Hairy propagation

Morning all,

Just a quick one today. Despite the big jobs for the year mostly out of the way now, there still aren't enough hours in the day. I won't bore you with the details but getting stuck into updating COSSH assessments etc isn't as much fun as it sounds and takes an age to do properly! Now I've only got a few minutes to get this email and list all polished off before I have to rush off and get my flu jab. Booster Covid due at the end of the month and then hopefully I'm nearly set up for the winter. Just the eyes and teeth to rescue and I might make it physically through until the spring, touch wood. Whether the mental capacity will keep up I'm not so sure after another embarrassing evening. Caroline rustled up a fab cauliflower cheese with parsnip chips (first of the new winter season) which went down at treat. I say it' went down' I may be misleading you, as later in the evening I found a good dollop of Romanesco and cheese sauce in my hair, what is going on? Best not think about it too long.

Things on the nursery are quieting down a bit although as usual the list of things to do seems to be getting longer. We had a big box repair session this week which brought several hundred boxes back to life which is great and very cost effective.

We also had a well overdue tidy up in the irrigation pump shed and sorted out the hanging up of all the tools we use in there to make our running repairs. No more lost spanners with a bit of luck. The new straw mulch we are using this winter to slow up the moss and liverwort growth on the top of the pots is now being applied by several teams of hardy staff. It all looks so clean and tidy once it is done, but it is going to take a while.

The microprop lab which has made such a strong recovery after pretty devastating covid disruption, is just about to go into its busy period building up the numbers for the spring orders. Not the time to suddenly go from 7 staff to 3, but hey-ho we will hopefully get back to proper levels before too long, not all the losses are permanent, just unfortunate timing on multiple events. Such is life. We are in a slightly tricky strategic position in the business as a whole but especially in the lab. The government drive towards a high pay, high productivity, economy is going to need a bit of thinking about as we find ourselves at the wrong end of that equation. 70% of the costs in the lab are labour and that labour is pretty skilled, it takes months to get new staff to achieve good work speeds coupled with the right quality of work. It doesn't take many heavy handed or misguided cuts with a scalpel blade to destroy the quality of a batch of plants, so the quality has to be there before the speed builds up. With most microprop production now being centred in developing countries where labour is cheap, there is limited chance of major price increases for us, so any hope of increasing the value of our output compared with the cost of our labour is pretty slim. With very little scope to mechanise the process, I suspect this is one area of our production which is only going to have a limited life as wages rise, which would be a shame after doing this for so long and being quite good at it, even if I do say so myself. Hopefully the nursery output which is slightly less labour orientated and less easily replaceable by imported plants, will have a brighter future but I'm sure productivity pressures will build as well as prices rise, Interesting times!

Autumn wooden box collections are now nearly done

Most of our wooden trays have now 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. Just been informed of another timber price rise, so definitely need them back!

Availability list highlights

The long 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 and less hardy pot cyclamen. A favourite of ours.

Some of the Helleborus niger varieties are in bud and flower already, Christmas has come early. Helleborus orientalis are looking strong with the occasional bud showing. A slightly enlarged range from us this year with the introduction of the Pretty Ellen range of a red, white and a pink. There are a few fresh grown Erigeron Stallone available and in bud. Ours in the garden have been known to still be flowering at Christmas. Only a few left.

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries