Hairy Christmas

Happy Christmas Everyone,

I can't believe how time flies at this time of year. For us it is supposed to be the quiet time when we can catch up with all the jobs put on hold earlier in the year. Loads of time to update catalogues and labels and finalise the production ideas for the next season. To be fair we have caught up on a lot of plant work but it's now just over half way through the month and most of the outside staff have already broken up for the festive break and won't be back until next year. Most of the lab staff are in until the 23rd, because the plants just keep growing in there and we can't afford to leave them unattended for too long, but outside it is a good time for holiday allocations to be used up.

Most of the 'one off' winter jobs always seem to take so much longer to finish than I plan for, if you could identify any part of my management technique as planning. This week should have been an exciting one with the arrival of the new loo block, but that certainly didn't go to plan. The old block flew away a couple of weeks ago no problem, and we thought the new one would easily drop back into the same position. Over the previous week we tidied the site, laid new foundation pads and repositioned all the services to fit the new unit. Due at 12.00 on Tuesday, it got delayed a few hours and instead of being on a small HIAB lorry it arrived on a full length arctic. After a lot of shunting about it became apparent that it couldn't get close enough to the site to lift it into position, so it was dropped off on the track close by, for a two part lift. The cab detached from the trailer and drove round to the other side of the unit to lift it from there. By this time it was raining and pitch dark, which didn't make life any easier. The cab and crane unit still couldn't get close enough and when the lift got anywhere close to the correct site position, the alarms went off, so we gave up and left the unit blocking the farm track. Still, at least there are alarms on these things to reduce the danger of a mishap. Now I have had to hire in a bigger 60 ton crane to get the job done, which is coming on Monday at a fairly hefty cost. That's one half hour job that will have taken a day and dented the cash-flow.

Naturally the installation of the new computer last week went ahead without a hitch. Replacing your main unit, which holds most of the data, is bound to go well, after all they are all plug and play these days, aren't they. There goes another week. It's all good progress really and it will all set us up beautifully for the coming season and the hopefully a hectic sales run right through to the autumn again. Fingers crossed.

Our picnic Christmas lunch went brilliantly on Tuesday, absolutely delicious treats all boxed up for each participant plus some hot soup. Way too much for one meal for most of us, so many little hampers made their way home to supplement evening meals. Secret Santa gifts were opened and enjoyed (I got a fab woolly Mohican hat to remind me of days gone by!). Sadly we didn't find the time to make our long, socially distanced crackers, so there was a shortage of paper hats, but luckily the present wrapping doubling up nicely as temporary festive headwear. With a round of internet jokes and a couple of 'magic' tricks, a wild time was had by all!

Anyway, this will be my last weekly news update of a crazy year. Thanks so much for all the support we have had from so many directions over this rather traumatic period, and we wish everyone a happy, more optimistic and positive 2021. It's still going to be tough in the first few months, but at least there is now a strong light at the end of the tunnel. As an industry we have so much to look forward to, and hopefully the world will come out of this chaos with lots of other positive trends.

Have a good break and stay safe. 

Prices & catalogue for 2021

Very sorry, but the 2021 catalogue is not quite ready yet. The perennial range is expanding a bit but otherwise much will be the same as last year's issue. The prices will rise by about 2.5% (5p) which I am hoping will cover some of the cost increases we have seen. With a bit of luck a smoother sales season and increasing sales volumes will cover the rest.

Availability list highlights

The weather looks a bit miserable next week and we are hoping for a very quiet week on deliveries as we are a bit short staffed, but if you are desperate do let me know and we will do our best. We are all back on Monday 4th Jan so normal service should be in operation by then, assuming no extra Covid restrictions are put in place.

A nice range of Helleborous are now on the list, ready to plant out now for a flower show this winter. We have sold out of a couple of lines already but still have some great niger and orientalis on the list. The niger are budding up now.

We have the longer flowering little Cyclamen coum available now as well. Only a few ready at the moment but they will flower all winter and into the spring. Only available this year in a mixed colour range and only in limited numbers. Ajuga's are still looking nice, bold fresh foliage.

We have a good range of the evergreen Bergenia's in stock. Attractive foliage colour on our range of Heuchera. Young and fresh. Those were the days. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hairy picnics

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick one as I'm pushed for time with all the pre-Christmas stuff going on. Lights are up in despatch and on the coffee shack, all looking very festive. Lashed out on some new light strings which have three colours in each LED bulb head. All programmable with infinite colour variations and patterns on the Wifi controls, very jolly and bright enough to see in daylight as well as at night. The usual Christmas pub lunch is off, so we have been organising something a bit different. We are still all having socially spaced breaks under the all the new little heaters in dispatch, so we have ordered fancy individual picnic boxes and mugs of hot soup for everyone. It's all coming from a local events catering company who are having to do a lot of thinking outside the picnic box to keep busy. We have quite a few long card tubes knocking about the nursery so we are working on a design for some 4ft crackers, so we can all really get in the mood on the day.

Meanwhile my nursery investment excitement continues, with the delivery of our first clicker press last week and a new computer coming on Monday. The new loo development took a major step forwards this week with the old unit being craned off site onto the back of a lorry. There were a few tense hours with everyone holding on until the arrival of the temporary block, especially as it was three hours late arriving! It ended up being unloaded in the dark and plumbed into all the necessary drains, water and power. Wrestling with refitting soil pipes and altering trenches in the drizzle under torchlight was not my favourite way to spend a winter evening, but luckily it all went fairly smoothly and normal services were soon returned. Hopefully the weather next week will be reasonably dry as we have to prepare the old site for the arrival of the new unit. Needless to say all the services and concrete foundation pads are in different positions, but is shouldn't take too long. The new unit arrives the following week and we will then be flush with available Covid safe facilities.

I hope all your Christmas sales are going well and your plans for the festive break are coming together. Ours programme has now gone so quiet I'm lining up some printing plate making and printing to occupy me, in an effort to get me off the sofa. I suspect the lure of the wood-burner, an entire turkey to eat by myself and all the mince pies might keep me on my back a bit more than I imagine, but it's always nice to feel I could be productive if I put my mind to it.

We are all getting quite excited about the plant selling prospects for 2021. Demand looks like it is going to be strong from an expanded consumer market, the centres hopefully will be open all season, UK plant suppliers are super popular at the moment and environmental awareness is still growing. We are expanding production to try and cope but like so many others it is all still a bit of a guessing game. We are so lucky to be in this position when so many other industries are still struggling, but at least if we do well we can create more work and jobs for others which must help.

Availability list highlights

A nice range of Helleborous are now on the list, ready to plant out now for a flower show this winter. We have sold out of a couple of lines already but still have some great niger and orientalis on the list, with plenty of bud and the odd open flower showing on the niger Avent Star. We have the longer flowering little Cyclamen coum available now as well. Only a few ready at the moment but they will flower all winter and into the spring. Only available this year in a mixed colour range and only in limited numbers.

Ajuga's are still looking nice, bold fresh foliage. We have a good range of the evergreen Bergenia's in stock. Watch out for the more unusual Dumbo which as it matures produces really big fleshy and rather hairy leaves, but this is a actually deciduous variety. The ever popular  Erigeron Stallone still has some bud on show and the odd open flower. They will often still be in colour at Christmas. Attractive foliage colour on our range of Heuchera. Young and fresh. Those were the days. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries