are now apparently out of date and will be unable to cope with the volume of trade involved once January is upon us (they deal with all goods coming in and out) so new ones are going to be introduced at some point. No one is quite sure yet what the new rules, tariffs, admin procedures or extra costs are likely to be, as negotiations are still ongoing. This means we can't do much more in the way of preparation ourselves other than try and sort out an import agent who can sort as much of the admin as possible and coordinate all parties. I can't really get my head round the whole idea at the moment, but hopefully it will turn out simpler than it sounds. We know it will add to the cost of our young plants but by how much is also an unknown at the moment. All imported plants are due to go to regional hubs to be inspected by the authorities because there is no room at the ports which will add further cost, but the hubs don't yet exist and it is due to start on Jan 1st. It's a good job none of us have anything else to worry about at the moment!

On a lighter note, we had our first NBIS meeting for 6 months this week. A small group of us meet up to compare figures etc and have a catch up. It's as much a therapy session as anything and it was great to see a few familiar faces again over fish and chips and a small beer. The weather was glorious so we managed to all sit outside, nicely socially distanced and discus what an interesting few months we had all experienced. We have a broad range of producers represented, but no bedding growers, who were impacted the hardest by the lockdown. Consequently it was a series of tales of great escapes from impending disaster. We have a few who market through the internet who had tales of the manic chaos and feelings of guilt that took over during lockdown. They knew how others were suffering, but at the same time they struggled to cope with the astonishing demand. Then there were the others supplying the retailers, who lost their main markets for the peak season but found their own way through the lockdown and out the other end into the stresses of satisfying huge consumer demand in the garden centres for the following weeks. We are all thankfully ok now, just rather shell-shocked and tired. Everyone was excited about the prospects for continued high demand into next year, but unsure quite what to do about it. I think we will make it up as we go along, just for a change!

Availability list highlights

Salvia nemerosa varieties are all begining to bud up nicely. Particularly good this week are fresh plants of Pink Marvel which we haven't had this year yet and Blue Marvel too. The Pink is in colour and the Blue close behind. They carry bigger flowers than most other varieties and good strong colour. Don't miss them I don't think they will hang around long.

Ajuga's are looking great, bold fresh foliage. New on for this week are a fresh batch of Liriope muscari which are producing flower stems now. Achillea Terracotta are in bud. I don't have many but they look good. Persicaria Taurus and the more compact Inverleith are both in bud and showing some red colour.

Strong batch of Nepeta Walkers Low in bud and a fresh bushy batch of the properly compact Junior Walker is looking strong. Osteospermum Tresco Purple are erupting into bud now with the odd open flower. Hopefully enough for a few more weeks. Last few Cosmos Chocamocha left, buds appearing and loads of potential.

New batches of Salvia Amethyst Lips and Hot Lips are in bud again, short and bushy and ready to go. Erodium Bishops Form are still going strong, the flowers just go on and on. Erigeron Stallone are back in numbers. Loads of bud showing and a flash of colour on the current batches. As the summer moves on we shift into Aster season. We have a great range of healthy chunky stock at the moment and the buds are now showing.

Aster frikartii Monch looking healthy. Nice bushy fresh batch. Tradescantia Blue & Gold still going strong, buds still popping up. Fresh Helleborous are now on the list, ready to plant out now for a flower show this winter. We have the first few niger and orientalis on the list now as well as some strong chunky foetidus and argutifolius. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy machinery

 Hi Everyone,

Here we are again, I can't believe how fast the weeks are flying by. Only a couple of weeks and it's August Bank holiday time. Thankfully the weather has cooled down now after a run of stifling days of high heat and humidity. I'm not good in the heat and the machinery here didn't like it either. The backup engine cooling fans on the Peugeot van packed up, resulting in all sorts of flashing lights and warnings in the cab, but luckily everything stayed cool enough to get back to base. It is now in the garage awaiting arrival on Monday of a new set of very expensive fans which should sort it all out. Our rotary bed cleaning machine also died with a burst oil seal in the gearbox (a sealed maintenance free unit) and the potting machine lift chain stretched beyond its limit and started banging around in its housing. I have a new chain ready to fit in the winter, but it's a big job and we don't have time at the moment to do it. A bit of clever cutting with an angle grinder allowed a bit more play in the adjuster mechanism and we are adjusted ourselves out of trouble, we just have to limp through two or three more loads of compost and we can stop and refit after that. Naturally the irrigation system sprang a few leaks on the hottest days. Over 24 hrs two solenoids came apart overnight creating their own little water display. Both times I got extremely wet doing the repair but that was fine as I was pretty overheated at the time. Good news this week that the 7.5 tonne van sailed through its delayed MOT, not so good news was the pallet weight they put in the back for the test sailed through the bulkhead and ripped out a load of rivets, adding a lot to the ventilation in the box. Ooops. Very embarrassed mechanic who will be repairing it as soon as we can get it back to him. It was perhaps more dramatic than disastrous, it is a cosmetic injury really and hidden behind the cab, so no worries.

I really expected sales to fall away last week, but no, wrong again, we were fractionally busier than the previous week. After a good watering in the gardens over the last couple of days we could see a resurgence and even more interest, cue the sales drop, it has to happen soon, I'm not sure how long we can keep it up!

Availability list highlights

The herb sales just keep going but the range is recovering a bit as sales slow a little and the potting at last can keep pace.

Main current highlights on the flowering stock front are;

New batches of Salvia nemerosa varieties are on the list this week. Bud is either showing or on the way. Particularly good this week are fresh plants of Pink Marvel which we haven't had this year yet and Blue Marvel too. The Pink is in colour and the Blue not far behind. They carry bigger flowers than most other varieties and good strong colour. Don't miss them I don't think they will hang around long.

Achillea Paprika and Terracotta are in bud. I don't have many but they look good. Osteospermum Tresco Purple are erupting into bud now with the odd open flower. Hopefully enough for several more weeks! Lovely strong bushy plants. Fresh batch of great Cosmos Chocamocha on the go, buds appearing and loads of potential.

New batch of Salvia Amethyst Lips are in bud again, short and bushy and ready to go. Still a few Hot Lips left, a bit smaller but in rampant growth at the moment. Erodium Bishops Form are still going strong, the flowers just go on and on. Erigeron Stallone are back in numbers. Loads of bud showing and a flash of colour on the current batches.

I could tell from the scent in the tunnel that one of the Viola oderata had produced some blooms. Sure enough Konigin Charlotte has a flush of its classic purple flowers on show. Very bushy plants with small flowers but high impact scent. We have a few of the pretty Viola Etain back on the list again, in bud and showing a bit of colour.

As the summer moves on we shift more into Aster season. We have a great range of healthy chunky stock at the moment and the flower heads are forming. We are still a little way from colour for most varieties. Numbers will be a bit limited, although we have quite a lot of the ageratoides varieties this year. I got a bit carried away on my purchasing when I realised how much more resistant to mildew they were. They are great plants but not quite as strongly coloured or named as the more traditional types. I like the more subtle tones myself, but they perhaps aren't quite the show stopping display of the others.Aster frikartii Monch looking healthy. Nice bushy fresh batch.

Tradescantia Blue and Gold still going strong, buds still popping up. Fresh Helleborous are now on the list, ready to plant out now for a flower show this winter. We have the first few niger and orientalis on the list now as well as some strong chunky foetidus and argutifolius. Ajuga's are looking great, bold fresh foliage.

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy heatwave

Hi Everyone,

Looks like it's going to be a hot few days down here in the south. The one day of extreme heat we had last week was enough for me, but you can't do much about it. It looked like being so hot tomorrow I nearly cancelled the potting team from coming in, but the pressure of what needs to be done was just too much. We are going to start and finish early in an effort to avoid the worst of it, and although pretty oppressive today it has clouded up significantly since lunchtime which I think has improved things a bit. At least we won't be queuing in the traffic to get to the beach!

Sales this week are still bowling along, although slightly down from 2 or 3 weeks ago. It is a bit of a relief in some ways as we have been able to catch up slightly with the herb potting and availability. We are still under pressure, but it feels slightly more under control than earlier. I'm sorry there isn't a huge amount in colour with the perennials just at the moment, I just can't hold onto the stock long enough! There will hopefully be a bit more coming, but any hope of a big run of blooms has slipped by now with the continuing high sales levels.

I have been ordering some more young plants this week, to come in next season, which I would quite enjoy doing if I had a bit more time and confidence in the future. I picked a good moment yesterday when I was feeling very positive about what the next season might bring, so the purse strings went a bit slack. Caroline won't see the invoices for months yet so I shouldn't get too much grief just yet. I had talked to a couple of our supplier reps during the day and discussions on the level of demand with new customers coming into gardening plus the likelihood of fewer holidays being taken etc filled me with lots of positive expectations for 2021. I have already increased the overwintering stock levels so that we can cope with a continuing swell of demand early on in the season, and with more to come later in the spring we are going to be busy. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly this time and we can keep up this momentum.

Rescued hedgehog released this week but seems to have settled a bit too well in his new home. Caroline moved the mini hen house she had been using, to a suitable site and left the door open so it could leave at will. Sure enough off it went, only to return the morning for a kip and a bit more supper. Now we will have to leave the house out there until he has finished with it. I suppose it might turn into a winter hibernation site in a few months, we'll see.

Availability list highlights

The herb sales just keep going but the range is recovering a bit as sales slow a little and the potting at last can keep pace. The perennial range is still under pressure but this too should recover over the next few weeks as sales dip and potting catches up.

Main current highlights on the flowering stock front are;

Osteospermum Tresco Purple are erupting into bud now with the odd open flower. Hopefully enough for several more weeks! Lovely strong bushy plants. Fresh batch of Cosmos Chocamocha on the go, buds appearing and loads of potential.

Erodium Bishops Form are still going strong, the flowers just go on and on. Erigeron Stallone are back in numbers. Loads of bud showing and a flash of colour on the current batches.Summer flowering Gaura are coming along nicely with buds on show and colour very close. Several varieties already sold out but a couple of others are on the list to replace them.

I could tell from the scent in the tunnel that one of the Viola oderata had produced some blooms. Sure enough Konigin Charlotte has a flush of its classic purple flowers on show. Very bushy plants with small flowers but high impact scent.

As the summer moves on we shift more into Aster season. We have a great range of healthy chunky stock at the moment and I feel bud is not far away, but no matter how hard I look I can't quite see any yet. Numbers will be a bit limited, although we have quite a lot of the ageratoides varieties this year. I got a bit carried away on my purchasing when I realised how much more resistant to mildew they were. They are great plants but not quite as strongly coloured or named as the more traditional types. I like the more subtle tones myself, but they perhaps aren't quite the show stopping display of the others.

Both Aster frikartii varieties are on the list this week with fresh batches now ready. A few buds appearing already on Flora's Delight, but I don't have many, so don't hang about. Lots of lovely bushy Monch.

Tradescantia Blue and Gold still going strong, buds still popping up. We have a few Tiarella back on the list, flowers are on show and hoping for more to follow. Fresh Helleborous are now on the list, ready to plant out now for a flower show this winter. We have the first few niger and orientalis on the list now as well as some strong chunky foetidus and argutifolius. Ajuga's are looking great, bold fresh foliage and the odd bud appearing on Burgundy Glow. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

 

Hairy planning

Hi Everyone,

I'm marginally more organised this week, or perhaps a better excuse would be a small dip in sales pressure at last. Still more than double the same week last year, but a step down from the last few weeks. It has given us a little more time to get stuck into tunnel clearing and potting so not quite the chaos of recent weeks. Back with a Saturday potting crew this weekend after a rest last week, in an effort to continue the catch up on production. It is mostly now all stock being potted for spring sales, but it is still a rush to get it done, despite that time seeming a long way off. A days extra growth now is worth a week in November for most plants, in fact some of them go into root dormancy well before that. It is easy to get caught and miss out on getting a good root system going before the challenges of winter consume us. Then on the other hand there are some plants, like Erysimum, that just keep growing right through the cold months and if you pot them too early they can get out of hand before they do their spring thing. Juggling the timings and priorities adds another element of excitement to the proceedings.

At the moment I'm trying to judge what our herb stock levels should be over the winter. We try not to do too many as the spring potted stock tends to look a lot fresher once it comes on stream. But with no heat and growing the plants on the hardy side, there is quite a lot of the late winter and early spring that needs to be covered by our overwintered stock. Will the current demand still be there in those early cool days? And if it is, at what level do we pitch the numbers? We can't afford to waste stock by chucking it away unsold, but on the other hand it is frustrating for all if we don't have the stock to satisfy demand. The advanced planning has already gone out of the window, with quite a bit of stock destined to be overwintered, already potted and being sold now. Great for cash-flow and the business recovery, but tricky to work out what will be left at the end of the season. I have ordered in more stock and done extra sowings, to pot where I can. These will more than cover the volumes sold so far and gives us quite a bit extra. Whether it will be enough we will have to wait and see. To be honest everything is still so much up in the air, we are still not sure what is going to happen with anything really. As has become the new normal, we just do what we can and fingers crossed it works out ok. Not a great way to run a business or plan your life, but that is just how it is going to be for a while and we must make the best of it.

Last week's hedgehog patient has recovered well and due for release tomorrow after the field crop is baled up and out of the way. Swifts are gathering overhead in feeding flocks over the fields that are being harvested building themselves up for their long migration south. They are the first of those long winged summer visitors to leave, usually picking the first week in August to make a move (avoids a lot of the holiday traffic I expect) and is a sign that the summer is slipping by. Luckily the swallows and house martins hang about a while longer to entertain us and keep the flies down a bit. No nests on the house again this year which is disappointing but perhaps next year. There is going to be a lot of 'perhaps next year' for a bit!

Availability list highlights

The herb sales just keep going but the range is recovering a bit as sales slow a little and the potting at last can keep pace. The perennial range is still under pressure but this too should recover over the next few weeks as sales dip and potting catches up.

Main current highlights on the flowering stock front are;

Osteospermum Tresco Purple are erupting into bud now with the odd open flower. Hopefully enough for several more weeks! Lovely strong bushy plants. Fresh batch of Cosmos Chocamocha on the go, the odd bud appearing and loads of potential. Erodium Bishops Form are still going strong, the flowers just go on and on. Erigeron Stallone are back in numbers for a minute or two. Bud showing but not colour on the current batches yet. I just can't hang on to them long enough to get the flowers open!

Summer flowering Gaura are coming along nicely with buds on show and colour very close. Some varieties already sold out but a couple of others are on the list to replace them.

As the summer moves on we shift more into Aster season. We have a great range of healthy chunky stock at the moment and I feel bud is not far away, but no matter how hard I look I can't quite see any yet. Numbers will be a bit limited, although we have quite a lot of the ageratoides varieties this year. I got a bit carried away on my purchasing when I realised how much more resistant to mildew they were. They are great plants but not quite as strongly coloured or named as the more traditional types. I like the more subtle tones myself, but they perhaps aren't quite the show stopping display of the others.

Fresh Helleborous are now on the list, ready to plant out now for a flower show this winter. We have the first few niger and orientalis on the list now as well as some strong chunky foetidus and argutifolius.

Ajuga's are looking great, bold fresh foliage and the odd bud appearing on Burgundy Glow. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.