Hairy positivity

Morning,

Thankfully the grass is greening up again with a little bit of steady rain. No floods yet, but we are still desperate for more to get out of this drought situation. We have been trying to find some positive stuff to focus on to help alleviate all the rubbish in the news, so we have had another man in to take a look at our rain collection installation and the possibility of installing a few solar panels which would move us in a positive cost direction. We are doing some fresh sourcing of timber to try and keep our wooden box costs in check after huge rises over the past couple of years and I have signed up again with our pot makers with a schedule for next year's deliveries, which should give them the confidence to keep up their good work in these challenging times. We have our fingers crossed that container costs continue to fall over the next 12 months which should happen if world trade falters as expected (every cloud and all that). 

We are approaching the winter with a lot of lovely things tucked under our belts. We have good numbers of plants potted and growing away nicely after slightly earlier potting, we have nearly enough pots in stock already to cover all of next year's output (mission critical, they have very long lead times which can lead to nervous waits for any delayed deliveries), There's two years supply of bamboo skewers in the barn (bought in bulk to keep price from going too high) and good stock levels of wooden marketing trays ready for next year's sales. It does all dent the cash-flow a bit but it should all generate cash again in the coming season. We have employed a few more summer staff this year so not only did we start potting earlier but we have also been pot topping earlier, to reduce the amount of liverwort establishing on the compost surface before the winter. This should save us loads of time later and make for tidier plants at despatch in the spring, so improving overall productivity which is going to be so important over the next year.

I used the bank holiday weekend for a little distractive activity, taking on a potential clearout in the house garage. I've not been in there for a long time and now I wish I had left it alone! Our old Standard Pennant (1959) is in there, all covered up and un-started for probably 5 or 6 years, and now covered in a telltale line of sawdust. We have a bad case of woodworm in all the roof supports and window frames which if untreated could have been big trouble for the roof structure. Luckily the walls and floor are concrete and part of the roof support is steel so the wooden components are not a major structural feature. However action was needed so I have cleaned out one half (the side without the car) and treated all the wood I can get a brush onto, Today I volunteered a gang from the nursery to help move the car from one side of the garage to the other. It took 6 of us to move it, pushing it out was easy, but pushing it back up a gravel slope and up over a concrete lip while the tires were soft and the brakes binding was a sweaty and grunty performance. As the responsible and managerial element of the team I took my rightful place at the steering wheel to guide her successfully home. This weekend will now be spent clearing out the other side and treating the timber, what fun. I think we'll leave the car in its new position!

We are starting to collect up quite a lot of our hairy pot wooden boxes now, so if anyone has a batch ready to return please do drop me a reminder. I have a list of a few of you already and we will get round to you over the next few weeks. Next week might be a bit quiet as we seem to have lost nearly everyone to holidays, something to do with the schools going back and prices dropping back to more sensible rates. Roll on November when St Ives rates drop to my kind of level!

Availability list highlights

Japanese Anemones are flushing nicely with the occasional flower stem already. Potted an early batch of Cyclamen hederifolium which have surprised me by starting to flower already, An autumn flowering type they are both looking good,

Time flies and we have our first dwarf Chrysanthemums in bud. Lots more to come. Autumns flowerers are on the march with more and more fresh Asters coming into bud. Tiarella with it's pretty and short 'foam flowers' are looking great. Just a few of the purple/pink Erodium Bishops Form left. Neat, tidy and in flower. Goes on for ages.

Gaura looking fab with lots of buds. Blue flowered and compact Platycodon are ready to roll. Not got many left now. Summer favourite the hardy Osteospermum Tresco Purple looks strong and bushy. Verbena Lollipop in flower again on nice compact plants. Lovely coloured foliage on Ajuga's and Heuchera.

Have fun, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries