Hairy counting

Morning all,

End of the month already and feeling a bit autumnal as the rain patters on the roof of the office and wind turn the turbines.

It's that time of year again for us, another financial year ends and all the fun of stocktaking gets underway. A weekend packed with counting and spreadsheet filling, never my favourite job, although when it's finished it gets us off to a lovely clean start, where we know exactly where we stand and all the stock lists are up to date and accurate, well for a couple of weeks anyway. Despite a disappointing summer with all those scorching hot days and slightly subdued sales, we are hopeful that we have kept travelling in a positive direction and will be able keep the bank happy enough to see us through the winter. Our stock levels are going to be up a bit, so we will have plenty of plants for a busy spring (fingers crossed), and we have secured plenty of dry stock in advance, to secure both the supply and fix the prices. It's been an expensive exercise and I'm sure the bank and accountant would rather we had the cash in hand instead, but I'm moderately confident that our plant sales will hold up well, given some reasonable spring weather.

The national economic mood is not exactly buoyant at the moment and I do wonder what might be coming round the corner next, but we are where we are, and we are still looking to make the most of it. Luckily we haven't got to make any major purchases over the next few months that involve dollars, although if things don't improve, the container shipping cost reductions we have seen over the last few weeks are going to be more than wiped out by the exchange rate changes.

The spring bulbs arrived this week and we were able to get stuck straight into potting them which is great. I hate leaving them in their boxes any longer than I have to, some varieties can really suffer if not dealt with quickly. We have done our usual trick of potting them all onto trolleys to keep them out of reach of the mice and voles, at least until they start to shoot when we put them down in the tunnels. In the past we have had entire crops wiped out by the little tykes, but we seem to have the upper hand at the moment (famous last words). Fritillaria are the tastiest and the one we have to put on the highest shelves.

We have decided to keep on some of our summer staff further into the autumn, with a run of long term sickness hitting us badly. A couple of home falls, and two illnesses have knocked out four staff for several weeks if not months, and we still need to get through a lot of stuff. Even without many sales over the next few months, there is a big list of jobs to get through and I really don't want to fall too far behind.

The cooler evenings prompted the lighting of the wood-burner a couple of times this week, just to take the edge off. We usually burn wood but occasionally stick on some rolled up waste paper (like the old accounts), but the burnt paper does have a tendency to slow the airflow allowing small pockets of gases to build and then ignite. These wood-burner 'farts' blow a smoke ring through the door seal prompting a quick opening of the vents to increase airflow. Last week we had such an episode which inexplicably led to one of those joyous uncontrollable reoccurring fits of the giggles. A single comment about 'trapped wind' set us both off with repeated attacks, pebble-dashing the fireplace with dinner and drinks. No explanation for it, just one of those mad stress relieving moments. Felt much better, especially once the mess was cleared up. 

Wooden box returns

We have collecting up lots of our wooden boxes already, but if you have some ready for collection, just drop me a line and I will add you to the list for a visit. It may take a week or two to get round to you as we will be trying to tie them in with deliveries at the same time, to keep those transport costs in check. Thanks.

Availability list highlights

We have our our dwarf garden Chrysanthemums in bud, showing flashes of colour. Japanese Anemones are flushing nice. Plenty of strong flower stems although the plants are getting quite tall now. Erigeron Stallone is still in flower. For us it is often still showing colour at Christmas!

Autumns flowerers are on the march with more and more fresh Asters coming into bud and colour. We have a range of Helleborus in stock to stretch those Autumn sales. Not a lot of flower yet but full of winter promise. Tiarella with it's pretty and short 'foam flowers' are looking great. Gaura Rosy Jane looking fab with lots of buds.. Lovely coloured foliage on Ajuga's and Heuchera. Evergreen Lithodora looking smart as are the Liriope.

I added a range of hardy Agapanthus varieties which are mostly evergreen, they are looking so strong I thought, why not?

Best wishes, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries