Hairy improvements

Morning all,

A slightly warmer week, the frosts have subsided and the soil has replenished it's moisture level in most areas. Plants are responding with a little flush of growth although it's not exactly tropical out there, so it's not as rampant as it might be. However we have an availability list of sorts to offer this week, after several weeks of no such luxury, so there is definite progress. I can't quite believe the number of plants we have got potted, nearly 2 and a half times the number of spring 2019, all ready to satisfy that pent up demand. There are still masses of modules arriving each week so it's not like we've finished yet, although quite a few are stock for the autumn or next year, fingers crossed we can get plenty sold over the remaining spring and summer.

We had our second container of coir pots of this month delivered yesterday together with a little dose of trepidation. We nearly ran out a couple of weeks ago, so two containers in two weeks has restocked us nicely and resulted in a bit less finger nail chewing. We don't like to sit still in our quest for improvements and we had asked for a tweek in the pot design to make separating the pots a little easier when loading the potting machine. A tiny bit less latex to make them a little more flexible, the removal of the newspaper inserts between each pot (they, in theory, made pot separation easier) and a very small reduction in pot base diameter which would increase the angle of the pot wall, hopefully making the release easier. We opened the first box of the 130,000 pots to find the plan had worked and we now have pots that one pot wrestler alone can separate and feed the potting beast. I immediately sent of an email congratulating the production crew in Sri Lanka who were probably as anxious as we were, a nice step forward for us and a small production/packing saving back in Sri Lanka.

I read a short piece this week by a grower on some of the issues with using more sustainable ingredients within their production process and how there are quite a few inconveniences and extra costs involved, including the problem that they don't always fit in with the current mechanisation plans that most of the big growers have understandably invested in. With a very strong focus on keeping costs low it is going to be almost impossible to make major changes to our approach in how we use alternative materials in our production processes, for producing just about anything, and if we don't start changing we are pretty well stuffed as a planet. I wondered what they would think if they saw us bashing our stacks of pots with a 10kg tarmac tamper before we could then wrestle the pots apart. It's not like it is the odd stack that needed bashing, it's all 500,000 each season! Having literally wrestled with this issue for many years, we have now found a possible solution, to the point where I am seriously considering reinstating our automatic pot dispenser on the potting machine. It will need a few modifications but it may now be a workable option. It's a project for the winter but quite an exciting one to have up our sleeve.

Our peat-free journey has followed similar challenges along the way, with the earliest recipes being a bit of a disaster, but we stuck with it and now we have a great mix which has been growing some lovely plants. It is not a journey without risk, this winters big overwintered trial of a UK 'alternative' peat-free mix was a disaster as it killed a high proportion of the crops that went in it and those that survived were stunted and very late into growth. The survivors are eventually going to make nice plants as the weather warms and the nutrition becomes available to the plants again, but this was not the season we really wanted late crops let alone high losses. It was a shame as the previous smaller trial had gone so well, but sometimes the gamble doesn't come off and we have to revert to the tried and tested.

The non plastic label and packing developments we have completed recently, have taken years to get where we are now. Almost all our labels and POS header boards etc are now completely plastic free, with just the remains of a bit of old stock still to use up. Each year we take a few small steps and see if things work in practice, it isn't always more convenient or cheaper for us, but sometimes it eventually works out to save us on material costs. The header boards and small run pot labels are now cheaper with using the Floramedia B500 waterproofed card, our new die cutters and 20 tonne press, and on the wooden box front, even with a doubling of the cost this year, they still work out cheaper in materials than using single use plastic trays.

In a nut shell if we are going to save the planet we are going to have to work more sustainably, not necessarily more conveniently or the easiest, cheapest way. That is how we got in this mess in the first place. David A is saying that we need the urgency and effort of fighting Covid applied to climate change and I don't doubt him, but I worry that as a society we are not yet prepared for that level of application. Come on, surprise me!

The new van is still sat in the yard unused. The extended mirrors arrived, but they sent the wrong ones! Meanwhile we ordered a new 7.5t lorry this week, hopefully for delivery in the autumn. Took some effort but managed to get them to put in a lorry sat nav not a car one, I couldn't believe they could get away with installing a car version. Luckily it was only another £250 on top of the standard installation. I'm absolutely sure they can see me coming.

Availability list highlights

Ok, there is a list this week, hurrah! There are quite a few lines on there, but numbers of some are still limited so there could be a few substitutions in the orders to make up numbers. If you prefer we can still do a selection of our own choice of the herb and/or perennial range again and will take your guidance on any lines you don't need. There is even a little bud on a few lines but not a lot, so please don't ask me for a trolley in bud and flower. As hard as I try I can't get the little tykes to grow any quicker.

After a few weeks of slightly less frantic sales I am a bit anxious that providing a list will kick off a big rise in demand, so I'm quite pleased the forecast looks a bit unsettled, which hopefully will prevent a mass buyout from your plant areas. There will be plenty more stock coming from us, so please don't overdo it in week one of our comeback. Fingers crossed we can keep it all together and keep up with the deliveries.

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries