Hairy suprise

Hi

Quick blast of winter this week reminded us that time is passing. We had a few snow flurries but nothing dramatic, just cold. It was good to see some sunshine which took the edge off, as long as you weren't tending to plants early in the day in an unheated and open ventilated tunnel! It does make me feel very guilty when I slink off into the office to do management stuff of which there is a surprising amount to do at this time of year. Plant ordering, net zero research, planning and calculating, email chasing up for all the winter projects and, this week, a lot of catching up to do after a little break in Cornwall. We are back well refreshed with a couple of notches released on the belt and ready for another battening down of the hatches for the winter. Hours for some have been willingly reduced as the temperature drops and the outdoor workload subsides a bit, although there are several winter projects well underway or just about to start.

After a little flurry of sales a couple of weeks ago, things have unsurprisingly gone pretty quiet this week and we have got stuck into those winter chores. Leaf clearing, wood cutting, pallet sorting, building maintenance, wooden box cleaning, stacking and storing. The new wooden box parts to top up the marketing tray supplies have all arrived, ready for treating, printing and construction. We replace about 10% a year at the moment, allowing for the average 10 year lifespan and a few other odd losses, adding up to just over 1,000 boxes made up of 13 parts each. That's a lot of parts to paint/treat and 5 of those need printing too, before the eventual construction. Even this we make more difficult for ourselves, by screwing the base parts together rather than stapling them (slower but longer lasting) and gluing the corners before stapling to add extra strength. It adds to the cost but increases life span and the number of uses we get from each one, providing of course we get them back in a timely manner rather than them ending up in a semi permanent display in a plant area display!

Good news this week on the solar panel installation which looked to be delayed until the New Year. I managed to get them to install the tilting frames and hopefully the panels, in a couple of weeks time. We may still have a slight delay in grid connection but at least they will be ready to roll and not be a distraction when the plant sales get started in the New Year.

The acid tank replacement deal improved a little bit after registering my shock at the size of the quote, but still had to be paid in advance before the work could start (sounds like a nice way to do business), so we are hoping things will now speedily progress on that front too.

Last week I discovered the new version of the electric Renault Master van (87Kwh) that has just been released, it looks very promising with a 250+ mile range, quicker charging rates and potentially larger payloads. The only hiccup is that the chassis cab version, to build our box on the back, hasn't been released yet so we might not get one in time for the spring, however it is the first one out there that looks capable of doing the job. I suspect it won't practically make it to Cornwall or Yorkshire but the more local sites are a definite possibility at last. With the solar and wind both operational as well as some battery storage we should be able to refuel almost for free when it is back at base with just the external fast chargers to pay for in order to make it home.

A great NBIS meeting on Thursday, lots of practical fresh ideas, tips and therapeutic encouragement, a bit of a shortage of attendees but very rewarding none the less. Ham egg and chips were delicious and well worth the trip, I am easily pleased. The return to the house after a few days away turned out more exciting than usual when we opened up to a fairly cool home and sadly no warm welcome from my mum with the wood burner on full blast. Mum has tweaked her back quite badly after a weekend hang-gliding with my sister, so stayed at home with our central heating left only on tick over, so just kept the chill off. Excitingly for the first time for a year and a half I was able to flick on the central heating, turn up the radiators and get an instant response while moving into the living room to light the wood burner. I opened the burner door and shut it pretty quickly, there was something big grey and furry in the grate. After checking it didn't move I tried again, to find an ex-squirrel lying in there. The cowell had blown off the chimney and it must have climbed in and fallen. Luckily the door had been shut otherwise if it had survived the fall the house could have been trashed, but there wasn't even a smell and no damage to the body or burner, so I count that as a lucky escape. I suppose we were also lucky it made it all the way into the grate, if it had got stuck at the chimney base I could have developed a sudden inexplicable urge for a roast dinner once the burner was fired up!

Availability list.

Unfortunately after a poor seed harvest we only have one Cyclamen coum variety this winter (Silver Leaved) but they are just beginning to produce the very occasional flower and loads of buds. They will go on right through until April so no rush!

The other winter star is the Helleborus range, a few varieties already showing the occasional signs of flowering but it's a bit early for most. Good strong plants with plenty of potential. 

Best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy break

Hi

At least it seems to have stopped raining for the moment and kept reasonably mild, a bit late to make sales go into overdrive but easier to get those outside jobs done. As a result the office got a new coat of wood preserver today and is looking very smart in front of the recently 'lifted' beech trees. A few leaves are getting cleared away, hedges trimmed and Halloween snacks devoured, it must be autumn now.

The last of the bulbs got potted this week so that is all the potting completed for 2024, another milestone passed. It was the second busiest year ever on the potting front, only surpassed by 2021 when we got a bit carried away with ourselves. It was post covid madness and we were very short of stock early in the year, so potted like crazy and didn't stop early enough. We ended up donating a load of stock to the local hospitals, surgeries and vaccination centres to shed the excess, which put a positive twist to a bit of a balls-up on my part. I'm hoping we haven't overdone it this time, I'm banking on the spring weather being a bit kinder than the last couple of years so we will need the extra stock, fingers crossed for it all to come together.

Fun times with the Budget this week, I suppose none of it was a huge surprise as most of it was leaked well in advance, but it does set out in black and white a few hefty extra labour costs that we are going to have to deal with in the coming season. Just as I was hoping the inflationary pressures were easing our biggest single cost gets elevated beyond our control. I suppose it just reinforces the need for even more efficiency and investment in labour saving kit, to avoid employing quite so many people. Unfortunately it also encourages taking short cuts and avoiding risk, which tends to make the final product potentially a bit disappointing, as most people look to take the easier options. Don't worry, if there is a more difficult option I'm always on call to take it, you can rely on that!

Talking of which, the plastic acid tank removal and replacement quote came in this afternoon. The original tank cost less than £3,000, 8 years ago, the quote came in today at £16,000! The removal cost was more than the replacement tank, which itself has more than doubled in price. With an 8 year lifespan that means the annual tank costs are higher than the acid cost. I think I'm in the wrong game. I am in further negotiations.

I have a feeling I also handed an open cheque book to the electrician on Monday, just to add to the pressure. He now has a list of repair and replacement work to hit over the next couple for months as we prepare for winter and try to get everything shipshape for the spring rush. Once we get to February it's really too late to start any new projects and the overdraft starts to dictate a more sedate approach to spending, so it's now or never.

On a brighter note, weekly jive dancing returned to the fabulous Guildhall in Winchester on Tuesday. Lots of over excited dancers turned up bright and early with over 150 making it in by the time the lessons got underway. Over 3 hours of laughter, heart-pounding gyrating and twirling for just £10 and learning new skills along the way, what a bargain. There was a healthy smattering of beginners as well as those still returning after the covid break, let's hope the momentum keeps going over the next few months, that will be the test to the viability of returning to such a high end venue.

This list will have to cover the next couple of weeks as I am otherwise engaged, but if you have any queries just drop us a line and Greg will sort something out. Orders are quieter now and most of the boxes have been returned so, although we are still out and about, the long seasons pressure has at last relented and we should be able to cope with most requests, within reason!

End of season wooden Box returns

We have already collected over 85% of our empty wooden boxes from most sites and will continue to do so over the next couple of weeks. If you have empty boxes ready to go please do drop us a line and we will pop in when next in the area. 

Availability list.

The herb range is still looking surprisingly perky in the autumn sunshine. We should have a reasonable range looking nice for a few weeks yet.

Unfortunately after a poor seed harvest we only have one Cyclamen coum variety this winter (Silver Leaved) but they are just beginning to produce the very occasional flower and loads of buds. They will go on right through until April so no rush!

The other winter star is the Helleborus range, a few varieties already showing the occasional signs of flowering but it's a bit early for most. Good strong plants with plenty of potential.

Erigeron Stallone are still doing their thing, flower and bud will keep coming until they are battered too much by winter frosts.

We have had them in flower at Christmas before now, although it does depend on the weather and anything could happen there!

Best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.