Hairy plumbing

 Morning all,

Wow that was a busy selling week. I know it's early and we are not at full barmyness levels yet, but that was our biggest week despatching in any January or February week ever, other than one week last year when the last week of February was a tiny bit more. Unfortunately we got slightly knocked off course on all the other jobs but still managed to make progress and the bank manager will be relieved that some money is already due to come in.

The overwintering plant tidying took a hit, but we ploughed on with the some of the biggest projects. We are so close to finishing the wooden box making, all the bits are printed, painted and treated and just a 100 or so boxes left to construct, a big relief to see the end in sight. We will have to do a stock take of bits left, once complete, because I know we are short of one component so I will need to order a few more to tidy up the last bits. The wooden POS boards for the season are nearly done too, just another days printing and treating and I should be there. Might get that done over a quiet day on Saturday.

Big day on Wednesday with the arrival of all our card based colour labels for the year. Nearly 500,00 to file away before Monday. Luckily I started earlier in the week by relabelling all their little storage boxes so we are just about ready to unpack and get filing.

Following on from last week, all my plumbing bits arrived for the installation of our new water treatment system. Today Greg and I spent the day dismantling all the pipe-work in the pump shed, repositioning the pumps to fit in the rather large new unit and then cutting and gluing the new bits together. Naturally the first fitting required was the wrong size, swiftly followed by two more and I wondered if starting this whole thing was a mistake. Luckily we found an old spare bit which sorted one issue and fitted a temporary bypass round the other. I have ordered a couple of reducers to sort out the ordering mistakes (yes me again) so that shouldn't be an issue. I must say the rest of the operation went really well and everything is now more or less in one piece but the test will come tomorrow when all the glues and jointing compounds have set and we can put the system under full water pressure. I know there is likely to be the odd drip, but fingers crossed for no major flooding. We still have to get the electrician in to do the final powering up for the control panel but we are nearly there.

We are progressing swiftly with the work to join up all our tunnel drains and start harvesting some decent volumes of rainwater. The last of the drainage pipe arrived this week, with water pipes and float cables etc coming on Monday. We have a monster submersible pump already here to drop in the water collection sump and today the farm pitched up with their JCB to dig out the hole for the sump. They are kindly fitting us in around all the farm work they should be doing, so progress may be a bit erratic but they are off to a great start, it would be a big hole to dig by hand! With 300m of trenching to do we will be very grateful for their mechanic assistance and hopefully we can get it all together before the season goes mad. It will be a close call.

We very nearly did our first bit of spring potting this week, but ran out of time. The weather next week looks reasonably settled so with luck we can catch up then. It's a our annual crop of bare root strawberries which always seem to do so well, although they are a bit of a pain to get in the pots as they are so chunky. It might well be the last time we use the old potting machine because the new one should be here very shortly. It has done us proud over 23 years, but it's only the rust and paint that holds most of it together so we will be glad to see the replacement. It should more than see me out!

Availability list highlights

Things are still pretty quiet during this cold snap with most plants still in winter dormancy, but there are still a few stars shining out there. The spring bulbs are beginning to sprout with one or two hinting at some colour.

Please do bear in mind that it is still mid-winter so our unheated plant growth, although healthy, is likely to be winter 'tight' in habit and not soft and lush.

Helleborus niger are still in strong bud and flower, looking like they should.

Pulmonaria varieties are shooting nicely after their winter trim. Trevi Fountain and Opal are even showing tight buds.

Aubretia in blue and red shades are looking bushy, nice and tight in growth habit with some occasional flower colour showing, especially in the red.

Centaurea Amethyst Dream showing bud and the odd flash of deep purple colour.

Another spring favourite are the Erysimum's which are coming on line now. Just the Red Jep has tight bud lurking among the foliage at the moment, but the Apricot Twist and Pastel Patchwork are looking strong and bushy too.

Scaboius Butterfly Blue and Pink Mist think it's spring, with bud on show.

Wild primrose with bud and the odd flash of very early spring sunshine yellow. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries