Hairy chaos

Morning all,

Still not the best of spring weather really, but sales are ramping up none the less and the plants definitely think it's springtime. Easter approaches rapidly and the season of bank holidays is nearly upon us. A lovely time for all those able to take a break, but a tense and exciting time for all coping with the garden trade as demand peaks and time seems to evaporate. Christmas and New Year are good ones for us, not too much to do and we can put our feet up to a degree, but springtime breaks just cause so much upheaval at such a busy time anyway. At least we are busy which is better than some, just hoping we don't end up being busy fools!

We are certainly going to be busy over the next few weeks. Not only are sales taking off at last but there was a mass influx of lovely young plants this week, delivered from various suppliers. I thought I had loads of space in the module tunnel but suddenly it's bursting with plants wanting to get potted and we are now struggling to find time to get to them. Mind you it didn't help that a combination of illnesses, emergencies and appointments meant that we were up to 7 people down for most of the week which hurts when you only have 24 to start with! Hey ho, you can only do what yo u can do, no point it letting it get you down, at least there was nothing too serious wrong with anyone.

Work on the water recycling installation has continued this week despite the variable weather, a lot of the drains are recovered and the sump rings are in, topped, plumbed into the drains, and buried. Encouragingly the sumps have already filled with just an afternoons rain, but will need emptying again before the submersible pump can be properly installed next week. It's been chaos in the main yard over the last couple of days with a cable trench having to be taken out right across the middle, severely restricting all the usual ins and outs. It was all going to be so simple, a quick cutting of the concrete and digging out, followed by a rapid fill. Unfortunately being a very old farmyard there turned out to be more than one layer of concrete and it was all very hard so the cutting took a lot longer than expected.

Then the digging up of the trench spread a load of cracks elsewhere, as one layer separated from another, and to top it off the digger burst a hydraulic ram seal and delayed things even further. Now the dumper truck has lost its gear oil or some of it, so that is now out of action too. It's a relief to know these weren't my problems to sort out, although the open trenches today did cause a lot of hassle and juggling of vehicles and routes around the nursery. I'm hoping this will all be a distant memory by Monday as the installation team are coming in over the weekend to finish off a lot of the work and get the yard at least partially operational. What fun.

Party time on Saturday. Sadly we are running our first potting overtime session on Saturday morning so I will miss the lunch, but jelly and ice cream should be on the menu for tea, as a whole host of grown ups celebrate great nephew Oliver's first birthday. It's home time at 5.00, hope there is a goody bag, it is the done thing I believe, although it has been a long time since I was invited to such an event. I am taking my own PX to slosh on the ice cream, just to add a bit of panache to the event. I'm nearly through my third bottle since Christmas and still the pounds from Christmas refuse to budge, I can't understand it.

Availability list highlights

Cooler weather is still holding some crops back so not a lot of colour around, and those showing colour are selling through fast. Polemonium Heaven Scent is a stunner and looking great just at the moment. Finely cut bronzed green foliage is really smart and the pale blue flowers are now beginning to colour up. Grown in our own micro-prop lab it's not one you see everywhere.

Nice batches of Pulsatilla in red and purple forms, emerging quickly and in bud. Not a huge number, they won't hang around. Brunnera macrophylla now bursting through and instantly showing buds. Ajuga Chocolate Chips has plenty of early bud . Dicentra spectabilis are just pushing through and also showing early bud, Muscari latifolium now in bud, as are the last few Ipheion's Alberto Castillo (known locally as Albert & Costello).

Anemone blanda White Splendour is now also now showing flower. Very popular Fritillaria meleagris (Snakes Head Lily) are now just pushing though and flower buds appearing. Erythronium Pagoda is up, and again is another that comes straight into flower. Not many in stock, so don't wait too long. Camassia Sacajawea has smart variegated foliage so looks good even without the flower.

Spring flowering Symphytum are in bud now, don't hang about there aren't many left. Phlox paniculata has started to shoot strongly. Again another overwintered crop in a range of colours. The first Salvia to flower is now in bud, May Night. I know it's still only March, but it isn't quite in colour yet. 

Best wishes  from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Level and Hairy

Morning all,

Despite some dodgy weather this week sales picked up a bit after a quiet start, which was encouraging . This afternoon after a very wet morning, the sun made an appearance and for the first time this year it felt warm on the skin, spring comes knocking. I suspect we will suddenly get very busy and all our cool, calm and collected demeanour will evaporate in an instant, to be replaced by the usual massive spring panicky juggling act. What joy.

Managed to gap up a couple of tunnels this week so we could get the potting machine going in earnest. All went swimmingly with the new tweaks we made through the winter working a treat. We had a new machine installed last spring, but we never got round to levelling it up on our sloping floor, so the potting compost tended to be dispensed more on one side than the other. After installing a load of blocks under one side we now have it perfectly level and what a difference it made. We also made some new mini work stations some to put the young plants on by the potting positions, one specially designed for the pot dispenser (Krzys)  and another at a lower height ideal for extracting the modules on their extractor plates. The plates also got redesigned so they poke out the plants , but not far enough to topple out of the tray. It's only a few millimeters but it makes all the difference! All in all, potting is now an even more pleasurable experience for all.

It wasn't the easiest of weeks for installing trenches and pipe-work, back filling, levelling concrete pads and pouring concrete, but great progress has been made on the water recycling front. It is a bit of a mud-fest round the back of the nursery, but hopefully it will recover quickly once they have finished it off. Next week should see the sumps go in, the small extra tank go up and the last of the drainage lines go in and then it's down to the electrics and fine tuning. Such a relief to see it all go in at last and great to leave the job to someone else who knows what they are doing. While they are here and the trenches are open we are going to drop in a cable for a potential small solar installation, it seems silly not to take the opportunity, although the cable cost nearly put me off the whole idea. You are only allowed a tiny voltage drop from the installation to the export meter (165 meters in our case) which apparently means using a monster thick cable and it's eye wateringly expensive. Can't do it without it, so on we go.

The nursery electric car charger is now 15 months old and still only had two charges performed, one was the electrician who installed it and one an employee who left the week after (I didn't charge anything)! Hoping it won't be too long before we have our own car to charge on it, it has been on order since August 2021 and was due to be built in week 9. Not sure if I should have confirmed it was week 9 this year, and not next, as there is still no sign of delivery with the garage putting us off again. Fingers crossed it is imminent, but can't actually get an answer, so much for German efficiency and engineering! If they aren't quick I will have spent all the money on drains and solar panels. 

Availability list highlights

Cooler weather is still holding some crops back so not a lot of colour around, and those showing colour are selling through fast. Polemonium Heaven Scent is a stunner and looking great just at the moment. Finely cut bronzed green foliage is really smart and the pale blue flowers are now beginning to colour up. Grown in our own micro-prop lab it's not one you see everywhere.

Nice batches of Pulsatilla in red and purple forms, emerging quickly and in bud. Not a huge number, they won't hang around. Brunnera macrophylla now bursting through and instantly showing buds. Ajuga Chocolate Chips has plenty of early bud .

Dicentra spectabilis are just pushing through and also showing early bud, The white form are fractionally behind the pink but also straight into bud. Muscari latifolium now in bud, as are the Ipheion's Alberto Castillo (known locally as Albert & Costello) and Tessa. Anemone blanda Blue Shades is already showing colour and flying out. The White Splendour is now also now showing flower. Very popular Fritillaria meleagris (Snakes Head Lily) are now just pushing though, the flower buds follow very quickly later. Erythronium Pagoda is up, and again is another that comes straight into flower. Not many in stock, so don't wait too long. Camassia Sacajawea has smart variegated foliage so looks good even without the flower.

There is more colour showing on the Aubretia varieties, plenty of bud coming too. Phlox paniculata has started to shoot strongly. Again another overwintered crop in a range of colours This looks like one of our best Phlox crops ever, we beat the pigeons last summer and got them to a really strong size by the autumn. The first Salvia to flower is now in bud, May Night. I know it's still only March, but it isn't quite in colour yet. 

Best wishes  from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Directors D. Taylor C.P. Taylor A.F. Monk

Registered in England Number 1999 789 VAT Registration no. 411 9002 03

Muddy and Hairy

Morning all,

Time this week to catch up on some more jobs, with sales depressed by the unenthusiastic weather. Spring seems to have abandoned us with snow, wet and wind in varying amounts. Thankfully the snowfall here was slushy and short- lived, but it did disrupt a few delivery trips, so apologies if we said we would be with you one day and turned up on the next. I'm not too anxious on the sales front just yet, despite falling rather dramatically behind over the last couple of weeks, we should get time to make it up later assuming things improve. I have had a look at the forecast for the next 10 days and sadly it doesn't look very promising, but you never know, they have been wrong before and we do in theory need the rain!

It's been a bit of a double whammy for us. Having waited well over a year for someone to start work on the ground - works for our water recycling project and having just ended the driest February for ages, they started on Tuesday in the rain, with the full team on Wednesday in the snow. A digger, dumper truck and numerous visiting delivery trucks all recreating the battlefield of the Somme. With a longer term damp forecast, I think this is going to be a mucky one, but at least it is getting done. They actually made great progress in the time they were here, some very long trenches have been dug, pipes laid and back filling begun already. They reckon the sump foundations where we will collect, settle and filter the water, should be ready to be poured on Tuesday along with the base of the new storage tank, so fingers crossed it will be finished before the rain stops completely so we can make a start on collecting it.

We had a student visitation from Sparsholt College yesterday which went on a little longer than planned, due mainly to an enthusiastic audience and a presenter who doesn't know when to stop. Despite marking it in the diary the minibus arrival took me completely by surprise as the brain malfunctioned and all memory deserted me. I don't think anyone noticed and the nursery looked pretty tidy, so trousers were not caught too low.

Paid the first electric bill of the year last week, ouch. First month of new contract and it was a big one even with a £700 government discount, it was still more than double. Hope the wind blows a bit more over the next few months especially after the end of March when that cap goes. Thank goodness we have the turbines and started investing in power saving kit back in 2009. Our potential bill could have been massive.

Hoping for a celebratory cup of tea this afternoon in honour of starting yet another year, the excitement never ends. In theory next year is a big one, but any thoughts of setting my trug to one side seem to have evaporated after the recent wild levels of investment on the site. Oops.

Availability list highlights

Cooler weather is still holding some crops back so not a lot of colour around, and those showing colour are selling through fast. Polemonium Heaven Scent is a stunner and looking great just at the moment. Finely cut bronzed green foliage is really smart and the pale blue flowers are now budding up. Grown in our own micro-prop lab it's not one you see everywhere.

Also from our lab are some very smart Brunnera varigata with nicely marked new leaves. Flowers will follow very soon. Dicentra spectabilis are just pushing through and instantly showing early bud, The white form are fractionally behind the pink but also straight into bud. Muscari Blue Magic now in bud.

Anemone blanda Blue Shades is already showing colour and flying out. The White Splendour is a couple of weeks behind but now showing. Very popular Fritillaria meleagris (Snakes Head Lily) are now pushing though, the flower buds follow only days later.

Very popular Allium's and Camassia are both showing well now. Both of these are best sold and planted in leaf or very early bud rather than in flower. They are almost unmanageable for transporting at the later stages and most alliums have rather tired foliage by the time they fully flower. Camassia Sacajawea has smart variegated foliage so looks good even without the flower.

There is a bit more colour beginning to show on the Aubretia varieties, plenty of bud coming too. We have some fab chunky overwintered Lupin's ready to plant out. This early crop is muti-shooting and will produce lots of flower later on but it won't be around for long. They get too big too quickly when it eventually warms up, so we limit the numbers grown to keep them growing within the pots!

Phlox paniculata has started to shoot strongly. Again another overwintered crop in a range of colours This looks like one of our best Phlox crops ever, we beat the pigeons last summer and got them to a really strong size by the autumn.

Best wishes  from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy Rats

Morning all,

The cooler weather has slowed sales a bit and next week might be even quieter with a bit of a northerly wind picking

up and dropping the temperatures. Hopefully it won't be for too long, I'm not too worried abou t the sales at the moment but it is miserable working out in that cold wind and it would be nice to shed some layers and rush about doing spring stuff. That's what we are up to today, the first potting compost delivery arrived this week so we have spent a couple of days on the potting machine filling up a few of the spaces that have appeared around the nursery.

The slightly scary thing about starting the potting now is that it signifies the ending of the winter jobs. All those tasks you felt would definitely get done this winter will now have to hold until next year if they aren't very close to completion already. The coming cold week may give us a few days to get a bit more completed and then it's nose to the grindstone with full speed plant production and hopefully sales.

We did complete one big job this week which was to finish the winter wooden box making. Hopefully we have enough boxes made now to see us through the rest of the year, with boxes coming back from yourselves quickly enough for us to refill and despatch again.  We get about 4 reuses a year from each tray, but we are very reliant on getting as many boxes back as soon as we can, to keep the ball rolling in peak season. I know the boxes look lovely but please don't be tempted to stack up the empties as part of your display. They cost us £10+ each to make so you can appreciate that it would be very easy for a lot of value to be tied up if everyone used a few to fancify their displays.

One van in the menders this week. A new fault to us. The moulded plastic pipe feeding diesel from the top of the fuel tank to the engine was damaged beyond repair. The culprit believed to be a rat! They had seen it once before, gnaw marks, looking like rubbing wear but there was nothing there to rub it. New tank needed, ouch.

NBIS therapy session on line last week. It's a great group to be part of, everyone is very supportive , sometime a little over familiar, but it does exactly what it says on the tin, it constantly provides info and ideas to improve your business. Why there isn't a queue of people waiting to join I don't know, but numbers are dwindling as members retire etc, so if you know of any nurseries looking for some support point them towards the HTA.

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. 

Availability list highlights

Cooler weather is holding some crops back so still not a lot of colour around, and those showing colour are selling through fast. Polemonium Heaven Scent is a stunner and looking great just at the moment. Finely cut bronzed green foliage is really smart and the pale blue flowers are now budding up. Grown in our own micro-prop lab it's not one you see everywhere.

Also from our lab are some very smart Brunnera varigata with nicely marked new leaves. Flowers will follow very soon. Primula grandiflora Rosea have suddenly appeared and already showing a little bit of colour. You don't get much leaf until later in the season but short multiple stems of bright pink flowers.

Dicentra spectabilis are pushing through and instantly showing early bud, The white form are fractionally behind the pink but also straight into bud. Muscari Blue Magic now in bud. Anemone blanda Blue Shades has suddenly made an appearance and already showing colour.

Scilla sibirica with it's fabulous blue flowers are just poking through with the odd bud showing. Very popular Allium's and Camassia are both showing well now. Both of these are best sold and planted in leaf or very early bud rather than in flower. They are almost unmanageable for transporting at the later stages and most alliums have rather tired foliage by the time they fully flower. Camassia Sacajawea has smart variegated foliage so looks good even without the flower.

There is a bit more colour beginning to show on the Aubretia varieties, plenty of bud coming too. We have some fab chunky overwintered Lupin's ready to plant out. This early crop is multi-shooting and will produce lots of flower later on but it won't be around for long. They get too big too quickly when it eventually warms up, so we limit the numbers grown to keep them growing within the pots!

Phlox paniculata has started to shoot strongly. Again another overwintered crop in a range of colours (more to come). This looks like one of our best Phlox crops ever, we beat the pigeons last summer and got them to a really strong size by the autumn. Now we should reap the benefits.

Best wishes  from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries