Hairy Tornado

Morning all,

Just a quick note to say that the attached list should cover both this coming week and the one after that.

Sales are going to take a breather over the next couple of weeks, as the availability takes a dip while the stock goes through that rather sad autumn dull patch. We have some strong Helleborous and a few odds and ends, but the other winter stock is yet to come into its own. Some of the spring bulbs are already showing a few shoots but not strongly enough to offer for sale yet and the winter/spring flowering Cyclamen coum are well on the way but not quite ready.

We had a lucky escape last Sunday when a tornado ripped through Up Somborne, a village which we can see from here, just down the valley, it ripped up sheds, greenhouses and knocked down trees and telegraph poles. It only lasted a few moments but did a lot of damage, with the telephone lines still awaiting repair and plenty of clearing up work still to do. I shudder to think what would be left of our tunnels if that had happened here. I'm sure the crops would be ok as they are not heated, but the chaos of re-sheeting at this time of year would have been a nightmare. Unfortunately the tunnels are not very insurable structures despite our reliance on them, but hey-ho, most of the time they are no trouble.

We are busy mulching the tops of the pots at the moment and knocking up another batch of wooden marketing trays ready for the spring rush. The mulching reduces the liverwort growth on the compost surface overwinter, which in turn saves on tidying time in despatch when we are run off our feet in the spring. It always hurts, doing so much work on the crop so far in advance of a sale, but we know it pays in the long run, so any temptation to cut back on labour at this quieter time and save a few pounds is resisted as much as I dare. The cash-flow has already begun its post sales season descent, but hopefully spring sales will rush along and save us before the wolves pitch up. We have plenty of spring bulbs which should get those early sales back on track, just as long as someone out there still has some cash to spend.

I did hear this week that in Holland a lot of the bedding growers have cut back hugely on their young plant orders, especially for the early crops, because to their reliance on heating to get them through the cooler periods. The costs are now so high that it simply isn't worth growing the crops. The same is happening in the UK with both heated plant production and heated salad crops, with the heating costs and labour shortages making the crops so unprofitable it is safer to shut up shop and sit it out. Overall it could create opportunities for cold grown ornamental crops to claim extra shelf space, but who is going be brave enough to grow extra in such a financially strained economy? I know most growers are being very conservative in their forecasts for 2023 so there could well be shortages again next year if demand turns out to be ok, time will tell. In the past plants usually fair pretty well in a recession, even if the big treats (cars and holidays) take a dive, the little treats still have their more affordable appeal. The unknown element this time, is will the cost of living crisis be worse than anything we have witnessed before and affect the little sales too? We will have to wait and see.

Wooden Box returns.

I have a barn full of dried, cleaned and stacked boxes which is very satisfying. We still have a few dotted about at a few sites, but the vast majority are now back home. If you have any empties you would like us to pick up just drop us a line. It may take a little while to get there as we are not on the road quite as much now, but we will get there eventually.

We have about 10,000 boxes in total, which on average get used 3 to 4 times a year and last about 10 years. Repetitive use is the key to their success, because at £10 each we can't afford not to have them out there earning their keep. The more times we are able to reuse them, the cheaper the cost to us and ultimately the customer. They have a huge potential stock value and quite an expensive annual repair and replacement cost with 1,000 new boxes a year needed to maintain stock levels.

Availability list highlights

The range is getting quite low now as the autumn lines sell out or finish flowering. We will have a good colour range in the winter and spring flowering Cyclamen coum coming on again in a few weeks, just not quite ready yet.

We have a range of Helleborus in stock to stretch those Autumn sales. Not a lot of flower yet but full of winter promise. 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? Erigeron Stallone still in flower although quite big plants now. Likely to still be in flower at the end of the year if we don't hit a sudden mini ice age. Ours outside the back door, is usually still showing colour at Christmas.

Best wishes  from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries