Hairy New Year

Hi,

Happy New Year to all!

Hope you've not got too many Christmas trees left and January hasn't washed you away already.

That was a very hectic break for us. Lots of visitors, much feasting and a smidge of merriment, just what Christmas is supposed to be about. I am hoping now to get back to a more normal diet and regain the svelte figure current in hiding, however there are still a few leftover treats that still need consuming so it's going to be a tough couple of weeks.

The nursery took a bit of a battering in all those storms, we came very close to losing one sheet but managed to fix it back down before any lasting damage was done. Caroline was back up the turbine mast again to reset another wing tip after 16 mini power cuts in one day, together with strong winds. We have a water leak somewhere and frustratingly we haven't found it yet, but with the irrigation off at the moment it's not a major headache just a bit of a pain.

The new season is rushing towards us so we have spent the first week back getting ready. We have screen printed the rewritten and refreshed sets of our wooden POS info boards, so you can all show off more of the headline sustainable benefits of going Hairy. With 6 new boards in each set it took a bit longer than I thought it would, just for a change. We just need to treat the last few boards to protect them against the worst of the elements. Our massive annual pot label delivery arrived which is always a sign that spring madness is not too far away. We have tweaked the label design his year to highlight a bit more, our use of peat-free potting composts. It's a very subtle change so it won't stand out when we mix the older style labels with the new, whilst clearing out the older stock. We have also been screen printing another big batch of wooden box parts to be able to construct and maintain our stock levels and have a few extra boxes just in case sales go well.

Considering we were still only at half the normal staffing levels and it was a four day week, we've got off to a great start so very pleased with 2024 so far. Long may it continue.

Somewhere along the way we still have to get stuck into the Sage Earth Net Zero project. They have offered us a free go on the preliminary trials so I must make an effort and get stuck in. It' is quite hard at this time of year to stick at the office work in the evening when the log-burner and Christmas cake beckon from afar. Trouble is that in a few weeks we will be too busy to do much more than cope with the production and sales demands, the winter is always much shorter than you think.

Prices for 2024

The last couple of years have seen some explosive cost increases. Labour remains by far our biggest cost and wage rates rose significantly in 2023 and will rise another 10% in 2024, but we are hopeful that other costs are beginning to settle down and are not rising quite as quickly. However there will be a price rise for 2024, but we are keeping it to 4%, at 10p per pot.

Availability list.

Cyclamen coum are already on the list and showing flower and bud. These will usually flower from October through until well into Spring, with a tasteful sprinkling of flowers rather than being drowned in them.

There are flowers on most of the Helleborus niger varieties, although H. praecox tends to be slightly later than the others. New varieties of H. orientalis for us are Halcyon Early Dark Red and Halcyon White Spotted which have both surprised us by showing a few buds already, especially now the white one.

A few of the spring bulbs are starting to poke through now with both forms of the petticoat daffodil (Narsicus bulbocodium) already showing well.

Erysimum's are already looking perky with bud showing on some. A can't believe I'm thinking Spring is on its way. Pulmonaria are putting on a little spurt of fresh growth and buds are showing on a few.

Sown from self collected seed from our wood on top of the hill the wild Primula vulgaris are showing their first flowers. We have given them a bit of a trim to tidy up the foliage but fresh leaves and buds are already springing forth.

Happy New Year from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.