Hairy maintenance

Hi. 

We were just too organised when I reported two weeks ago that we had replaced all the damaged tunnel covers. The two storms last weekend took away another three covers, so it was back on the interweb for some emergency replacements. One arrived yesterday, so we fitted that one this morning, but the other two aren’t due until tomorrow which is a shame as today was very calm and although not sunny, it was nicely warm. Tomorrow we are short staffed, because it is Friday and no one seems to want to work all week now, but it looks like the last still day for a week or so. Fingers crossed it is an early delivery, and we can get them both attached. They don’t need to be finished, just securely fitted. If conditions are in our favour, we can get one unrolled, pulled over and fixed within the hour, so it is possible.  I’m not able to help out much tomorrow as I’m off on my annual break to sunny St Ives at lunchtime, although at a push that might slip to 15.00. I don’t think I could resist staying here to get the last cover sorted, just for the sake of an extra couple of hours. Might be a tense start to a holiday! 

One bonus of having our little wind turbines put up back in 2011, is that the Feed in Tariff we get paid for our output does help towards the new tunnel cover costs. The five days of strong wind speeds around last weekend, probably accumulated enough for nearly two of the damaged covers, although I can think of a few things I would rather have spent the money on. There is just so much work to do before you go away for a break and then so much to sort out after as well, Then, there is all that weight to shift again before Christmas, I’ve only just recovered from last winters excesses and now I have to do it all again. All those favourite pubs, cafes and restaurants to support, it’s a tough life. 

Wonders of wonders we have our 2 ½ year old Fiat van back from the dealers, complete with new engine, turbo, oil pump and starter motor. It has been off the road with a big Fiat dealer since early July awaiting an engine delivery, that is four months sitting idle, not a great advert for a commercial vehicle supplier. There was no warrantee cover because we were 20,000 miles over the warrantee limit although well within the 3-year time limit. Since when does a commercial vehicle only stay in one piece for 100,000 miles? There is no need to answer that, I now know! That’s £15,000 we won’t see again and a customer that Fiat won’t see again. 

The young plant supplier and seed catalogues have taken a pounding over the last couple of weeks, and we are close to finalising next seasons plant listings and barcode allocations. There will be a few varieties missing from previous lists but a lot more added after we have made our adjustments. We have swapped a few varieties around to reduce the number of young plants we buy in that are still propagated in peat and added quite a few more after noting requests from customers who responded to our recent survey. One or two of the new perennials may be a bit on the taller side and some of the grass range may prove to be a bit higher maintenance than we are used to, but we can only try.  I’m not too worried about a little bit of high maintenance, some of the best things in life are that way inclined!  

Updated plant lists for 2027, including the barcode details and cost prices will be sent out on my return in mid-November, Box collections are well underway We are well on the way to collecting together most of our wooden display boxes which have been distributed around the country over our main sales period. If you have any boxes ready to collect, please do drop us a line and let us know roughly how many you have and we will pop in when next in your area and pick them up. We can take them back in any condition and hopefully complete with both the wooden lattice insert and the capillary mat. We will be having a major repair session through the winter, drying and repairing any broken boxes that come back. We would rather see all the wood coming back to us so we can keep up to date with the ongoing balances at each site, just in case we have suffered any big losses anywhere. We have chased a few off the Facebook marketplace recently, as it is definitely not the best place for them. We do very much depend on the return of the vast majority of the boxes to ensure packaging costs remain in control and we don’t get clobbered by the packaging waste taxes. 

Social media updates To find our Instagram content try our username @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Availability list. 

Josh, Rachel and Greg will be here to sort out any plant needs or box collections, so don’t hold back! 

The attached list will cover the next couple of weeks, not too much should change barring a sudden rush of big orders. We live in hope! Our long flowering Cyclamen coum are lovely and chunky with quite a few buds appearing now, although it is a bit early for them to go into full flowering mode. They are more bountiful in winter and spring, but they have made a good start already. We secured earlier batches of seedlings this year, so we have grown these more diminutive beauties to a bigger size, which should help promote more sales.  We have a great range of winter flowering Helleborus on sale. Not much flowering activity yet, but they are best planted ahead of the winter to settle in and get ready for their winter/early spring flourish.  

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

Hairy drying

Hi. 

The named storms are on their way which will probably put the brakes on any late plant sales flurry. Two storms over three days after a fairly quiet period, is not great news for this weekends sales prospects, but we certainly still need the rainfall it should bring. We were up in the Peak District earlier this week and took a couple of walks around two reservoirs and both were still looking very low despite the local ground underfoot being pretty soggy. Down here it is still very dry, there is just enough dampness to keep the soil surface moist and the lawns and plants growing, but it hasn’t yet been enough to trouble the groundwater or river levels. The recently sown fields on the farm look like they are germinating ok so we should see many of the fields greening up again, which should make it feel like a green and verdant land again but we need to top up the aquifers if next season is going to be a winner. 

With a slow up this week in despatch we have been able to tuck into the spring bulb potting as planned. By tomorrow I hope there will only be a couple of varieties left to do. We cleared the larger and easier varieties first, so it’s just the awkward and fiddly tiddlers that are left. They are by far the slowest to get in the pot, but the results can be spectacular if the weather goes our way. Those early little fritillaries, narcissus and anemones add a lovely splash of colour early on and kick off the season with real hope of plentiful exciting plants sales to come. 

We have managed to get both the new EV chargers working now, after a marathon session with the Myenergi support team. It turns out that the new chargers although able to connect to the Wifi, don’t use it to talk to each other, they use a separate radio channel for that. So, although I had added Wifi extensions to allow good communication between them all, they still couldn’t talk to the original charger because it is more than 20 meters away. We have now set up two different radio frequency networks to run them as two different installations. The electricity export data needed to only charge the EV vehicles when there is cheap excess energy on site, will need to be sent to the new chargers via an extra set of CT clamps and cables which will read the export levels and send the info across. This bit hasn’t yet been completed as we need to hang up more comms cable and fit the CT leads onto the right cables in the correct position which is not a job for the uninitiated. The good news is that at least we can use the chargers as non-smart devices now, which is a major step forward.  

This was the first week we have used our new capillary mat drying trolleys and they have been a great success. The mats dry really quickly and the temptation to hang them all over despatch has definitely reduced. We may have to invest in a step to allow the more vertically challenged to reach the upper shelves but other than that we nailed it first time.  

Mums 90th birthday trip to Derbyshire went really well, a group of 9 of us made it with the youngest being only 5 weeks old. We tried to keep the walks manageable for both the new mum and the old mum, we stuck to fairly level terrain most of the time and we kept the pace very steady. 5 miles on day one and six on day two was pretty impressive and all fuelled by multiple tea shops and pubs, just perfect. Caroline had a lovely time making great friends with our nephew’s dog Rusty (a Toller, no I hadn’t heard of this breed either), who got walked even further than the rest of us. I was a bit worried they might both disappear off together, but luckily Rusty was too devoted to his master to leave him for long. Just hoping the lust for the patter of tiny paws dims quickly. 

Box collections are well underway We are well on the way to collecting together most of our wooden display boxes which have been distributed around the country over our main sales period. If you have any boxes ready to collect, please do drop us a line and let us know roughly how many you have and we will pop in when next in your area and pick them up. We can take them back in any condition and hopefully complete with both the wooden lattice insert and the capillary mat. We will be having a major repair session through the winter, drying and repairing any broken boxes that come back. We would rather see all the wood coming back to us so we can keep up to date with the ongoing balances at each site, just in case we have suffered any big losses anywhere. We have chased a few off the Facebook marketplace recently, as it is definitely not the best place for them. We do very much depend on the return of the vast majority of the boxes to ensure packaging costs remain in control and we don’t get clobbered by the packaging waste taxes. 

Social media updates To find our Instagram content try our username @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Availability list. 

Our long flowering Cyclamen coum are lovely and chunky with buds appearing, although it is a bit early for them to go into full flowering mode. They are more bountiful in winter and spring but they have made a start already. We secured earlier batches of seedlings this year, so we have grown these more diminutive beauties to a bigger size, which should help promote more sales.  We have a great range of winter flowering Helleborus on sale. Not much flowering activity yet, but they are best planted ahead of the winter to settle in and get ready for their winter/early spring flourish.  Still plenty of fabulous looking herbs in a wide range to inspire some autumnal cooking adventures. It’s a bit late now for the annual Basils, Coriander and alike, but there are still plenty of perennial varieties raring to go. 

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

Hairy celebrations!

Hi.

 Another week passes and the list of jobs to do gradually reduces before another couple pop up and take their place. We had a very brief lull in the wind for a few hours early on Wednesday and managed to slip over the last production tunnel replacement cover and got it all tied down just before the wind returned. Not quite ideal conditions as the sun wasn’t really up high enough to generate any heat to dry off the tunnel frame or soften the plastic cover, but it was very still and an opportunity not to be missed. I was expecting a battle to get what is a very big sheet up and over the hoops. When the frame is still wet the plastic grips rather than slips and it can all get a bit ugly and frustrating. However, we managed to keep the sheet taught and flat as we pulled it over and it all slid into place reasonably easily. It was a record-breaking sprint to clip it all to the framework, it was all unrolled, pulled over and secured in about an hour, not bad for a 45m x 8m tunnel, and best of all there was no need to delay the morning coffee break. 

Pete the electrician has been back here on and off over the last couple of weeks, tidying up odds and ends of barn lights and sockets that had previously been left off the distribution board upgrades he had previously been working on. I’m glad to say he is now happy that we are all safe with up-to-date protection in all areas, even the 1960’s built agricultural buildings. We can actually see in the barn now, when the lights come on, rather than having to get our phones out to get a proper look at things which makes for a much easier space to work in. Although it has been a very expensive upgrade and the bank balance will be glad to see the back of him, we hope that by making redundant an older incoming supply, and replacing it with our own self generated supply, we will save several thousand pounds in standing charges on the old supply over the next few years, which should help cover the costs. 

Greg has been getting stuck into a couple of projects to improve our facilities, while we have a bit more time on our hands. One of our prop tunnels was originally constructed with one of the netting sides at a normal height but the other mounted very low. No idea why that happened, but it has caused problems from season one. Hot air gets trapped in there and with summers like this year it really makes things a bit steamy, even when we put the shade over. I have put off lifting the lower side to a more sensible height for years, as I could see it was going to be a big job. The whole length of the 45m side needed digging out to release both the netting side and base of the wind-up curtain, the baton which pinned both materials to the base rail had to be removed and replaced, the wooden side-rail unbolted and raised, the double layered inflatable tunnel cover had to be released from the rail and refitted and sealed to the side-rail in its new position, the wind-up curtain needed to be restrung with wire and cord to enable it to lift to a high position, then the  netting and plastic layers refitted to the base rail and the trench alongside the tunnel side refilled. Not too much in material expenses, but a lot of work. It got finished this week and looks fab, so well-done Greg, lesser mortals would have given up days ago! 

No rest for the wicked, I then set him off on making a couple of racks for drying some of the returned capillary mats from our wooden boxes. In the summer we can reuse them wet or damp, but now we need a large area for a quick drying session before brushing and stacking the mats for winter storage. I remembered we had some wire mesh sheets I took out of the micropropagation lab growth room when it closed last summer, measured it up and designed a couple of racks based on a couple of old Danish trolleys. We are using up some old metal shelf edges we had knocking around by attaching the mesh where the shelf wood used to be. Greg has cut up the mesh into 34 shelf sized pieces and is now in the process of cable tying them to the metal shelf sides and then positioning them on a couple of old trolley bases which are missing their wooden floor. With a decent air flow around them it should only take a day to get them dry, ready for reloading with the next batch. Another classic Blue Peter solution to a Hairy Pot problem. 

Next weeks big job is going to be potting the spring bulbs. They arrived this week after a long delay caused by new import checks and paperwork, which caught out the supplier. Not a huge problem as we have been too busy despatching stock to get stuck into potting bulbs anyway. It is a slow process when compared with potting modules, and much more labour intensive, even when potted on a machine. There are so many planting hole changes for all the various bulb sizes, lots of counting, so that we get enough bulbs in the pot but not too many, making sure they are all the right way up, the right depth and not gone rotten, then the bulbs need covering and mulching before being either put down in a tunnel or stacked tightly on trolleys in an effort to put off the mice for a bit. 

I have picked a good week to pop off for a day or two for a get-together with mum and the wider family, to properly celebrate her 90th, it will be a riot! 

Social media updates To find our Instagram content try our username @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Availability list. Our long flowering Cyclamen coum are lovely and chunky with buds appearing, although it is a bit early for them to go into full flowering mode. They are more bountiful in winter and spring but they have made a start already. We secured earlier batches of seedlings this year, so we have grown these more diminutive beauties to a bigger size, which should help promote more sales.  There are plenty of Asters in bud doing there late summer show.  We have a great range of winter flowering Helleborus on sale. Not much flowering activity yet, but they are best planted ahead of the winter to settle in and get ready for their winter/early spring flourish.  Still plenty of fabulous looking herbs in a wide range to inspire some autumnal cooking adventures. It’s a bit late now for the annual Basils, Coriander and alike, but there are still plenty of perennial varieties raring to go. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hairy antics

Hi. 

I’m all over the place this week. A long weekend away and then an Expo to attend on my first day back has messed up all my routines and I don’t know if I’m going or coming. I nearly dipped out of the HTA Futuregrow Expo on Tuesday as it was all such a rush, but I’m glad we went as it did give an insight as to how we might be able to integrate a bit of this all dancing AI technology onto the nursery and save a bit on the labour hours front. 

There weren’t a lot of hissing and clanking robotics on show, planting plugs or sticking cuttings, as I don’t think the right audience was in attendance for that market, but there were a couple of autonomous carts that attracted our attention and some interesting pest and disease control ideas.  The autonomous carts were very clever and in theory will run about the nursery, unmanned, doing lots of fetching and carrying. They had multiple sensors and cameras on board as well as super accurate GPS (not your bog-standard GPS) so it could map out the site with centimetre accuracy and enable you to send it anywhere from the screen on the cart, or from your phone app. The multiple sensors meant it didn’t run into anyone or anything that got in the way and the lidar sensors allowed it to keep on top of any dodgy terrain. It even had a rather sweet ‘follow me’ mode where it would fix on one operator and follow at a safe distance wherever you went. The wheels used 4-wheel skid steering, so it was very manoeuvrable forwards or backwards, even if it did scuff the ground slightly. The smaller model which might suit our site would carry possibly three trays if unmodified, but I suspect we could get it up to 6 or 8 trays with some Blue Peter hairy woodworking. We worked out we would probably need at least 4 to make it a workable labour-saving project which is where it all fell apart a bit. The first shock was that each unit was more than £29,000 and the second was that each unit would also need an annual service and GPS subscription of £4,000. That’s not for all 4 units together, that is for each one. We might need a long think about that one! 

We are still busy on the sales front, which is great after the quiet summer sales for some, and all the potting is finished other than some of the spring bulb crops. All but one of the production tunnels that needed new covers are resplendent under nice tight sheets. The last one is ready to cover but we have now lost the warm and still conditions we need to safely pull over and secure the cover, so that will have to wait. Young plant and seed supplier’s lists are being thumbed through this week, to try and finalise a plant list for next year. 

There will be a few new lines on the perennial front and quite a few more available in peat-free modules, including, for us, a new range of grasses. We did grow a few grasses a very long time ago, I think it was even before we ventured into our Hairy Pots, so that will be an interesting development. We have had quite a few people ask about grasses so hopefully there will be enough interest to make it work. At the moment it looks like we will be listing about 40 varieties to start with, which will gradually appear on the availability lists as they come on-line through the spring and summer. If I get over-excited there may be more, we will see. 

All this new nursery stuff makes retirement seem a long way off again, which is a shame as I got a tantalising taste of it over our long-weekend break. 4 days on the island of St Martin’s in the Scillies, staying in a nice hotel with lovely food, delightful staff and a boogie-woogie and blues band over all four days. The weather was fabulous, walking the cliffs in short sleeves while collecting a top-up tan, spotting a few birds and finding somewhere nice for a light lunch. We took a day trip to Tresco, aiming to visit the prehistoric, chambered tombs on the hill tops, bird spot from the hide on the lake, while watching out for the red squirrels around Tresco Gardens. The tomb search worked really well, a perfect day to be on the hill tops, but the rest went out of the window after a quick lunch stop for a shared pizza turned into a two hour session with most of the musicians and their partners. We eventually rushed off towards the hide, which was further than we remembered, only to realise that we would have to turn back for the boat as soon as we got there. We gave up on the birds and spotted a tub of chocolate ice cream instead, before missing our booked connecting boat back to St Martin’s! Luckily they are very forgiving on the Scillies, and we were allowed onto the next one. Paradise is closer to home than you think. 

Social media updates To find our Instagram content try our username @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Availability list.

It’s time for the autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium to fly the flag. They are raring to go with verdant growth and already flashing plenty of colour, with lots more bud to come. We had a huge run on these over the last few weeks, so there is already a big hole in stock levels. Rose colour is getting very low and there are only a few more of the eye-popping whites.  Our long flowering Cyclamen coum are also ready, although it is a bit early for them to go into full flowering mode, they are more bountiful in winter and spring, but there are already a few buds on show. We secured earlier batches of seedlings this year, so we have grown these more diminutive beauties to a bigger size, which should help promote more sales.  There are loads of Asters in bud doing there late summer show.  We have a great range of winter flowering Helleborus on sale. Not much flowering activity yet, but they are best planted ahead of the winter to settle in and get ready for their winter/early spring flourish.  Still plenty of fabulous looking herbs in a wide range to inspire some autumnal cooking adventures. It’s a bit late now for the annual Basils, Coriander and alike, but there are still plenty of perennial varieties raring to go. 

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

Hairy break

Hi.

It’s the end of September already and we seem to be busier than ever. This week I’m a day early as Caroline and I are off to exotic places for a long weekend, starting at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Not quite sure at the moment, if all the stress of getting ready to go makes it worth it, but I’m sure it will be fine once we get away. We are on the other end of the phone anyway so it’s not as if we have left the planet, we aren’t even leaving the country although we are offshore. Lots of returnees this week from various holidays and honeymoons, so plenty of extra hands to cope with the massive list of jobs to do. Plenty of orders again, lots of tunnel clearing and some potting completed. We had one lovely still day and managed to get 3 tunnels recovered, which was great going considering we didn’t get going until 12.00. There are another three to do which I’m hoping if the weather is kind might get done while we are away. The main spring Erysymum crop should also get done before we get back, if all goes to plan and that will be very close to the end of this season’s potting, other than the Spring bulbs which haven’t yet arrived. Another season passes by. Looking forward to the next one and hoping for a smoother ride this time. We are currently having a review of the plant ranges we will be growing next year and we are already placing our young plant orders for later into 2027 and rolling on into 2028. 

Over the next month we will be revising our plant lists adding in the new lines. Lots of catalogues and lists are lying open as we try and cherry pick what might do well and which lines we can buy that are propagated peat-free. It becomes a huge juggling match trying to make it all come together, but it will all work out in the end. The final plant list will probably not be ready until the end of October and we will make the info available to all when we get there. We have been trialling out several pot topper mulches this autumn to try and find one that is a little less biologically active than the Strulch we usually use. They describe Strulch as a mineralised straw and we have used it to great effect on our pots over the years. Without it we can guarantee a covering of liverwort on the compost surface pretty quickly, especially over the winter in the cooler weather, but we have seen some checking of growth in some very soft or fleshy plants. The smell and heat generated by the Strulch when first opened indicates to me that there is quite a bit of biological activity in the straw, and I thought that a more inert material might be better suited for those sensitive varieties. Sure enough the new mulches where noticeably better at keeping the plants healthy but they didn’t always stay on the pot when it was moved, where not dry enough to supress the liverwort growth, or where an unnatural colour or appearance. We have now found a new topper by Jiffy which seems to combine all the right characteristics of the other good ones and looks good too. Fingers crossed it does the job in the longer term. The first pallet is on the way so we will tuck into that next week. 

All this late summer sunshine is pushing along the solar panel output nicely, which is great for topping up the new electric van. Today was the day to tilt our panels to their winter angle of 60 degrees which will stay the same until early March. The output is estimated to improve by up to 40% at this steeper angle compared to a fixed frame installation and by even more if it had been roof mounted. It’s a very low-tech enhancement as it just involves loosening a couple of allen screws on each frame and tipping it to the new angle before retightening. It takes me about twenty minutes to complete all 15 frames (120 panels) but it probably returns me a reward much higher than any plant production will! 

Right, I’m off to print a load of wooden price labels to make sure there are enough for the next few days and then it’s off to pack. I haven’t a thing to wear and there are no shops on the Island, but luckily there is a pub and a very good band. 

Social media updates To find our Instagram content try our username @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Availability list. 

It’s time for the autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium to fly the flag. They are raring to go with verdant growth and already flashing plenty of colour, with lots more bud to come. We had a huge run on these over the last few weeks, so there is already a big hole in stock levels. Rose colour is getting very low and there are only a few more of the eye-popping whites.  Our long flowering Cyclamen coum are also ready, although it is a bit early for them to go into full flowering mode, they are more bountiful in winter and spring, but there are already a few buds on show. We secured earlier batches of seedlings this year, so we have grown these more diminutive beauties to a bigger size, which should help promote more sales.  There are loads of Asters in bud doing there late summer show.  We have a great range of winter flowering Helleborus on sale. Not much flowering activity yet, but they are best planted ahead of the winter to settle in and get ready for their winter/early spring flourish.  Fresh batches of Echinacea are throwing up healthy growth and flower buds, just in time for a late splash. We still have plenty of summer flowering stock looking very well. A range of different types of Salvia’s, many in bud,  Still plenty of fabulous looking herbs in a wide range to inspire some autumnal cooking adventures. It’s a bit late now for the annual Basils, Coriander and alike, but there are still plenty of perennial varieties raring to go. 

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

Hairy adventures

Hi. 

I’m sorry this is a day late this week, both Caroline and I had an afternoon trip to the London Barbican Centre on Thursday, for the HTA Grower of the Year awards dinner. We went up by train and didn’t get back into bed until 2.00 in the morning, so if I’m making even less sense than usual that will be the reason.

I was going to jump straight in and get this out this morning, but the sun was out with no wind, so we had to down tools and get one of the tunnels reclad. On top of this I had a visit from one of our waste providers who showed so much interest in our waste streams, production and marketing I had to do a quick tour. It is always nice to see people surprised at the effort we go to in order to get things right, on the design of our products and the organisation of the workplace. 

Then there was a lengthy call with NFU Energy who I had asked for advice from a couple of weeks ago about how we could reduce our ever-increasing standing charges on the electric supply. It’s all go. 

Our London trip was a big adventure (I don’t get out much) with trains, the Underground, street walking through the city during evening rush hour, a first time Uber experience and the excitement of catching the last train home. It all worked out ok and the dinner was fine, even if we left marginally deflated. 

We did receive a lovely card certificate saying we were ‘Highly Commended’ in the Sustainability Initiative category, but we missed out on the big prize to Allensmore who did really well sweeping the board over the evening, winning several categories as-well as overall Grower of the Year. 

I’m not sure if we missed something in the small print, but the judging was apparently based on a rather limiting application form, rather than a more in-depth investigation or a visit to the nursery, It’s a shame because a visit here usually confirms our mad obsession with all things sustainable whether big or small, and introduces lots of innovative solutions we have had to come up with to solve problems along the way.

Hey-ho, live and learn.  We did however have a few other wins over the evening which made all the effort worthwhile. Firstly, we bumped into the ever-young Neil Grant who I was at college with back in the very early 80’s, and who had just been elected Vice President of the HTA, I got to sit next to the delightful Ed Byrne (Irish comedian) for 10 minutes while he waited to compere the evening, and managed to consume two main courses after a couple of people failed to show up. It had been a long time since lunch.

September sales have been buoyant this year, which is quite a relief after a very challenging season. Vans have been trekking all over the country making deliveries and picking up a few boxes too. We will get a bit more into the box collecting next month as sales slide a little and we get a bit more van time and available space. The electric van has been busy again this week, picking up the slack from the newest diesel Fiat which is now closing in on 3 months off the road while it waits for a new engine to be delivered. Apparently, they have a queue of vans at the same dealer all waiting for an engine delivery, so it may be a while longer yet. At least it delays the bill arriving. 

Exciting news from NFU Energy. Apparently OFGEM are looking at adjusting future standing charges to a level which doesn’t over penalise small renewable generators like us. We currently export about 80,000 units a year and only import 4,000, but with the pitiful payments for the exported power, the upcoming massive standing charge increases will more than wipe out our income, which is a massive disincentive to generate power on a modest scale like ours. At present you can have your standing charges set to zero if you export 100% of your power, but not if you use even only a tiny bit of it yourself. The proportion of export at which reduced standing charges apply may well change in the coming months, so we have been advised not to tie ourselves into a fixed cost contract for standing charges, just in case it changes in our favour. Sounds like sensible advice to me, I’m very glad I phoned them to ask. 

Availability list. It’s time for the autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium to fly the flag. They are raring to go with verdant growth and already flashing plenty of colour, with lots more bud to come. We had a huge run on these over the last couple of weeks, so there is already a big hole in stock levels. Rose colour is getting low but there are a few more of the eye-popping whites.  Our long flowering Cyclamen coum are also ready, although it is a bit early for them to go into full flowering mode, they are more bountiful in winter and spring, but there are already buds on show for some. We secured earlier batches of seedlings this year, so we have grown these more diminutive beauties to a bigger size, which should help promote more sales.  There are loads of Asters in bud doing there late summer show.  We have a great range of winter flowering Helleborus on sale. Not much flowering activity yet, but they are best planted ahead of the winter to settle in and get ready for their winter/early spring flourish.  Flowering all summer and autumn long, Whirling Butterflies (White) are looking great. There are other Gaura are also in bud. Fresh batches of Echinacea are throwing up healthy growth and flower buds, just in time for a late splash. There are some fantastic short bushy Coreopsis in bud again, ready to make a lovely late summer splash. We still have plenty of summer flowering stock looking very well. A range of different types of Salvia’s, many in bud,  Still plenty of fabulous looking herbs in a wide range to inspire some autumnal cooking adventures. It’s a bit late now for the annual Basils, Coriander and alike, but there are still plenty of perennial varieties raring to go. 

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

Hairy contracts

Hi. 

Sales are still bowling along, for the time of year so still busy getting deliveries completed during the week. We are starting to pick up a few batches of empty boxes from those who have already finished their main sales. We already have a few requests for more collections which we will get round to doing if we can squeeze them on the van along with other orders. We will get round to everyone eventually, but it may be a few weeks before all are completed, please bear with us as we try and organise it as efficiently as we can. 

Lots of juggling at the moment, trying to clear more production space to fit in the last of this year’s potting. We have a couple of machine compost fills left in stock for tomorrow and then it’s back to space clearance for everyone. The final compost delivery should have been here this week but apparently, we are not the only ones to have transport breakdowns! Luckily it wasn’t our load, but it was the vehicle that was due to come to us. They have rescheduled their deliveries, and we are now booked in for Sunday afternoon so we will be ready for a quick start on Monday.  

As we get marginally quieter, one of the jobs to get sorted is to fix the next nursery electricity contract which renews at the end of the year. Not great timing as the short-term electric prices have shot up over the last few months. But luckily with our wind turbines, tilting solar panels and battery storage we only import a fraction of the power we actually use, so it doesn’t have a major impact. However, the ongoing huge rises in standing charges are now hitting us hard. We have been given a number of quotes from our energy broker, they are recommending going for a 24 or 36 month contract to take advantage of an anticipated falling unit price over the whole period. They have also pointed out that there are a few suppliers offering a fixed standing charge price and well as a fixed unit price. This is an interesting offer because most ‘fixed price’ contracts only fix the unit price and they can still increase a large part of the standing charges during the contract as they increase, these are described as ‘pass through’ charges.  

In theory most of the standing charge increases are for upgrading the distribution system which is understandable, but it seems unfair that having invested a lot in small scale renewables we are then charged so much just to have a supply available. It has now got to the point where the standing charges are going to be more than the income and savings we make from our installations. We have been caught out by not putting in mega-sized kit which would earn more from similar standing charge rates. Our standing charge for this year is £5 per day, which was 50% more than the previous year, this will increase again to just over £11 a day if we take the best fixed 36 month offer. Having researched costs through the NFU standing order calculator this looks like a cheap deal! That means our annual bill will be £4,000 standing charge and less than £1,200 for the electric imported. Adding the standing charge into the unit price means we will effectively be paying over £1.20 per unit imported, while we earn 6.5p for each unit exported. After 3 years it could be a borderline decision for us, to actually go off-grid. We have a backup generator to supply us over any periods when we are not covered by the solar, wind and batteries and the loss of income from any exported power would be negligible. I think my brain is going to go pop. 

Availability list. 

It’s time for the autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium to fly the flag. They are raring to go with verdant growth and already flashing plenty of colour, with lots more bud to come. We had a huge run on these over the last couple of weeks, so there is already a big hole in stock levels. Rose colour is getting low but there are plenty of eye-popping whites. Don’t hold back! 

Our long flowering Cyclamen coum are also ready, although it is a bit early for them to go into full flowering mode, they are more bountiful in winter and spring, but there are already buds on show for some. We secured earlier batches of seedlings this year, so we have grown these more diminutive beauties to a bigger size, which should help promote more sales.  There are loads of Asters in bud doing there late summer show.  We have a great range of winter flowering Helleborus on sale. Not much flowering activity yet, but they are best planted ahead of the winter to settle in and get ready for their winter/early spring flourish.  We have a charming compact batch of Verbena Lollipop now in bud and colour. Flowering all summer and autumn long, Whirling Butterflies (White) are looking great. There are other Gaura are also in bud. Another later summer range are the mini garden Chrysanthemums which are already showing bud and a spot of colour. Fresh batches of Echinacea are throwing up healthy growth and flower buds, just in time for a late splash. There are some fantastic short bushy Coreopsis in bud again, ready to make a lovely late summer splash. We still have plenty of summer flowering stock looking very well. A range of different types of Salvia’s, many in bud,  We have plenty of Scabiosa in bud, in a range of colours, another long flowering summer star. Still plenty of fabulous looking herbs in a wide range to inspire some autumnal cooking adventures.  It’s a bit late now for the annual Basils, Coriander and alike, but there are still plenty of perennial varieties raring to go. 

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

Hairy livery

Hi. 

There is something strange going on, we are very busy selling plants. I know that is supposed to be our job, but it has been so quiet this year we had forgotten what it was like to be riding a wave of some serious economic activity. It couldn’t be timed better after a very long season of less than steady trading. Rather than fading away into a rising overdraft we are now going out on a flurry of enthusiasm, into a growing overdraft! There is a difference, honest. It wasn’t quite as busy as last week, but still up on last year, and we still had time to clear some more production space and get the potting machine going. Here’s hoping this keeps up for another few weeks, the weather looks to be playing ball for once this year, so fingers crossed.

September is that month in the year when lots of our hard-working staff take a break. Holidays are that bit cheaper as the kids return to school and the temperatures here in the UK are generally still very pleasant. Consequently, we never get quite as much done as I would like, but we all need a break at some point. I’m certainly looking forward to my two weeks in St Ives this November. Surfs Up. Ok, perhaps Grubs Up would be more accurate. 

Lots of van activity this week. H8 our newest Fiat that died 2 months ago, has been moving around the yard at the garage as we keep an eye on its tracker, but we have now been told they are still awaiting delivery of the replacement engine, so don’t get our hopes up for a quick return! We are hoping the electric Renault will be a lot more reliable, it has certainly pleased us so far, despite having to do quite a lot of research to locate the charging stations that can accommodate a van of our size. The newer larger installations are usually fine, but some older ones are hopeless. Both the new Renault van and our 7.5 tonner both received a dramatic facelift this week with the application of a new livery. 

The design has taken weeks of tweaking to get it how we wanted and overall, we are pleased with the results. Advertising wise, isn’t going to change the world, but it adds another level of professionalism and identity into the presentation of our stock as it arrives. Not only that but you can now see it coming and get the kettle on! We may well apply this look to a couple of the others, if we think they will stay roadworthy long enough. 

All three wind turbines are going again after a full service and a couple of oil seal replacements. The team from Natural Energy are brilliant, so knowledgeable about the model of turbine we have and very proactive with hands-on practical advice whenever something goes wrong, which to be fair isn’t very often. They come and service all three in a day, once a year, with very detailed reports on the condition and likely replacement timing of all the wearing parts. We are on a fairly placid site compared with some, we are windy but not too wild, so quite often they will delay replacing parts if the wear looks minimal. I appreciate professionals who do things when they need doing and not just because the computer says YES.  

The young folk here have put together a short feedback form which I am going to attach to the next couple of weeks emails, feel free to let them know your thoughts, they are very keen to hear from you all.  

Social media updates To find our Instagram content try our username @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Availability list. 

It’s time for the autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium to fly the flag. They are raring to go with verdant growth and already flashing plenty of colour, with lots more bud to come. We had a huge run on these over the last couple of weeks, so there is already a big hole in stock levels. Rose colour is getting low but there are plenty of eye-popping whites. Don’t hold back! Our long flowering Cyclamen coum are also ready, although it is a bit early for them to go into full flowering mode, they are more bountiful in winter and spring, but there are already buds on show for some. We secured earlier batches of seedlings this year, so we have grown these more diminutive beauties to a bigger size, which should help promote more sales.  There are loads of Asters in bud doing there late summer show.  We have a charming compact batch of Verbena Lollipop now in bud and colour. Flowering all summer and autumn long, Whirling Butterflies (White) are looking great. There are other Gaura are also in bud. Another later summer range are the mini garden Chrysanthemums which are already showing bud and a spot of colour. Fresh batches of Echinacea are throwing up healthy growth and flower buds, just in time for a late splash. We have a very compact batch of Achillea Milly Rock Terracotta in bud. There are some fantastic short bushy Coreopsis in bud again, ready to make a lovely late summer splash. We still have plenty of summer flowering stock looking very well. A range of different types of Salvia’s, many in bud,  We have plenty of Scabiosa in bud, in a range of colours, another long flowering summer star. Still plenty of fabulous looking herbs in a wide range to inspire some autumnal cooking adventures. It’s a bit late now for the annual Basils, Coriander and alike, but there are still plenty of perennial varieties raring to go. Take care out there. 

From all at Kirton Farm Nurseries. 

Hairy finalists

Hi. 

That was a crazy week with all production plans going out of the window. So much for finishing the potting early this year, we were so busy putting orders together we haven’t looked at any other work. Only having four days in the week gets us off to a busy start anyway, but sales volumes were huge for the time of year, demanding the attendance of all available drivers and usable vans, and smashing all previous September weekly records. Sadly, it won’t rescue a very difficult season, but it does make you feel there is hope out there. Fingers crossed all the gardeners out there pitch up with their credit cards and do a bit of spending with you all! 

With no potting done so far this week and an extra batch of compost ordered to come with our peat-free spring bulb mix, I suspect I may have spoken too soon in predicting an early finish. The Erysimum and Aubrietia young plants should be the last arrivals for potting at the end of the month, and with luck we should still get the rest completed before they arrive. The couple of weeks I had put aside for tunnel recovering will now have to run alongside the updated potting demands. I had a scout around this week and found six covers damaged beyond repair and ordered up the replacement sheets. That hurt, I certainly don’t remember them being that much when I bought last years, mind you we only replaced three last year. Generally, they last us between 7 and 10 years so they are still cheap when broken down to the annual cost, and a gang of four can usually remove and replace two in a day given the right sunny, warm and still weather. There is a general rule here that applies whenever we cover our tunnels, it’s always beautifully still until the moment you unroll the sheet and then out of nowhere the wind erupts, adding an extra element of excitement to the whole job. One breath at the wrong moment, the sheet catches on something and snags. What fun. 

Exciting news arrived this week, that we are a finalist in the HTA Grower of the Year Awards, unsurprisingly in the Sustainability section. We are invited to attend the presentation dinner & ceremony at the Barbican Centre on September 24th (after the HTA conference), so having booked a train seat and a ticket, we may see some of you there! Lots on next week, with turbine repairs and servicing, possibly the return of the broken-down Fiat which has been missing for two months, and some stickers to put on a couple of the vans. Watch out next week for a new look to a couple of the vans! 

Over the bank holiday weekend, I went up the hill with my hedge trimming kit to clear around the turbine bases to allow easier access for the climbing turbine engineers and took my binoculars with me after a tip-off from Caroline that here maybe something exciting to see, A first for me, a flock of Yellow Wagtails, gathering for their return to sub-Saharan Africa, feeding on the bugs left on the rape stubble. Ace. 

The young folk here have put together a short feedback form which I am going to attach to the next couple of weeks emails, feel free to let them know your thoughts, they are very keen to hear from you all.  

Social media updates To find our Instagram content try our username @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Availability list. 

It’s time for the autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium to fly the flag. They are raring to go with verdant growth and already flashing plenty of colour, with lots more bud to come. We had a huge run on these last week, so there is already a big hole in stock levels. Don’t hold back! Our long flowering Cyclamen coum are also ready, although it is a bit early for them to go into full flowering mode, they are more bountiful in winter and spring, but there is already the odd bud on show. We secured earlier batches of seedlings this year, so we have grown these more diminutive beauties to a bigger size, which should help promote more sales.  There are several Asters in bud doing there late summer show.  We have a charming compact batch of Verbena Lollipop now in bud. Flowering all summer and autumn long, Whirling Butterflies (White) are looking great. Another later summer range are the mini garden Chrysanthemums which are already showing early tight bud. Fresh batches of Echinacea are throwing up healthy growth and flower buds, just in time for a late splash. We have a very compact batch of Achillea Milly Rock Terracotta. There are some fantastic short bushy Coreopsis in bud again, ready to make a lovely late summer splash. We still have plenty of summer flowering stock looking very well. A range of different types of Salvia’s, many in bud, Osteospermum Tresco Purple, just a few colourful Bidens and Penstemon Garnet. We have plenty of Scabiosa in bud in a range of colours, another long flowering summer star. 

Still plenty of fabulous looking herbs in a wide range to inspire some autumnal cooking adventures. It’s a bit late now for the annual Basils, Coriander and alike, but there are still plenty of perennial varieties raring to go. 

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

Hairy hacking

Hi. 

So far, we have missed out on the thunderstorms and rain, with just a couple of short showers overnight to dampen down the dust. The forecast is for more over the coming days, so fingers crossed it doesn’t skirt around us as it did last night. Sales are still frustratingly slow after all the heat and hosepipe bans stifled summer activity. Thankfully those customers that have taken a bit of a punt and restocked with some fresh verdant Hairy Pot stock seem to be reaping the rewards, as we are seeing a lot of reordering after the initial inputs, which is encouraging. 

Production on the nursery is bowling along as we rush to get the stock potted as quickly as we can, trying to make the most of the last of the longer days and high light levels. With some crops it makes a huge difference to the eventual plant size and overwintering success, so it does add a bit more unneeded stress as the evenings draw in and morning condensation levels rise. We usually end up finishing the potting of the main crops at the end of September, but I’m hoping this year we will be a couple of weeks ahead. Great for plant growth and more time for us to catch up on the desperately needed tunnel covering.

I have been extending the nursery Wi-Fi range today as we try to get our tech use a bit more mobile around the site. Being able to update the main computer while on the move will be very useful and save a lot of double handling of information. We also need better comms networks so that the EV chargers and the solar panels can access the internet to work more efficiently and be controlled remotely. I do get a bit nervous about all this access to the internet, with all the AI developments and hacking going on. It does look a little scary out there sometimes when you hear what AI is getting up to, apparently with little overall control. I suppose we have to trust that the experts know what they are doing. What could possibly go wrong?  

Our brilliant year took another wrong turn this week when one of the wind turbines blew an oil seal. In the 15 years we have had them this was a first, but a fairly messy first. Caroline spotted it on her morning rounds, the turbine was still working and sounding fine, but the top of the mast was glistening with lots of dark coloured splashes of oil. Luckily, they don’t hold much volume as it is only lubricating the small gear box, so there isn’t any sign of it on the ground, it is all on the upper mast and ladder. It will be a messy clean up but apparently it does happen and the engineers know what they are doing. New seals and a service on all three turbines in a couple of weeks’ time, meanwhile we are one turbine down. 

The young folk here have put together a short feedback form which I am going to attach to the next couple of weeks emails, feel free to let them know your thoughts, they are very keen to hear from you all.  

Social media updates To find our Instagram content try our username @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Availability list. 

It’s time for the autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium to fly the flag. They are raring to go with verdant growth and already flashing plenty of colour, with lots more bud to come. We have a rose form and a white, both look good although the rose is currently slightly chunkier. We sold out of these very early last year, so I’ve potted a few extra this time. Don’t hold back! Our very long flowering Cyclamen coum are also now ready to go, although it is a bit early for them to go into full flower mode, they are more bountiful in winter and spring, but there will be the odd one show its face earlier with a fair wind. We managed to secure earlier batches of seedlings this year, so we have grown these fairly diminutive beauties to a bigger size than previously, which should help promote more sales.  We have a lovely compact batch of Verbena Lollipop now in bud. Flowering all summer long, the Gaura Rosy Jane (bicolour) and Whirling Butterflies (White) are looking great. Brightly coloured Helenium Hayday is available in multiple colours. It is very compact in its first year but really comes into its own in year two with absolutely masses of long-lasting flowers on taller sturdy stems. A class act in the garden border. Another later summer range are the mini garden Chrysanthemums which are already showing early tight bud. Fresh batches of Echinacea are throwing up healthy growth and flower buds, just in time for a late splash. Platycodon are looking great, with colour and plenty of bud. We have some very compact batches of Achillea Milly Rock Terracotta and Red.  The last couple of batches of Veronica Anniversary Blue and Anniversary Rose were given a Chelsea Chop and have come back with a flourish showing loads of fresh bud. There are some fantastic short bushy Coreopsis in bud again, ready to make a lovely late summer splash. Small and compact the Lewisia Elise have plenty of bud already and will flower all summer long. There are several Asters in bud doing there late summer show.  We still have plenty of summer flowering stock looking very well. A range of different types of Salvia’s, many in bud, Osteospermum Tresco Purple, colourful Bidens and Penstemon Garnet. We have plenty of Scabiosa in bud in a range of colours, another long flowering summer star. 

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

Hairy transport

Hi. 

Just a quick splurge this week as there seems to be so much stock out there currently in bud or flower that I am supposed to be promoting! The plants have already reacted very positively to the cooler weather, as have the rest of us. We have yet to see any significant rainfall here, just one overnight spell of light rain that did manage to create the odd short-lived puddle. Fingers crossed the forecast is right and we are going to get to see some more over the next couple of weeks, even if it does turn out to be a slightly damp Bank Holiday weekend. 

If we are going to recover any late summer/autumn sales we need the ground to be more receptive to being worked and accepting some new exciting plants. This week has been a tricky one to navigate with a positive hat on. On the plus side, on the vehicle front, we have finalised the new van livery design which we were planning on applying to our three vans with plenty of mileage still left in them. It has taken several weeks, and the designer has thankfully been very patient with us, now it’s a matter of cleaning, printing and sticking, all of which is being done by a specialist so hopefully it will all be straight and not too lumpy. 

The downside was the news on Tuesday that the newest Fiat, at two and a half years old, needs a new engine, turbo, oil pump and cambelt after some sort of catastrophic sequence of events involving a failed £50 oil pump. Initially the breakdown which happened 2 months ago was put down to a burnt-out starter motor as it just stopped at a roundabout and refused to restart. We now end up with a £15,000+ bill and we still haven’t got it back. The three-year warrantee period still had 6 months to run but we had gone 11,000 miles over the 100,000 warrantee limit, so absolutely no help from Fiat, not even a gesture of goodwill. I can think of a gesture or two I would like to make to Fiat, but I think not buying another one is about as far as I can go. This model was the one they didn’t put a dipstick in, other than the one behind the steering wheel, it relies on a sensor which sometimes works but more infuriatingly doesn’t react for hours when you top it up. 

The young folk here have put together a short feedback form which I am going to attach to the next couple of weeks emails, feel free to let them know your thoughts, they are very keen to hear from you all. 

Social media updates To find our Instagram content try our username @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Availability list. 

It’s time for the autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium to fly the flag. They are raring to go with verdant growth and already flashing colour, with plenty more bud to come. We have a rose form and a white, both look good although the rose is currently slightly chunkier. We sold out of these very early last year, so I’ve potted a few extra this time. Don’t hold back! We have a lovely compact batch of Verbena Lollipop now in bud. A couple of new lines for us this summer are Liriope Big Blue and Monroe White, both now showing a few buds. Just in case you haven’t had enough sunshine this summer, our summery yellow Kniphofia citrina is budding up nicely. Flowering all summer long, the Gaura Rosy Jane (bicolour) and Whirling Butterflies (White) are looking great. Brightly coloured Helenium Hayday is available in multiple colours. It is very compact in its first year but really comes into its own in year two with absolutely masses of long-lasting flowers on taller sturdy stems. A class act in the garden border. Blue and white varieties of Platycodon are looking great, with colour and plenty of bud. We have some Persicaria in bud as well as the ever-popular Nepeta. Kitten Around is very compact with smaller flowers, while Walkers Low, despite its name, is taller and more vigorous.  The last couple of batches of Veronica Anniversary Blue and Anniversary Rose were given a Chelsea Chop and have come back with a flourish showing loads of fresh bud. There are some short bushy Coreopsis in bud again, ready to make a late summer splash. We have a new Geranium on the nursery this summer. Jolly Bee’s had always been too expensive for us to grow in the past, but module prices for this one have dipped low enough this season for us to lash out on a few. Slightly scrambly in habit, it’s mid-blue large flowers just go on and on. A cracker. Small and compact the Lewisia Elise have plenty of bud already and will flower all summer long. There are several Asters in bud doing there late summer show.  Late summer flowering Rudbeckia Goldsturm are producing buds now. A very hardy Rudbeckia which we have cut back and regrown to create shorter flower stems than usual, but once planted it romps away, a garden classic. We still have plenty of summer flowering stock looking very well. A range of different types of Salvia’s, many in bud, Osteospermum Tresco Purple and Penstemon Garnet. Another later summer range are the mini garden Chrysanthemums which are already showing early tight bud. We have plenty of Scabiosa in bud in a range of colours, another long flowering summer star. 

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

Hairy Charge

Hi. 

Looks like this might be the last blistering day for a couple of weeks if the longer-term forecast is right. What a relief that would be, the tunnels have been unbearable for the last couple of days. At the moment we actually have light rain in the forecast for 3 days next week and temperatures at more usual summer heights of 22 – 25C, although whether it happens is another thing. Just a drop in temperature would be good, but for the ground to get some meaningful moisture added could be transformative to the gardens and hopefully open up the gardener’s wallets again. We live in hope. 

The electric van has been delivering all of this week, which is great. Most charging has been from our own solar output, so very green, and good value if I conveniently forget the cost of installing it all. The drivers are getting used to the nuances of EV life, but there have still been a few dramas making life more exciting than necessary. Danny is always up for a challenge and went out for the first time this week and he certainly picked up range anxiety that day. We had discussed only charging the van at the forecourt fast-chargers with enough to get home, so we can mostly charge here, and I suggested returning with about 20% in store to alleviate any anxiety about getting back. He had one successful charge in London which he worked out would be enough to get home, but only just! His problems came when the charge got down to 10% and the mileage estimate on the van display disappeared. Although it looked like he would make it with a couple of miles to spare at the point when it disappeared, confidence dropped and anxiety took its place. The first garage he passed didn’t have chargers, so he diverted to find another. The next one did, but not many, and he couldn’t find them on the large site so he headed for the huge Instavolt site just 2 miles down the road from us, for a quick zap and go. According to Carolines app he had just 1% left at this point, a bit too close for comfort! With all the clever tech we were able to follow his trials live online and tried to phone him to help, but his phone had run low on power too! Thankfully his second day went more smoothly. 

Last weeks master-plan to move over to peat-free glue-plugs rather than loose-fill modules for our propagation work has already hit the buffers. The trays wouldn’t pass through the seed sowing machine without a complete refurb. The next possibility investigated was to use the same trays we already use and they would fill them with their glue-plugs. One of the biggest costs, after the very high cost of the reusable trays themselves, is the transport of the trays to and from the UK and Holland. Firstly, there are two trips for each load, if we are to reuse the trays, and secondly the legs on the trays means you are only transporting half the number of modules per pallet and a lot of empty space. This added up to a quadrupling on transport cost, which was already very high, and blew the whole thing out of the water. It’s back to the drawing board. 

Social media updates To find our Instagram content try our username @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Availability list.

It’s time for the autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium to fly the flag. They are raring to go with verdant growth and already flashing colour, with plenty more bud to come. We have a rose form and a white, both look good although the rose is currently slightly chunkier. We sold out of these very early last year, so I’ve potted a few extra this time. Don’t hold back! We have a lovely compact batch of Verbena Lollipop now in bud. Just in case you haven’t had enough sunshine this summer, our summery yellow Kniphofia citrina is budding up nicely. Flowering all summer long, the Gaura Rosy Jane (bicolour) and Whirling Butterflies (White) are looking great. Brightly coloured Helenium Hayday is available in multiple colours. It is very compact in its first year but really comes into its own in year two with absolutely masses of long-lasting flowers on taller sturdy stems. A class act in the garden border. Blue and white varieties of Platycodon are looking great, with colour and plenty of bud. We have some Persicaria in bud as well as the ever-popular Nepeta Kitten Around is very compact with smaller flowers, while Walkers Low, despite its name, is taller and more vigorous.  We have a new Geranium on the nursery this summer. Jolly Bee’s had always been too expensive for us to grow in the past, but module prices for this one have dipped low enough this season for us to lash out on a few. Slightly scrambly in habit, it’s mid-blue large flowers just go on and on. A cracker. Small and compact the Lewisia Elise have plenty of bud already and will flower all summer long. We already have several Asters in bud, which are usually something we associate with late summer!  Late summer flowering  Goldsturm are producing buds now. A very hardy Rudbeckia which we have cut back and regrown to create shorter flower stems than usual, but once planted it romps away, a garden classic. We still have plenty of summer flowering stock looking very well. A range of different types of Salvia’s, many in bud, Osteospermum Tresco Purple and Penstemon Garnet. Another later summer range are the mini garden Chrysanthemums which are already showing early tight bud. We have plenty of Scabiosa in bud in a range of colours, another long flowering summer star. 

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

Hairy hope

Hi. 

Into another summer month and suddenly Autumn seems to be rushing towards us, although there still looks like plenty of summer heat is still to come down here, over the next week or two. Thankfully our replacement sprinkler nozzles arrived today, ahead of schedule, so I have started installing them in the worst affected tunnels first. Hope to finish tomorrow before the higher temperatures return, but I suspect I might have to order a few more to get the lines sensibly set up with either all working older nozzles or all new ones. This way it should be easier to replace the older ones if the issue returns, assuming it will be the older ones that fail. Who knows what’s going on, certainly not me. Our new acid tank had all it’s seals and gaskets replaced today, so we are all set up for hopefully 7 years of worry-free acidification. It turned out to be an easier update than the engineers expecting so they weren’t here too long and they managed to keep any vapours contain within the tank and pipework. 

In a difficult season we have to take what joy we can in the little victories. This week we overcame a problem we have had hanging around for several years. We have a couple of Danish trolley trailers that carry our trolleys around the nursery picking up orders and distributing the potting output, and both have very heavy drop-down ramps for loading and unloading. Originally, they had some hefty springs to help reduce the effort involved but they perished long ago. We have had a series of rather inadequate replacements over the years as we struggled to find the right type, weight and size to do the job well. They have all helped but were never ideal. After another spring breakage the chaps found a couple of springs on a very old bigger trailer which proved to be perfect for the job, if a little aged in appearance. Know the feeling. After years of searching on the web I manged to pick the right word combination, ‘Trailer ramp springs’, in Google and found some identical new ones from just down the road. Very reasonably priced, they arrived today and look perfect. At last, I got something right! 

It’s that time of year when we have to juggle despatch, plant maintenance, tunnel clearance and potting. We always think that after a busy Spring the summer will be more relaxed, but in fact I think it’s worse, especially when the weather is so challenging to be working in tunnels. Productivity takes a dip, lots of people disappear on well earned holidays and alike, and suddenly we struggle to find the time to get all the work done in the ideal time frame. This year hasn’t helped with lower sales than expected, meaning more stock on the ground to look after, resulting in less space to get the next batches potted into. Lower sales ends up creating higher ongoing costs rather than less which is frustrating. 

I have been investigating new propagation trays this week in an effort to improve our seed sowing success rates. We made great strides last season improving our loose-fill mix for our own modules trays and this seasons output has been much more reliable, but by no means perfect. There are still some plants that just don’t like the loose fill peat-free mixes available. Meanwhile we have had great success over many years with a peat-free glue plug we import from Holland that we used initially for our micro-propagation weaning. I also used them for several years hand sowing herbs and for doing a few cuttings into. This summer we have done a much wider cuttings range, very successfully, under the new mist unit, but the module size is a bit too big for efficient and economic use of space. We have now settled on a slightly smaller module size which means the trays hold 160 units rather than 104 and I think this will be perfect to cover most of our propagation needs next year. 

All I need to do now is organise the seed sowing machine makers to knock me up a new dibber bar, seed delivery bar and nozzle bar to fit the new tray size and we will be away. I’m have a nagging feeling that those fairly simple but precisely engineered parts for the machine will be scarily expensive, but the longer term return of more efficient output will eventually pay it back, in theory. 

Social media updates To find our Instagram content try our username @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Availability list. 

Bue and white varieties of Platycodon are looking great, with colour and plenty of bud. The super popular Nemesia Wisley Vanilla is back on the list and there are more follow-on batches coming too.  Fabulous Echinacea in bud and showing a bit of colour. Very strong stemmed, especially the Lakota range. Small and compact the Lewisia Elise have plenty of bud already and will flower all summer long. We already have several Asters in bud, which are usually something we associate with late summer!  Another later summer range are the mini garden Chrysanthemums which are already showing early tight bud. A couple of the summer flowering Crocosmia are now in bud/flower, Quite a few Leucanthemum in bud now, the first of many flowers to come. We have plenty of Scabiosa in bud in a range of colours, another long flowering summer star. 

Herb sales seem to be booming this year; it must be all that healthy home cooking we are being encouraged to do. Lots of stock is coming through nicely now. There are some super Sage, both Green and Purple and Rosemary too. 

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

Hi

Just a quick one as it is already nearly dinner time. Another hectic and hot week. Slightly easier other than yesterday and possibly a shower or two over the weekend. Our drivers were excited to see some rain on their travels today, even Basingstoke had a heavy downfall, but we just had a few spots, not even enough to raise that lovely ‘just rained’ earthy scent (called petrichor, just in case you want to bring it up in casual conversation!). Still pleasantly busy on sales despite the drought and heat which is keeping us n our toes. We are still very light-handed at the moment, which means we aren’t getting through as many jobs as I would like. There is so much juggling of space, trimming and moving plants to do after the orders are completed that the potting machine didn’t even get started until after lunch on Thursday.

 Then there are all the unexpected challenges that pop up to throw a spanner in the works. This week it was a two-pronged attack. The acid storage tank that was installed just over a year ago had a visit from the manufacturer to replace the measuring float which had come apart. On closer inspection the engineer found the vapour gaskets were showing signs of deterioration which was a worry. On investigation he found that they had fitted the wrong gaskets for our strength of acid, their fault not mine. All safe at the moment, but an urgent replacement job is on the cards. Very frustrating as the purchaser of the unit, as we paid 4 times the price we paid for the same kit 8 years before, and what do you get for all that extra cost? Certainly not a better product. We have been investigating a problem with the irrigation spray-lines over the past few weeks where the mini sprinklers are not all rotating reliably, they keep getting stuck. Luckily the sand-beds under the plants even out the water spread to a degree, but considering we replaced the entire lot last summer to obtain a more even water distribution it’s another challenging puzzle. I have been cleaning nozzles in vinegar, blowing them out with compressed air, swapping nozzles about between positions and tunnels, just trying to nail down a solution. The bizarre thing is the tunnels vary in how much they are affected. About a third of them are untouched and work very well, one third have issues with about half the nozzles in the line and in the last third virtually every nozzle is misbehaving. Both myself and the nozzle supplier now think it may be a biofilm issue. We have been trying to boost the plants health and their capacity to fight off pests and diseases so we can further reduce the need to introduce so many predators or as a last resort spray, by applying a mix of various bio-supplements through the irrigation system. It looks like these additives have left us with a thin smear of biofilm forming inside the pipework and on the sprinkler parts.  For the moment I am buying 1,200 new sprinkler heads, just to get everything working properly, and then we will need to find a solution to preventing and removing the unwanted biofilm. We may have a solution on hand, but only time will tell. It would be a shame to stop the supplements as they seem to be helping, but one way or another we need to sort it out, especially when the crops are under the pressure of seemingly endless heat and no rain and don’t appreciate erratic distribution. 

The electric van seems to be getting slightly better on its range capacity, although sometimes it’s just too clever for its own good. One of our drivers missed getting through a timed gate opening this week because it refused to move off when he got into the cab. Turning it off and on again naturally cured it but the gate was shut by this time! Very proud of one of our drivers (Andy) who is off for the next couple of weeks as he is umpiring in the hockey veteran’s world cup, being held in Holland and Belgium. He did the same a few years ago and I believe he actually umpired the final in one of the age categories. I’m not very good with rules generally, so definitely not a job for me,  

Social media updates To find our Instagram content try our username @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Availability list. Summer must be here with bud on many of the Agapanthus varieties. The super popular Nemesia Wisley Vanilla is back on the list and there are more follow-on batches coming too.  Fabulous Echinacea in bud and showing a bit of colour. Very strong stemmed, especially the Lakota range. Small and compact the Lewisia Elise have plenty of bud already and will flower all summer long. We already have several Asters in bud, which are usually something we associate with late summer!  Another later summer range are the mini garden Chrysanthemums which are already showing early tight bud. A couple of the summer flowering Crocosmia are now in bud, Quite a few Leucanthemum in bud now, the first of many flowers to come. We have plenty of Scabiosa in bud in a range of colours, another long flowering summer star. Herb sales seem to be booming this year; it must be all that healthy home cooking we are being encouraged to do. Lots of stock is coming through nicely now. There are some super Sage, both Green and Purple and Rosemary too. 

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

Hairy charge

Hi.

Thankfully there are signs of a slight cooling over the coming weekend, but it will be warmer again during the following week. Possible showers in a week’s time, yes please! Not sure if I am going to be able to cope with this if it does become the norm, it is just too challenging for an old fart more used to hot weather meaning 25C. Luckily, I have been in air-conditioned comfort all day as Caroline and I took the electric ID3 up to Lincoln to collect our new electric Renault 4 tonne delivery van. Just 2 months late, it still wasn’t finished when we arrived! 

Good job we collected it ourselves as there were a few little additions we had requested on top of their standard product. Present were the spare wheel (not standard issue these days, but very useful and time saving if you have a puncture) and an extra piece of rachet bar to hold the spare wheel in place, Missing were the side rails on the ramp, which stop the trolley wheels going off the ramp edge when loading and unloading, and the registration plates needed for the updated registration number we ordered but they were unable to sot out before collection. All promised on numerous occasions, remembered when pointed out and, to be fair, swiftly put right while we waited. 

They had a lovely coffee machine, so we were well pumped-up by the time all was ready! We had a full charge in the van, which in theory would have just about got us home, but it was going to be a bit tight so decided to add a bit while we recharged the VW, which also needed a top up. Pulled into the service station and being a good boy, I followed the signs to the van and lorry parking which unfortunately left me in a position where I couldn’t actually get to the chargers, the exit led straight back onto the M1. Caroline meanwhile found a super quick charger which took just 10 minutes to charge enough to get home. Grabbed a sandwich and cold drink and moved onto the next service station (Watford Gap), No good, tiny parking spaces by the chargers, too short for the van. Onto the next and getting slightly anxious as to how difficult this was all going to be, only to find a row of nice new fast chargers with good sized spaces. Hurrah. Out came the new electric ‘fuel card’ to try out for the first time and waved it in front of the card reader. The card screen was so scratched we couldn’t read it in the bright sun, but noises were emitting from the charger and on checking the van display it was charging fine and very quickly. No idea what we rate we paid as there was no display to physically see unless we downloaded a special app. Not to worry, in 15 minutes I was ready to go again. Left the service station without realising I had picked the wrong exit back onto the M1 instead of the A45. It’s all just too exciting. Sat-nav got me sorted at the next junction, but Caroline still hadn’t realised what was going on until she reached the next one along. As a consequence, I beat her home despite being restricted to 56 mph. Now it’s charging up, nearly for free, on our nursery charger and ready for the tracker and camera fitting tomorrow. We might get it on the road next week, although there are some ‘words’ being applied to the side at some point and we must take it off the road for a day or two when the reg number officially changes. In the end it should be on the road a lot, we have to start saving on fuel costs asap after a very challenging year. 

Social media updates To find our Instagram content try our username @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Availability list. Summer must be here with bud on many of the Agapanthus varieties. The super popular Nemesia Wisley Vanilla is back on the list and there are more follow-on batches coming too.  Fabulous Echinacea in bud and showing a bit of colour. Very strong stemmed, especially the Lakota range. Small and compact the Lewisia Elise have plenty of bud already and will flower all summer long. The pretty Foam Flower Tiarella wherrii are now in flower and bud We already have several Asters in bud, which are usually something we associate with late summer!  Another later summer range are the mini garden Chrysanthemums which are already showing early tight bud. The early summer flowering Allium Millenium is now beginning to show a flash of colour. It’s a cracker, much tidier foliage and habit than the spring flowering Alliums, and it flowers for longer too. We have a couple of batches of fresh Digitalis coming into bud. Not many so don’t hang about. A couple of the summer flowering Crocosmia are now in bud, Quite a few Leucanthemum in bud now, the first of many flowers to come. We have plenty of Scabiosa in bud in a range of colours, another long flowering summer star. Garden Pinks (Dianthus) are back in bud again after recovering from our ever-hungry rampaging hares. More summer stars are coming out now with bud appearing on the Gaura and Salvia’s too. 

Herb sales seem to be booming this year; it must be all that healthy home cooking we are being encouraged to do. Lots of stock is coming through nicely now. Tarragon is back and the Mints have recovered nicely too. There are some super Sage, both Green and Purple. 

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

Hairy harvesting

Hi. 

Back into the cauldron of heatwave conditions on a nursery. Early starts and even earlier finishes means that productivity has evaporated along with all the water in our main pond. We have had to run some water in there to at least save some of the plant and insect life that was thriving just a week or two ago. It has happened before and it is surprising how things can bounce back given more favourable conditions. It’s not quite as hot here as before, but it looks like being longer running this time and I’m not sure which is worse.  I’m going to keep this one brief as I am probably a bit over tired and not thinking very clearly. 

On top of the heat issues and the usual nursery chaos, Caroline’s mum sadly passed away last week after being ill for quite a while. Even when expected it still throws everything into a bit of a mess, so we are perhaps not quite as focussed as usual, at the moment.  It didn’t help that last night the farm had to harvest the field of rape beside our house, starting at midnight and finishing about 5.30am. They were desperate for the crop to hold a bit of moisture overnight as it was too dry to cut during the day. Apparently, it out worked well for the crop, although with all our windows open I must have been woken 10 or 15 times to the not so gentle lullaby of a monster combine turning next to the window, or a big tractor and trailer trundling past taking a load back to the farm. The joys of living in the country! Take care out there. 

Social media updates To find our Instagram content try our username @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Availability list. 

Summer must be here with bud on many of the Agapanthus varieties. The super popular Nemesia Wisley Vanilla is back on the list and there are more follow-on batches coming too.  Fabulous Echinacea in bud and showing a bit of colour. Very strong stemmed, especially the Lakota range. Small and compact the Lewisia Elise have plenty of bud already and will flower all summer long. The pretty Foam Flower Tiarella wherrii are now in flower and bud We already have several Asters in bud, which are usually something we associate with late summer!  Another later summer range are the mini garden Chrysanthemums which are already showing early tight bud. The early summer flowering Allium Millenium is now beginning to show a flash of colour. It’s a cracker, much tidier foliage and habit than the spring flowering Alliums, and it flowers for longer too. We have a couple of batches of fresh Digitalis coming into bud. Not many so don’t hang about. There are some cracking Verbena’s Lollipop ready to go. Don’t miss out on this very popular line. A couple of the summer flowering Crocosmia are now in bud, Quite a few Leucanthemum in bud now, the first of many flowers to come. We have plenty of Scabiosa in bud in a range of colours, another long flowering summer star. Garden Pinks (Dianthus) are back in bud again after recovering from our ever-hungry rampaging hares. More summer stars are coming out now with bud appearing on the Gaura and Salvia’s too. 

Herb sales seem to be booming this year; it must be all that healthy home cooking we are being encouraged to do. Lots of stock is coming through nicely now and the tender herbs like Basil are now making their summertime appearance. Tarragon is back and the Mints have recovered nicely too. There are some super Sage, both Green and Purple. 

Best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries. 

Hairy new van

 Hi. 

Another month flashes by and it’s Wimbledon already. The never-ending rounds of football continue, which makes it feel still like spring sometimes. We are now well into the knockout stages of the world cup and all looks ok so far with both my sweepstake teams still involved and England too, but only by the skin of their teeth. Hopefully the next game goes well although I’m not sure I will be able to keep awake until 1.00 in the morning to watch it, we’ll see. 

We are pressing on with next seasons potting, clearing the spring crops where we can, giving the tunnels a spring clean and filling them up again with firstly the slower growing overwintered crops. The second part of our main Dutch module delivery arrives next week which sees the back of most of the imports for the year, other than a few bulbs in the Autumn. Then it’s onto the faster growing UK and home-grown crops to fill up the nursery again ready for whatever 2027 holds. Our next container of pots arrives shortly which I think leaves one more to come in the Autumn. 

Sadly, as fast as the plant sales income arrives it disappears again, we don’t seem to be able to give it a nice long summer holiday in our bank account to give it a healthy glow, blink and you miss it! Our electric van has been delayed again so it will be another couple of weeks before we get hold of it. Very frustrating, but we have seen some pictures to check it has been put together as expected. I think we are all agreed it is, externally, one of the ugliest van cabs we have seen! 

It’s possible the perspective of the image they sent me exaggerates the size of the nose somewhat, but I have been using that argument myself all my life and never got anywhere. We hired a Renault Master van in the summer and thought then what a beast it looked, so it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise really. I’m sure we will get used to it and it’s what’s under the bonnet that really counts, that’s what I say. It’s a shame in a way that Renault have not made it more visually appealing, they really hit the right mark with their electric Renault 5, which is a very funky car, internally, externally and in performance. Caroline is really pleased with hers, so much so I have only been allowed to drive it once. I’m just not cool enough! 

I don’t want to jinx tomorrow’s special delivery, but we are due to receive our replacement emergency generator at long last, making our ancient one redundant. If we can then wrestle our electrician back onto site, we can complete our electric upgrade started back in April. There will be two new EV chargers, upgraded consumer units in the barn and main electric shed which means all the site will be automatically backed up with power from the new generator should we find ourselves cut off, which does happen here quite a lot. A bit more of a marathon than expected but what’s new there, I know they can see me coming. 

Social media updates To find our Instagram content try our username @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Availability list. 

Plant growth is rampant, plenty of bud and colour to tug open those purse strings. The super popular Nemesia Wisley Vanilla is back on the list and there are more follow-on batches coming too.  Small and compact the Lewisia Elise have plenty of bud already and will flower all summer long. The pretty Foam Flower Tiarella wherrii are now in flower and bud We already have several Asters in bud, which are usually something we associate with late summer!  The early summer flowering Allium Millenium is now producing bud. It’s a cracker, much tidier foliage and habit than the spring flowering Alliums, and it flowers for longer too. There are some cracking Verbena’s Lolliop ready to go. Don’t miss out on this very popular line. A couple of the summer flowering Crocosmia are now in bud, The taller and very red Lucifer and the more compact golden yellow George Davidson. Emberglow, another red but shorter than Lucifer, is only a week or so away from bud showing too. Summer must be here with bud on several of the Agapanthus varieties. Quite a few Leucanthemum in bud now, the first of many flowers to come. We have plenty of Scabiosa in bud in a range of colours, another long flowering summer star. Garden Pinks (Dianthus) are back in bud again after recovering from our ever-hungry rampaging hares. More summer stars are coming out now with bud appearing on the Gaura, Bidens and the Salvia’s too are now showing plenty of bud and now a bit of colour too. Oxalis is back on the list and in bud, after we gave it the Chelsea Chop just short time ago. We cut them right back to compost and there now back on show again, looking great. 

Herb sales seem to be booming this year; it must be all that healthy home cooking we are being encouraged to do. Lots of stock is coming through nicely now and the tender herbs like Basil are now making their summertime appearance. Tarragon is back and the Mints have recovered nicely too. There are some super Sage, both Green and Purple

Best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.