Hairy therapy

Morning all,

St Ives seems an eternity away already as we slip back into all the excitement of nursery life. It's been a bit damp this week but I know we have got off lightly in comparison to some so I'm not complaining. Apparently we are now out of the hosepipe restrictions imposed in the summer, let's hope they have caught enough of this rainfall to see us through next summer. Installation of our own rainfall recycling system took a big step forward this week with all the quotes in and a ground-works contractor selected. We just need to fine tune a few details and we could be underway very soon. We have had all the hardware delivered and paid for since last winter, but struggled to get someone here to get it all dug in and constructed. We are hoping to see a system up and running before the irrigation gets going in earnest again in the spring. The current installation will see plenty of rainfall collection for immediate reuse and some extra storage, but not to the extent that we can hold enough of the winter rainfall to see us through most of the year. That will be the next stage and although relatively simple to do, it will need planning applications, more engineering input and another big dollop of investment. We are not looking at a mega lake but a fair size pond and with us being on a slope will need some careful calculations for cutting and filling of the ground and banks. Firstly we need to see how much water we can collect and use in stage one of the plan and maybe stage two can hold off a bit longer, we'll see. The tricky financial part of the whole job is that the investment is big but the current savings are negligible, which makes it a short term loser on the books. What it will do is future proof the nursery from possible water restrictions or changes to abstraction rules, which in the current climate emergency, we think makes it a sensible investment.

We are hosting our NBIS group this coming week, so will need to have a quick sweep round and tidy the place up a bit, so we can give a passing impression of professionalism. It must be pre-covid that they were last here, so there will be quite a few new bits to show off (staff kit, despatch heating and cooling set up, 20t label press, new labels, wooden box printing and assembly line (table and hammer), new potting machine set up and the highlight of the tour, the new loo's). The real highlight is usually lunch at the pub in reality, plus fancy biscuits round the meeting table. It's really just a glorified, but very valuable, therapy session for most of us, and with the way things are going we will certainly need a bit of talking therapy to overcome some of our current anxieties.

We had a good week on the maintenance front with the stripping of a damaged polytunnel cover and the replacement of all the timber frame components which had completely rotted away. I had looked at the forecast early in the week and guessed Friday might be the only chance to get it covered up again before the return of more unsettled weather, so the rush was on to get the reconstruction completed in time while dodging the rain. I love it when a plan comes together, and sure enough the sun was out on Friday morning with low winds and by 10.00am we had it on, stretched and fixed. Just in time as the winds picked up soon after and clouds rolled in. That's not luck, that's great management!

Struggling to recover my pre-holiday physic with holiday treats for coffee plus mega polish homemade cakes all week. So difficult to say no, one wouldn't wish to appear rude. The layered chocolate sponge, with thick cream layers, and nutty praline, topped off with a Ferrero Rocher was epic, and wrote off any hope of a quick recovery from the holiday excesses. Just a couple more pieces to go and then definitely watching the calories until Christmas.

Wooden Box returns.

We have a barn full of dried, cleaned and stacked boxes which is very satisfying. If you have any more 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 very much now, but we will get there eventually.

Availability list highlights

The range is getting quite low now as the autumn lines sell out or finish flowering.

Winter and spring flowering Cyclamen coum are now available in small numbers with more coming on stream for later. Most are in bud with some colour showing, even the Silver Leaved have some bud, but not quite as many which is why I haven't yet marked them as flowering on the main list.

We have a good range of Helleborus in stock, to stretch those Autumn sales. Not a lot of flower yet but full of winter promise.

Best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Best wishes  from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries