Hairy return

Morning all,

Back to it after a few days off in sunny St Ives. A lovely break with loads of weather, walking and way too much eating out. Major personal self control required over the next few weeks to try and recover the situation, but well worth it. The increase in taking UK breaks is obviously continuing in Cornwall, we have never seen it so busy in November, even out on the hills the parking was packed out when we usually hardly see a sole. Unfortunately for us a few of our favourite restaurants were closed or on short time opening as they struggled to find staff cover for holidays through the rest of the season. They had been extremely busy over the main season and so just shut up shop for a couple of weeks or longer in their quietest month, so they could all grab a break. I have every sympathy for them and in the end we didn't starve. Glad to say that three new Moomaid ice cream cafes had opened up in the area and we made the most of that! Local ice cream from the village of Zennor just down the road, way too good to pass by un-tasted although a double scoop Shipwrecked nearly finished me off. 

The nursery needless to say survived without us and it looks like lots got done in our absence. Must go away more often. Greg and the team seem to have kept a lid on everything although the list of things to mend seems to have got a bit longer. The house is spotless after being looked after by my mum and the post holiday mountain of washing and ironing is already nearly done after just 24 hrs!

The wind turbines had their annual service last week, with just one hiccup. Looks like one of the generators will have to be replaced shortly. It's not cheap to do but the design is supposed to have been improved for quieter, more efficient operation and a longer life span (this one lasted 10 years), so there are benefits. We had one done before and is does have a marginally better output and so far seems to be running smoother, which should lead to a longer life, touch wood. It will be interesting to see if the current electric wholesale price remains at a higher level that it was 12 months ago, as it would make a big difference to us in a few years time when the turbines have to justify their ongoing maintenance from savings and income alone, without any feed in tariff. I am investigating a few solar panels to add to our energy arsenal as we increasingly turn to electric fuelling for heat and power rather than the alternatives, but it's early days yet.

I will be sending out the updated catalogue and price list as soon as I can get it all together. There will be a 10p per pot rise for next season to try and cover some of our cost increases. I thought a few weeks ago that this was going to be enough, because some of the costs would begin to settle down again after the covid disruptions to world trade, however I must admit to being a bit nervous that this might not happen as fast as I thought it might. With big pressure on wages and labour availability adding to things, we are having to aim at even more efficiency improvements to make it work out right for 2022 and I suspect we are already looking at more rises for 2023. That is a long way off yet but just to let you know the pressures are there, with little scope for many more material cost savings. At the moment 75% of the 2022 price increase will be needed to cover the extra container freight costs for importing the coir pots, which are currently nearly ten time the cost of a year ago! Fingers crossed this will settle down again but it shows no sign of doing so at the moment.

On the bright side, demand is still growing with a healthy list of new sites wanting stock in 2022 so no complaints there. Just need to get the plants grown as efficiently and beautifully as we can.

Autumn wooden box collections are now just about 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 us 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

Things are getting quiet now and most plants are looking for their winter rest. There are still a few stars shining out there, but fewer each week. The mild weather is keeping things ticking over at the moment 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.

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries