Hairy hoses

Morning, 

The unsettled cool summer continues and personally I love it. It hasn't been a washout by any means here, with a lot of the rainfall coming overnight, temperatures are sensible for working and there has been minimal disruption to despatch and production. The main summer disruption is about to descend on us with a loads of holidays being taken. It's a good job we are reasonably together with the potting as I think the next month or two are going to be a bit of a juggle to get it all done. We have started an irrigation refurbishment project in our spare time after we noticed that a lot of the mini tunnel sprinklers were falling apart after years of UV degradation. The mini tap handles break so you can't turn individual sprinklers off and on, the bit that whizzes round loses one or both of its little arms which throw the water around and many of the non-drip valves drip! They are tiny plastic components but the total cost of well over £3,000 for the replacements was a bit of a surprise. It will take a few days to install them too, but the ones we have started on are already showing improved more even water spread so I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. One really irritating thing at this time of year is a certain small spider species which loves making its home inside the tiny hole at the base of the sprinkler head causing uneven patterns, despite the nozzles being used on a daily basis,. Most of the time the sprinklers clear themselves after a while, but the thrashing about of the sprinkler heads quite often results in them becoming detached and needing further attention. With over 900 sprinklers on the nursery it can be a big job and you know it will probably need doing again in a day or two. A good job to do when it's hot, not so much fun in the cold and damp as the water always runs right down your arm inside your clothes and gets absolutely everywhere.

Erigeron Stallone sales this year have been hitting levels we have never seen before, possibly because I managed to keep availability fairly steady across the season. Previously I have bought the seed which is tiny and very expensive especially as I direct sow it quite generously it into our big peat-free plugs. Even when I try to be mean with the sowing volumes it still doesn't go very far. Last year I thought I would try and harvest my own seed from a few selected stock plants and I found out why they were so expensive. Firstly the flowering and seeding are continuous right through the summer and well into autumn, so there is no right time to harvest you just have to pick them one flower-head at a time once it reaches the right stage. I picked everyday for probably 3 months in order to get enough and even then they weren't in the nice clean condition they arrive in inside the proper seed packet. Mine still have their fluffy feathery bits attached for potential wind distribution and a load of old petals too, but they still germinated really well after keeping then in a sealed seed packet in the fridge. Having the fluffy bits makes sowing a bit of a challenge as not only do they have the tendency to try and leave the area but you can't always be sure you are sowing the seed or the old petals! I am about to start harvesting this year's crop and I'm hoping it goes as well as last year despite the very different summer conditions.

Another home collected seed crop is our Wild Primrose which is a bit hit and miss on harvesting too, but for different reasons. The seed is ready for picking quite a long time after the flowers have disappeared and the timing works out to be right in the middle of our hectic sales season. Get it wrong and the seed has gone, or get there too early and it hasn't ripened and doesn't germinate. Luckily I got it right last year so this coming winter and spring we should have a great crop of flowering primroses. They are already potted and growing away well. We harvest from the 'new' farm woodland next to the nursery, where we originally planted several thousand primrose modules about 35 years ago. Where does the time go?

Availability list.

The available range is steadying as sales slow a bit and extra potting volumes work their way through the system. Numbers available are still a bit limited on some lines as batch sizes tend to be smaller at this time of year but with reduced demand the pressure isn't quite so manic.

There are now a few more buds showing up now and there are still more new lines growing nicely which will be appearing on the lists fairly soon. Our list constantly develops over the season so it's always worth just keeping an eye out for the new appearances.

Wooden box collections

Don't forget that all our wooden boxes are the property of Kirton Farm Nurseries so will need to be returned at some point. It will take us a while to get round everyone, but if you have any of our wooden boxes ready to return and aren't expecting to order anytime soon, then please do drop us an email and let us know. A rough idea of numbers might be handy but not essential. We will get to you as soon as we have a vehicle with space in your area. Thanks

Take care out there,

from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

New and hairy

Hi,

Looks like a bit of a damp weekend, good for the garden but perhaps not so clever for visitor numbers and credit card use on outdoor plants. I know I would rather it was like this than the heat being endured in Southern Europe. Difficult to believe that this time last year we were being baked in temperatures in the very high 30's.

Sales are still ticking over nicely and we are beginning to collect in quite a few of our empty boxes on our travels. The stocks of cleaned dry boxes are already being stacked and stored away bit by bit, into the barn now that the sales peak has passed. Slightly scary that the income will also now start to slow up a bit, but hopeful there will still be some left to see us through the winter while not hassling the bank for too much extra capacity in the overdraft, especially as the rates have gone up a tad on a year ago.

Tunnel clearing is going well as is the potting for next season. We are not quite on top of it but are well ahead of the last few slightly more chaotic years. Just as I think we are catching up another delivery of plants comes in and puts the pressure back on. The sooner we pot it the better the crop does and fewer losses we get, so time and weather are key to getting crops in good condition for overwintering. The current weather pattern is great for most crops and much easier to manage than last summers extreme heat.

More progress on the rain recycling project this week with another new cable being buried across the site. A bit of disruption with trenches, soft trench refill and drying concrete, but the cable is in so just need the electricians to pitch up to replace a distribution board or two and wire it all in. Fingers crossed this time all will be up and running before the summer ends. Managed to squeeze in my trip to one of the Ball-Colgrave open days this week. Well worth the effort, the planted out beds looked fantastic with lots of photo opportunities and the potted demo areas gave me plenty of ideas for adding some new varieties to future lists. Looking even further forward they had a lot of their potential new perennial test varieties set out in pots on beds. There were plenty of definite no-no's for us, which is the norm with trials, but there were some absolute crackers amongst them. Steve Austin, their main perennial man (well worth the $6 million), took me round the plots which was great as I could quiz him on likely level of cost and ease of growing as well as indicating what would be the good ones for us in our relatively small pot and our select market!

Watch out in the next couple of years for a relatively compact purple/bronze leaved Verbena bonariensis with contrasting pink flowers, probably the star of the show for me. No name yet but I will try and get some to try out before it comes out on general release. Just hoping it isn't priced out of our range.

I was guilt free, other than not being on the nursery, as I was fully wind powered in both directions. There is a lot to be said for a high fibre vegetarian diet. The new car had its first proper journey and behaved perfectly. Most of the techy kit I haven't quite mastered yet, but the 'heads up' display of speed, local speed limit and sat-nav directions is a joy to use.

Availability list.

The available range is picking up again as sales slow a bit and extra potting volumes work their way through the system. Numbers available are still a bit limited on some lines as batch sizes tend to be smaller at this time of year but with reduced demand the pressure isn't quite so manic.

There are now a few more buds showing up now and there are still more new lines growing nicely which will be appearing on the lists fairly soon. Our list constantly develops over the season so it's always worth just keeping an eye out for the new appearances.

Wooden box collections

Don't forget that all our wooden boxes are the property of Kirton Farm Nurseries so will need to be returned at some point. It will take us a while to get round everyone, but if you have any of our wooden boxes ready to return and aren't expecting to order anytime soon, then please do drop us an email and let us know. A rough idea of numbers might be handy but not essential. We will get to you as soon as we have a vehicle with space in your area. Thanks

Take care out there,

from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy seat position

Hi,

Sorry I'm a bit late it has been a very busy end of the week with so much clearing and potting getting done, a car to collect and various printer and computer crashes and breakdowns to contend with. The weather didn't help today and I'm sat here in a pool of damp having got caught out in a torrential downpour. I was expecting the winds today but not getting quite so wet. Luckily most of the potting team are under cover so it didn't stop play and now they have all slipped away to enjoy the rest of the weekend.

I will have to keep this short so I can send out the info asap that you really want, rather than more waffle from me.

New car got fixed during the week allowing us to collect it Friday afternoon. It's now sat outside awaiting a trip out to see how it goes. Looks fine but it is full of so much technical stuff it'll take me forever to understand it all. The longest part of the handover was taken up downloading the VW app onto Caroline's phone and putting all the necessary info in there to allow us to drive it! So the car and phone now talk to each other and VW appear to have access to all our other stuff. So far it has rained a lot scine the pick up so not really got to grips with it yet. I drove it down to the nursery this morning but not before a 15 minute challenge trying to work out the electrics controlling the seat position. At frustrating one point I could only make it go backwards and ended up virtually in the back seat and couldn't reach the pedals. Why all this complication just to alter the seat position, what was wrong with the manual adjusters, no wonder the world is running out of resources. It's a wonder there is any power left to make the thing go along the road. I'm sure we will love it in the end.

Going to pop into one of the Ball-Colgrave demonstration days on Wednesday. It's been a few years since I've managed to get there so I'm looking forward to that. A great chance to take a few pictures of some of the plants they supply us with and spot some new varieties we haven't yet tried. Now I can get there under wind turbine energy I will feel all the more righteous, looking forward into the future on multiple levels. To my mind I think that has justified my day out.

Availability list.

The available range is picking up again as sales slow a bit and extra potting volumes work their way through the system. Numbers available are still a bit limited on some lines as batch sizes tend to be smaller at this time of year but with reduced demand the pressure isn't quite so manic.

There are now a few more buds showing up now and there are still more new lines growing nicely which will be appearing on the lists fairly soon. Our list constantly develops over the season so it's always worth just keeping an eye out for the new appearances.

Take care out there,

from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy Newts!

Hi,

Some very welcome rain this week and we actually got reasonably wet this time. I think it was Tuesday we got most of it, but with cooler temperatures and some moisture we are noticeably more comfortable and relatively rel axed. It looks like June was record breakingly hot, so that's yet another climate related weather event to chalk off, just hoping that might mean a cooler and damper summer than last year.

The farm aren't sharing our rain rejoicing, as harvest has come earlier than ever with several fields ready to go. I can hear the roar of the combines in the field opposite us as they try to get in what they can before tomorrow's forecast soaking. The farming side of the family all try to rush off for a quick break pre-harvest, juggling timings so there is cover for all eventualities, but they have been caught out this time and things have had to get underway in their absence.

Potting has been bowling along with another compost delivery arriving on Tuesday evening to keep the wheels turning. More and more of the young modules are arriving each week and we are hoping this year to keep on top of the potting timings a bit better, so far so good. We are even contemplating stopping the Saturday potting team in a week or two so they can take a well earned break and get their full weekends back. It's been a long slog since the middle of March, but time flies when you are have so much fun!

There is loads of early summer wildlife activity to report on. After a few years absence we have a young family of swallows in the donkey shed, already grown and fledged today. One looks less keen to fly the nest but we can all sympathise with that. I moved the last tray of a big batch of Sanguisorba cuttings this afternoon to be surprised by 7 frogs and a toad underneath. I reckon 2 frogs and the toad were last year's crop and the others this years. A very healthy population considering how dry our area had the potential to be. We are seeing loads of this year's batch all over the nursery it is surprising how far they travel for such tiny mites.

The main pond has needed to be topped up on occasions over the past few weeks but it seems to be recovering well after last summers dry up and clearout. Opening up the water surface and thinning the plant growth has made everything more visible again which is lovely to see as I wander back home and take a peak each evening. There are lots of tiny baby newts in there, another population that has rocketed here over the past few years. No fancy rare varieties spotted yet but just to find them about the nursery is exciting enough. Slightly alarming when they play dead if disturbed, but when turn you back for a moment, they come back to life and disappear from sight.

Forgot to mention Glastonbury last week, which we thoroughly enjoyed from the comfort of our own house and bed. Great BBC coverage and lots to catch up with on iPlayer. The headliners aren't always the most exciting, although Elton did a great job despite walking on like he had spent the week on the potting machine. My favourite bits were; The Pretenders who I can remember seeing back in the 80's, Chrissy can still rock it even at 72, Rick Astley and The Blossoms playing a set of The Smiths songs. And best of all a band I had never heard of before, The Nova Twins, who absolutely took the stage by storm. All the things I like, loud, different, great attitude, multi talented, and once again proving that all you need is drums, bass and guitar to make things happen. CD arrived today so that is going in the car to be played loud all summer.

Availability list.

Our perennial list remains on the short side again this week and we are still quite short on some lines so please don't be surprised if there are a few restricted volumes or subs caused by shortfalls in stock. Please don't be tempted to put in big orders for the most popular lines it won't make it any more likely that you will get what you ask for, we will do our best to fulfil where we can, but will be doing some sharing out to keep things as fair as we can all round.

There are now a few more buds showing up now and there are still more new lines growing nicely which will be appearing on the lists fairly soon. Our list constantly develops over the season so it's always worth just keeping an eye out for the new appearances.

Take care out there,

from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy planning

Morning all,

A very welcome cooler week, even if again we seemed to have missed most of the rain. Today we were due showers most of the day but all we have had so far is a bit of drizzle, not even enough to dampen the surface. We did have one night with a few small puddles but not nearly enough. Fingers crossed for next week.

The farm are looking for the opposite type of weather as they approach an early start to harvest. They think they may start late next week as several fields are already looking very golden and drying out. Hopefully the earlier wet spring weather will have left enough moisture in the ground for the grain to swell and make it all worthwhile. Although our shallow chalk soil is free draining, it is surprising how much moisture is retained in the bedrock chalk just below the surface, well that's the theory.

With sales slowing up again a bit this week we took the opportunity to pop over with the van to the Isle of Wight to pick up a stack of trolleys, shelves and boxes from a couple of customers over there. It's an exciting day out for the driver, with a ferry trip and all day breakfast on the boat, but the combination of driver time and the now massive ferry cost does bring it home how lucky we are to have so many more local accessible customers to keep the trolleys and boxes on a regular return cycle. I know a few of you are slowing up or stopping sales now so if you do have any boxes ready for return please do let us know and we will pop in and pick them up when we are next passing and have the space to fit them in the van.

Tunnel clearing and potting have been pressing on this week with a frightening amount of compost and pots being consumed by the potting team. I have another 80 cubic meters of potting compost due in next week, just two weeks after the last one. It's great to feel we are getting more of the potting done at the right time this year, although it is early days yet. In many previous years we have struggled to keep up and some lines inevitably get potted a bit too late for perfect marketing timing and occasionally we miss sales opportunities because of this, which for me gets frustrating and quite stressful. We are having a play with some of our production methods for a few lines, to try and cut out a step or two in the whole process, which hopefully will help add some extra potential sales. One big issue with the whole juggling match is that there are so many sales periods coming up to think about, There are the ongoing summer sales, that late bank holiday period and the ongoing autumn tick-over, the winter specials, and the early spring bonanza when everything kicks off big time again and we need a whole lot ready to go, having overwintered as strong plants. They all need potting over the next 3 months, preferably a little less. Please let it not be too hot this summer! There was extra work on the admin side this week, with Caroline having to finally activate the financial deal for the new electric car, the chap organising it was quite excited on our behalf as he has been hanging on to this deal for a very long time and like us probably wondered if it would ever happen. Then there was the insurance to sort out with a massive questionnaire to fill in to get the final quote and the deal signed off. All done and dusted we are now the proud owners of a VW ID3. I say we are the owners, which is true, the only issue is that we don't actually have the car. We were told on Wednesday that it has been included in a factory recall to have the cooling pump replaced. The car is at our garage, so that is some degree of progress, but now waiting for the replacement pump to arrive and be fitted. Should hear on Monday how long that might take. Patience is a virtue so I'm told, I think it was the MD of VW who told me that.

Availability list.

Our perennial list is still on the short side again this week and we are still quite short on some lines so please don't be surprised if there are a few restricted volumes or subs caused by shortfalls in stock. Please don't be tempted to put in big orders for the most popular lines it won't make it any more likely that you will get what you ask for, we will do our best to fulfil where we can, but will be doing some sharing out to keep things as fair as we can all round.

There are now a few more buds showing up now and there are still more new lines growing nicely which will be appearing on the lists fairly soon. Our list constantly develops over the season so it's always worth just keeping an eye out for the new appearances.

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.