Hairy extraction

 

Hi

Not sure where the week went, a frenzy of activity again or possibly I'm getting so old I just can't remember what is going on any more and one just blurs into the next.

I can't believe it is the end of the week already, but here we are. We must have done quite a bit in reality as the sales volume increased a bit this week and we are going to run out of potting compost tomorrow so someone is doing something. Had a mild panic on Wednesday when despatch seemed to slump into slow motion with the orders taking nearly all day to complete. I recovered quickly when Caroline pointed out that we were actually 8 people down that day for a host of reasons so the result was bound to get done!

Tunnel clearing continues with very satisfying transformations from bombsite conditions to clean and tidy empty beds ready for the next crop. We have been making a concerted effort this summer to get the tunnels as prepared as we can for the fresh potting, eradicating any nearby weeds, laying a fresh layer of Strulch mulch around all the internal tunnel edges on the outer edge of the production sand-beds to suppress any later weed germination. This is something we have done in bits and pieces before but never managed to cover the whole site quite so thoroughly. With the irrigation sprinkler upgrade taking place at the same time, evening out the water distribution, the fresh crops going in are looking so much more uniform. The only hiccup so far is the amount of blackbird activity picking over the mulched edges in search of grubs and making the bed edges rather untidy after we had done such a neat job.

After last week's delivery of irrigation sprinkler parts I have already run out of nozzles, so it's back to doing a 90% job in each refurbished tunnel until the next batch of correct nozzles arrive. A bit frustrating but not a disaster. A far better result than the fiasco of our new legged propagation trays I bought in February to go through the new seed sowing machinery. We had to wait nearly five month for that delivery and then they didn't come with an extractor plate. I had hoped they would fit some of the other plates we have here but no such luck. Ordered some straight away and we are still waiting for delivery. We have used all the trays several times already and every cell has had to be pushed out individually which takes forever in comparison to all the other trays we use which have the proper extractor. Finally heard this week that their extractor plate supplier had stopped production and they were considering taking the job in-house, but hadn't actually done so yet. So 5 more months have passed and we are no nearer having the delivery. Not sure what business model they are working on, but to produce a labour saving module propagation tray and then not have an extractor for it somehow defeats the whole purpose of the job. A few hours poking does keep me off the streets, which you can all be thankful for. 

Availability list.

Herb range still looking yummy, with plenty of fresh batches still coming through. The summer flowering Allium Millenium is still looking great. The Salvia Lip's series are still going strong, we keep giving batches a trim to strengthen them up and keep them from getting too tall and they just keep bouncing back. The same goes for the Salvia Salvito which just keep on performing.

Verbena's are doing their summer thing, another we keep trimming back to stop them reaching the heavens although Lollipop is a little more restrained. Fresh flowers are coming on the Sanguisorba Tanna after another trim back. Loads of flower with a mixed colour pallet in the Lewisia batches. They will go on and on.

We have a lovely range of very popular summer Gaura at the moment, in bud and showing some colour, with the final variety of the year making a show now. Rosy Gem is a pretty bicoloured variety but I just have the one batch this summer. It should stick around a little while as I splashed out on quite a big batch!

Liriope muscari has started producing flowers so summer must be passing quick. To be fair it's only the first few, so a little while to go before a full show. There is a batch of the Astible Astary plants coming into bud, both in the pink and white varieties. Hot high summer flowering Crocosmia are showing tight bud on all varieties this week.

The first of the Aster Alpha series are now showing tight bud, surely summer can't be drawing in just yet! No, they are early. Mini Garden Chrysanthemums are here, masses of bud on the first batch already with a hint of colour too. A fab range of the compact Helenium Hay Day series are budding well now, with colour showing. Nemesia Wisley Vanilla are doing their thing with its pretty creamy white flowers and heady vanilla scent. Rhodanthemums are in bud and flower ready to bloom their socks off for the rest of the summer.

Strong bushy Osteospermum Tresco Purple are now budding up nicely. We have a late batch of Geum Lemon Drops with some flower appearing, not many pots so don't be shy on ordering. 

Take care, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.