Hairy Organisation

Hi

Where did that week go? A day out at a garden centre 'show and tell' seemed to take out a big chunk of time and then today's miserably cold, wet and breezy weather kept me on essential work in the office! A three day trip out next week to another 'show and tell' will add to excitement levels and is making me wish I had done more hours in January to get more prepared for the oncoming season, but I'm sure I'll catch up. The plants have nearly completed their over-winter tidy up which is a massive job and a big relief to get mostly out of the way. We have also just finished silk screen printing the last of the larger wooden POS boards and treated them, to shake off the worst of the weather. There are just the little latex boards to finish off and then I can start on the box printing which I am hoping to see the back of over the weekend.

There was one big interruption to proceedings with the arrival yesterday of the annual pot label order from Floramedia. Two pallets to file away in our 'wall of labels' ready to bundle into 12's and then decorate this seasons plants. With 450 varieties of perennial and 120 herbs it's a mighty effort to get the label order right, and despite 40 years of practice I always manage to mess up something. This year I managed to order a thousand of a variety we no longer grow, I can't even work out how I managed to do that, maybe retirement is closer than I think.

The electrician is promising that next week will be his last for a while, with most projects finished or very close to it. There is already a growing list of new jobs, but we all decided we had seen enough of each other for a bit and we would release him to go and see some proper customers. One push to move on was probably the surprise soaking he inflicted on himself in the pump shed, where we are installing a new sand filter and power supply. He was checking to see if he could hear the pump running after it was rewired but he forgot that the open end of the 75mm (big!) pipe from the pump came vertically through the floor of the shed, ready to plumb to the filter, but he remembered shortly after he turned it on!

We are in the very lucky position to be able to call on the family farm to help us out on occasions with some of their big kit. A tractor mounted flail did a brilliant job on patch of brambles that had got away from us and their old JCB made short work of the trench we needed for the last bit of cable for the solar installation. Just as we were feeling very pleased with ourselves at getting these chores so quickly out of the way, the very last bucket-full pulled out of the trench went through 3 pipes! 2 water and one compressed air. Luckily they were all nursery pipes and not the neighbours, but an emergency trip to the agricultural merchants down the road for repair joints and stops was definitely called for. One step forwards and all that. New yellow tag trolleys

CC trolleys have issued another new trolley tag, this time in a rather attractive yellow. Please do make sure the trolleys that are returned have the correct tag as it is a bit hit and miss at the moment. CC have asked that the old flat green tags are removed this time, by which we are assuming this means removal of all the old style tags, except the solid metal CC plate that should be on the end of all trolleys (wrapped and fitted around the end framework}. We are doing our bit by trying to remove all the old tags that are coming in to us at the moment, but not sure we can manage it all on our own. Any help to tidy up the tag situation is greatly appreciated. Let's hope the new tag design is a bit more durable that the last lot.

Prices for 2025

The new price list is out for 2025. There is a small rise of approx 2% which is more or less where inflation is supposedly currently at, although sadly our cost rises are not running at quite that nice low level. Our biggest cost is labour and that increased last year by close to 10% per hour, with a further increase of close to 8% coming into force in April. External transport (carrier) costs are up 6% which illustrates the increasing costs in that area, and young plant prices, which also involve a lot of labour, are rising pretty dramatically too. We are hoping that a combination of better weather, bringing in higher sales volumes, and reducing waste, together with more efficiency in propagation and production after more investment in mechanisation, will help maintain some margin to reinvest again next year.

Availability list.

The spring bulbs are making their early start with several varieties already up and showing. Not a lot of bud just yet.

All the Pulmonaria varieties are now in bud although we are already getting low on the Blue Ensign after a big landscape order. The occasional flower is opening giving a glimpse of colour.

Narcissus bulbocodium varieties White Petticoat and the lovely lemon yellow Julia Jane are in bud. Small and dainty, these Hoop Petticoat Narcissus are a delight but won't hang around long.

Cyclamen coum Silver Leaved are now producing loads of buds and colour, so looking great.

There are now plenty of Wild Primrose (P. vulgaris) ready, in bud and flower with lots more to follow.

In theory a late winter flurry of Erysimum bud and flowers usually gets everyone going on thoughts of spring, but this year they are already budding up! They have happily sat through the frosts we have and are still looking remarkably fresh, green and bushy. The first of many flower-heads are already in tight bud and there is even the odd flash of colour.

Take care, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.