Hairy Packaging

Morning all,

Sun is shining which puts a very pleasant gloss on things, when in actual fact it's been a very cold 'two trouser week' with almost all jobs made doubly difficult by the low temperatures. At least it has stopped raining for a bit which must be a relief for many. The workshop wood-burner in despatch has been well fuelled and visited this week, and has made the screen printing work on the new box stock we are constructing much more manageable. There's nothing worse than cold thick ink to mess up the screens, but to be fair it went pretty well. Just another 1,000 prints to go and that is the boxes done for this season, just a few more sets of POS boards to print and we are done, I can put the printing bench back into the barn.

After getting the Peugeot van through its MOT, it is now the turn of the big van which is due its 10 weekly inspection on Monday. Unfortunately the cold weather and lack of activity means the battery is flat as a pancake so I'm just waiting for the breakdown mechanic to pop in and start us up. Normally we would manage ourselves but it is a 24V system not 12V and nothing we have here will start it. Bit frustrating, as the older version with ancient batteries didn't do this, but the 10 month old new one has. Hey ho, at least we aren't looking to make any deliveries, so not as panicky as we might have been.

In this upbeat report I will now be informing you that last Monday was officially (on average) the most depressing day of the year, I think it's a combination of realising how much we overspent/overeaten at Christmas, the winter weather and the long dark nights. Anyway I think they were wrong, it was Wednesday. I attended, a seminar on-line, organised for growers to find out more about the EPR (Extended Packaging Regulations). Not only were there only 5 or 6 growers attending which was sad in itself, but the experts report on what it was all about was shocking in its lack of factual content. These DEFRA regulations are meant to be making producers contribute towards the disposal or recycling of the packaging waste they sell along with their goods and encourage them to use more environmentally friendly materials. You have to be over a certain size business and produce over 25 tonnes of packaging to come within the scope of the scheme, at which point you have to record all the packaging sent out with your goods. It is all measured by weight and recorded in numerous different categories (material type, where the waste ends up, and whether it is recyclable, biodegradable etc. Charges will be made for each different type of waste produced, more for the least environmentally friendly option and less for the others. No one yet knows how this is to be best recorded (records are to be kept from Jan1st 2023) as DEFRA haven't decided and no-one knows what the charges will be. The only thing said so far is that because they haven't sorted out the details, in 'year one' everyone will be charged based solely on the weight of materials in their packaging, whether they are environmentally friendly or not. Now you would think that we would be ok because our packaging is all either sustainable and reusable or 100% biodegradable, and we keep the packaging to a minimum. However the potential spanner in the works for us is that pots are included in the packaging list and our pots are relatively heavy compared to plastic. The wooden trays are also weighty in comparison to plastic alternatives, although because they are reusable we only have to weigh and count them on their first use. Having be thoroughly deflated by all this news I have since spent a day drying out and weighing all our packaging, working out how much we used last year, and thankfully arriving at a total weight of about 22 tonnes. I suspect we will still have to record everything as we go, just in case we have to justify our packaging to DEFRA at some point. Anyway if you fancy some light bedtime reading I can recommend the following pages; https://www.gov.uk/guidance/packaging-waste-prepare-for-extended-producer-responsibility

One the good news front our broken turbine got repaired on Wednesday after several windy weeks off-line. The repair team looked frozen to the core when they finished but as pleased as we were to have got the job done at last.

2023 Retail price reviews

In view of our price increases for 2023, don't forget to review your own retail prices and let us know ASAP if you want us to pre-price at new rates. I will have to update our records and make sure I have the printing plates ready to roll. Thanks.

Availability list highlights

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.

Spring must be on the way, the Pulmonaria are up with most varieties showing bud with the odd flash of colour.

The Aubretia Regado Red are in bud now with the odd flower opening. Do remember we are growing cold here so the cold snap next week may reduce the colour showing. The blue variety is close behind but will be fractionally later budding up. Spring bulbs are beginning to pop up and buds are already on show on both the little hooped petticoat Narcissus.

We have a good range of Helleborus in stock. The Christmas Rose Helleborus niger Advent Star have loads of flower and bud now. Not a lot of flower yet on the H. orientalis types but they are full of winter promise.

Best wishes  from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.