Hairy professionalism

Morning all,

It's been a glorious week in Winchester, warmer than it was in August and all set to continue into this weekend. Looks like we might all get a bit more autumnal weather going into next week but nothing too dramatic.

Sales have gone quite quiet which has meant lots of tray collecting, tunnel clearing and potting, but the pressure remains with the race to get everything potted before too long. The spring bulb compost and the bulbs themselves arrived a week early, just to add to the backlog of work but they will hold until we are ready.

My hopes of an easy run into taking part in the AIPH conference discussion panel on sustainable marketing evaporated pretty quickly. I had to rustle up a profile and find a mug shot to decorate their website first and then produce an online presentation with visual commentary to illustrate our 'sustainable journey'. Many years ago I did manage to put some images on the Powerpoint, but never with any degree of professionalism. Luckily we have a management consultant currently helping us clear tunnels and get the potting done and he has put in some extra hours this week to get something out there. It was still down to me to provide the video commentary and sort out the content but Andy made it look pretty slick and not the embarrassing mess it could have been if I had been given free reign. It still took the best part of two days to compile and play about with and to top it off, the final stage, the video recording, was a nightmare. It is scary how odd your own voice sounds on playback and how old the bloke looks when he is staring back at you from the corner of the screen. Luckily the software allows you to rerecord over each individual slide, otherwise I would still be there, trying to get all the words out in the right order. It's a good job the outtakes aren't recorded as it got a bit colourful at times. I did it in the evening so I wouldn't be disturbed, but I didn't expect it to take 'till gone midnight to finish it off. Anyway it's all done, downloaded and up on the conference website so there's no going back now.

A much appreciated evening off on Wednesday, with a trip round a new suite of sustainable buildings at Winchester University with our local Sustainable Business Network group. It was our first physical meeting since Covid started, up so it was great to be back and see how everyone fared. At £40 million the building was a bit beyond our budget but the amount of clever stuff and 'well being' design features was astonishing. I had been quite excited to have put in motion controlled heaters in despatch and the potting shed, but this was on a different level. The contemplation room and meeting pods, wrap around chairs to reduce disturbance, all furniture wired up for plugging in devices, air vents in the floor and ceiling it was nuts. There were holes cut in walls lined with cushions, earphones and usb sockets, where students could tuck themselves away to escape the world. I wonder how many of the graduates are going to be looking for work on a nursery once there are done? Might be a bit of a shock. Maybe I'm being short sighted and we should all be installing cubby holes for staff and customers to crawl into and escape the world.

Autumn wooden box collections have started

Lots of our wooden trays have already been collected up, but if you have a collection of trays ready to go, please do drop me an email and we will call in a pick them up as soon as we are in your area. At a replacement cost now in excess of £10 a box now we can't afford to lose too many.  .

Availability list highlights

Running low on Cyclamen hederifolium already, but the longer flowering Cyclamen coum varieties are coming along with the odd flower opening already. This coum series we are growing flowers continuously from September to April given reasonable winter conditions, it is really hardy although the number of flowers open at any one time is more subtle and modest than some of the very showy modern less hardy pot cyclamen. A favourite of ours,

Anemone varieties coming into bud and flower. Some are quite tall now but strong stemmed. Fresh batches of bushy dwarf Bran Series Chrysanthemum coming on with bud appearing, nearly all gone now. The repeat flowering Hemerocallis Big Time Happy is still flowering, looking strong and pretty. Asters are coming along with colour showing. We have some colourful foliage plants in stock. Silver leaved Stachys and Artemesia, purple leaved Heuchera. Euphorbia are there in a range of colours too and the stripy golden grass Carex Evergold. We also have some really strong and colourful Ajugas to watch out for.

The variegated foliage of Pulmonaria Opal and Mageste are very smart, ready to build up to their spring flower display. Osteospermum Tresco Purple are still selling well with flowers and buds opening. Our two forms of Erodium have lots of tiny open flowers all over the plant surface with plenty of bud to follow. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hairy ambition

Morning all,

A lovely sunny and warm spell of weather here over the last couple of weeks and it looks set to continue for a few more days yet. Not much in the way of wind to turn the turbines but you can't have everything. At least the newly potted stock is having a good growth spurt which is reassuring.

Not a lot to report this week, lots more potting done, although as usual not as much as I had hoped! We had a host of holidays and illness again this week which left us a bit short on every day this week. Luckily still no Covid outbreaks, a couple of scares, but disruptive none the less.

We set free our last main batch of predators this week, it will be too cool fairly soon for them to be active enough to dent the pest populations, but they seem to have done a reasonable job in keeping any major outbreaks at bay. We used quite a lot more Lacewing larvae this season to spot treat any larger aphid outbreaks or susceptible crops. They are quite aggressive little tykes and need putting in amongst an active pest food source, otherwise they start eating each other. They are one of those introductions that needs a certain degree of pest presence to succeed which is why we do have a base level of pests on occasions, it is just a matter of trying to get the right balance. We spend a lot of the 4 weekly introductions and it is sometimes a difficult thing to justify. You can't usually see them doing their thing after you let them go, they just disappear into the crops, we just have to trust that the reason we don't often have any major pest outbreaks is because they are doing their thing. Touch wood, we haven't seen as much leaf hopper this year but we are not a 100% sure why. There isn't a specific commercial predator available yet and they were becoming a bit of a problem. They used to be taken out by some of the more generalised pesticides years ago but now we are not using them they rather came to the fore. We have been using red sticky traps hanging just above the most susceptible crops, which attract them quite well and are especially effective in knocking back the overwintering populations. The extra lacewing larvae through the summer could be helping too as they have a very varied diet, or maybe it just wasn't a good year for the leaf hopper!

Might have made a mistake this week in signing up to be on a sustainability marketing discussion panel at an upcoming international horticultural conference. I tried to put them off but failed and first rehearsal is now on Monday, for the event on the 30th. It seems to involve a load of stuff I don't do, social media, group presentation software, mug-shots, profiles it's an alien world out there. Good job I've got nothing better to do, I am wondering how little I can get away with!

Autumn wooden box collections have started

We are starting to hoover up our wooden trays from many customers already, so if you have a collection of trays ready to go, please do drop me an email and we will call in a pick them up as soon as we are in your area. The barn is already starting to fill up with pallets of cleaned stock all tucked away ready for next season. There is a small stack of damaged ones to repair or replace, which is just part of the usual process for us, so don't worry if there is some damage, we like to get back as many as we can. At a replacement cost now in excess of £10 a box now we can't afford to lose too many.  

Availability list highlights

Running low on Cyclamen hederifolium already, but the longer flowering Cyclamen coum varieties are coming along with the odd flower opening already. This coum series we are growing flowers continuously from September to April given reasonable winter conditions, it is really hardy although the number of flowers open at any one time is more subtle and modest than some of the very showy modern less hardy pot cyclamen. A favourite of ours. Anemone varieties coming into bud and flower. Some are quite tall now but strong stemmed. Oxalis Iron Cross with two tone leaves and red/pink flowers. A fresh short bushy batch in bud and ready to go, only a few left. Fresh batches of bushy dwarf Bran Series Chrysanthemum coming on with bud appearing, nearly all gone now.

The repeat flowering Hemerocallis Big Time Happy is flushing again with bud and flower, looking strong and pretty. Fresh batches of Salvia Sensation and Marvel series are looking good, buds about to appear if not there already. Asters are coming along with bud now appearing. We have some colourful foliage plants in stock, silver leaved Stachys and Artemesia, purple leaved Heuchera. Euphorbia are there in a range of colours too and the stripy golden grass Carex Evergold. We have some really strong and colourful Ajugas to watch out for.

The variegated foliage of Pulmonaria Opal and Mageste are very smart, ready to build up to their spring flower display. Osteospermum Tresco Purple are still selling well with flowers and buds opening. Our two forms of Erodium have lots of tiny open flowers all over the plant surface with plenty of bud to follow. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hairy Jive

Morning all,

With sales settling back into autumn mode we are pressing on with the potting despite the potting machines attempts to thwart us. This week the on/off button took on a will of its own, at times stopping the machine every minute or two. A quick dismantle and clean up of the mechanism helped hugely reduce the interruptions, but they are still there. A sign of age and overuse I suspect, I know how it feels. Time for a new replacement (on both fronts).

Potting is now flying, so hoping for a major catch up over the next few weeks and a warm gentle slide into winter to get a good growth spurt in before most plants go into hibernation. No chance for us to go to sleep for the winter, there are loads of jobs lined up already, all those things we never got time to do over such a manic season. I am feeling quite pleased with myself for securing a load of cut timber for constructing another big batch of replacement wooden trays. The price of wood and delivery times are getting are getting scary, it was bad enough getting this load in but at least we have it here all ready to print up, treat and construct. A great winter job that will keep several of us occupied for weeks. We have water recycling pipe-work still to dig in and weed mulches to finish off and a few tunnel covers to replace. The list is growing.

Things seem to be getting back to a bit closer to normal out there in the real world, although I am struggling myself to feel comfortable in close proximity to groups of strangers. One of our newer recruits is our modern jive dance instructor, who has now restarted his evening sessions with groups of up to 100 or so dancers, all in close hand to hand combat and sharing partners. All have to prove double jabs or testing on the day before entry but there are few masks in evidence, mainly because it is such a social exercise you lose so much if hidden behind a mask. He was saying how great it was to be back in action but how odd it was moving from his dance environment back into the shops and restaurants where everyone is still so mask and socially distance orientated. Such a contrast and mentally quite confusing. I haven't made it back yet to strut my stuff, the risk of missing work was too high when we have been so busy, but I think the time is approaching when I'm going to have to have a go. I really miss the social side and the complete mental break it used to give me, you can't think of anything else when you are trying to remember what move to do next! It has been 18 months since I last went and I can't remember anything, I'm just hoping it all comes flooding back when in the right environment, although I'm pretty sure that quite a few brain cells have left the building since then!

Autumn wooden box collections have started

We are starting to hoover up our wooden trays from many customers already, so if you have a collection of trays ready to go, please do drop me an email and we will call in a pick them up as soon as we are in your area. The barn is already starting to fill up with pallets of cleaned stock all tucked away ready for next season. There is a small stack of damaged ones to repair or replace, which is just part of the usual process for us, so don't worry if there is some damage, we like to get back as many as we can. At a replacement cost now in excess of £10 a box now we can't afford to lose too many.  

Availability list highlights

Running low on Cyclamen hederifolium already, but the longer flowering Cyclamen coum varieties are coming along with the odd flower opening already. This coum series we are growing flowers continuously from September to April given reasonable winter conditions, it is really hardy although the number of flowers open at any one time is more subtle and modest than some of the very showy modern less hardy pot cyclamen. A favourite of ours, Anemone varieties coming into bud and flower. Some are quite tall now but strong stemmed.

Oxalis Iron Cross with two tone leaves and red/pink flowers. A fresh short bushy batch in bud and ready to go. Fresh batches of bushy dwarf Bran Series Chrysanthemum coming on with bud appearing. The repeat flowering Hemerocallis Big Time Happy is flushing again with bud and flower, looking strong and pretty. Fresh batches of Salvia Sensation and Marvel series are looking good, buds about to appear if not there already. Asters are coming along with bud now appearing.

We have some colourful foliage plants in stock. Silver leaved Stachys and Artemesia, purple leaved Heuchera, plus a couple with paler marbled foliage. Euphorbia are there in a range of colours too and the stripy golden grass Carex Evergold. We have some really strong and colourful Ajugas to watch out for. The variegated foliage of Pulmonaria Opal and Mageste are very smart, ready to build up to their spring flower display. Osteospermum Tresco Purple are still selling well with flowers and buds opening. Our two forms of Erodium have lots of tiny open flowers all over the plant surface with plenty of bud to follow. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hairy Manual

Morning all,

Back to  a five day week next week so hoping to have a real good bash through some of the remaining potting and pricking out which still seems to be a bit behind. Bank Holiday Mondays potting went really well, it was well worth dragging a team in to bump up the volumes done. It certainly helped this week's totals completed, as we had a bit of a disaster on Friday which is usually our most productive day. Mid morning the take-off conveyor stopped and wouldn't restart. The motor and chain drive were fine but the end of the conveyor driveshaft had worn down to a cylinder shape so the square motor drive connector could no longer turned it. It has been on the cards for months, if it hadn't been that then the belt was quite close to breaking and the internal rollers no longer rolled, so we were lucky it lasted this long really. I had already got in a new replacement belt and accumulation table which I was planning on fitting over the winter, so it was just a matter of wheeling them into position plugging them in and away we go. Good plan, rubbish execution! Needed an extra conveyor stand, no problem, plenty round the back of the barn. All looked good until we tried adjusting the height, rusted solid and no amount of hitting with lump hammers could shift them so ended up adding some wooden 'spacers' cable tied onto the stand. Next, turn it all on, belt turns but the table doesn't. Eventually work out the correct combination of buttons and knob positions to get the table going (what's an instruction manual?) and both are running in reverse. Rewire the 3 phase supply to run the right way and the belt works nicely at an adjustable speed, but the table is whizzing round and tipping off the pots. Eventually work out that we could reposition the drive roller to the outside of the table (what is this manual everyone keeps mentioning?) to slow the turning speed, but it is still too fast. Adjusted the take off guide arm to push the pots further onto the table which slows the speed to a manageable level and off we go. Two hours lost so coming in again tomorrow to try and catch up. I think in the end the new set up will be more efficient because the machine as a whole doesn't need to stop as often, but we might need a bit more electrical kit to slow up the turntable motor. Oh the joys of nursery production.

A mini heat-wave due next week which hopefully will help the farm get through the bulk of the remaining harvest. After a stuttering and damp start which looked a bit worrying for a while, they have had a good run over the last couple of weeks so hopefully they can get most of it cut and in the barn. Harvest pressure then falls away to be replaced by the race to re-sow for next year and off they go again.

Back in the real world, I still can't quite believe Charlie Watts has left us, a man who knew what he liked. He loved his drumming and the fact that he was in one of the biggest bands ever, was financially very convenient, but never really dominated his life. In recent years we were very lucky to see him play at least 4 times, once with the Stones at Southampton football stadium which was a fantastic rock and roll performance and the other times in little clubs, pubs and theatres locally, playing in the Boogie-Woogie group he was part of with our favourite pianist Ben Waters. It was great to see such a legend playing for fun and slightly bizarre to be able to see him so close up in such a small audience. Now all extra treasured memories.

Availability list highlights

Oxalis Iron Cross with two tone leaves and red/pink flowers. A fresh short bushy batch in bud and ready to go. Anemone varieties coming into bud and flower. Fresh batches of bushy dwarf Bran Series Chrysanthemum coming on with bud appearing. The repeat flowering Hemerocallis Big Time Happy is flushing again with bud and flower, looking strong and pretty. Summer is still in sight with the Armeria's still with flowers coming. Nice chunky and bushy Verbena rigida coming into bud just a few left.

Fresh batches of Salvia Sensation and Marvel series are looking good, buds about to appear if not there already. A couple of Campanulas are still flowering nicely on strong plants. Posharskyana and Clockwise are the best. Still have some strong hardy fuchsia looking smart and colourful. The dainty and upright white flowered Hawkshead look fab. Asters are coming along with bud now appearing on Lady in Blue and Starlight. More to come over the next few weeks. 

We have some colourful foliage plants in stock. Silver leaved Stachys and Artemesia, purple leaved Heuchera, plus a couple with paler marbled foliage. Euphorbia are there in a range of colours too and the stripy golden grass Carex Evergold. We have some really strong and colourful Ajugas to watch out for. The variegated foliage of Pulmonaria Opal and Mageste are very smart, ready to build up a head of steam for their spring flower display. Osteospermum Tresco Purple are still selling well with flowers and buds opening. Our two forms of Erodium have lots of tiny open flowers all over the plant surface with plenty of bud to follow. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries