Hairy cakes

Hi

I am told the weather is about to improve. Hold on to that thought and don’t risk running too low on stock! The drains here tonight are overflowing again and the turbines are bowling along, so it has plenty of room to get better. Things continue to move along with a flurry of activity around providing Mothering Sunday colour this weekend and everyone getting ready for the spring onslaught of plant hungry gardeners. 

All the vans have been out for a run and so far, all have come home.  One of the unseen costs of going peat-free came home to roost this week, with the replacement of the lift chains on the potting machine. At just two years old, the heavy chains that pull through the potting compost to create a fall of media filling the empty pots passing underneath, had had enough. There are chain tensioner adjustments we make over the seasons as the chain wears and lengthens, which probably allows for a ‘stretching’ capacity of about 8 inches. But it had all been used up. In the old days a chain would last 7 or 8 years but the tougher ingredients in peat-free mixes causes must faster wear, I’m also not quite so sure the chains are as tough as they were. Anyway, a new chain arrived, the machine partially dismantled, lift bars removed, and all put back together again over several hours. A good job to get out of the way before we get too busy and the machine now runs so much more quietly, very satisfying if a touch expensive. 

Cakes all round this week with another birthday, me this time, it comes round so fast. I found plenty of exciting things to do on the day, with seeds to sow and labels to print. The senior moments continue to mount, while sowing the seed I emptied the last of the seed into my palm to sow into the last few cells of the tray, felt the urge to find out the time, checked my watch and spilt the lot down my front. Merriment continued into the evening as I get in free to my Jive dancing session if it’s my birthday, although it is traditional to bring cake or sweets for all the other dancers (50-60 people), so not quite such a bonus. I opted for a healthier option this time and brought a flowering Hairy Pot Plant for each attendee instead, which we advertised in advance to ensure a good turnout on the night. It worked a treat and I was a very popular chap, my legs were shaking by the end of the night and that’s just what you want on your birthday night. 

Social media update Ok, hands up, this isn’t my area of expertise, in fact I no longer really have any of those anyway. The new young folk here have rekindled our Instagram account which we dallied with during the Covid era. Apparently, it has been ticking along quietly without any input from my end, but now there are new images being posted each week showing some of the current goodies out there on the nursery. There may possibly be a few other nuggets on there too, so take a peek during coffee break and see what a foot. Yes, I know it’s the hairy bit on the end of your leg, or is that just me? To find it, I am told you can try our user name @thehairypotplantcompany  or use the link below; https://www.instagram.com/thehairypotplantcompany?igsh=MXhhMGxhcjgzNGYydA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

Do your 2026 retail prices need changing? 

If you are still to get started on this year’s hairy pot sales don’t forget to have a think about your retail prices and let us know if you want to adjust them. 

Availability list. 

It must be spring, the Dicentra spectabilis have shot out of the ground, both colours instantly showing flower buds. Another herald of springtime is Brunnera. both the green leaved and variegated varieties have early flower bud among the freshly emerging foliage. Polemonium Heaven Scent are looking great, bushy bronzed bushy foliage with tight bud just appearing. We have a big batch of the delightful Snakes Head Lily (Fritillaria) just beginning to do its spring thing. Buds from the off. The very popular Anemone blanda are springing into action. Plenty of fresh growth, bud and flower. The deep blue Scilla sibirica are showing bud and a good colour and Muscari Blue Magic are also showing colour. Two of the Ipheion have their first buds appearing. Ground hugging foliage and short flower stems they are simply lovely. Pulmonaria varieties are in bud and starting to show colour. Camassia are beginning to bud already and the last of our Tulip Trautmansdorf have fat buds. Most Erysimum varieties are already showing bud and the odd flash of colour, they stood up to the last frosts very well so should be plenty tough enough for outside life despite it still only being early March. Cowslip (P.veris) think it’s springtime with expanding foliage, bud and a touch of colour. Don’t tell everyone, but we have a few Erythronium ready. They tend to be on and off the list in a flash as we don’t grow a huge number, they are just too fickle and have quite a short but spectacular window if they are in the right place. The first thing the Pulsatilla does in the spring is throw up their first flower buds, even before the leaves come. A few of the winter flowering Helleborus have colour or bud showing. And finally, the first Hosta’s have put in an appearance. Always a precursor to Spring proper, they are up and away. 

Best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries. 

Hairy gossip

Hi. 

What a treat to see so much sunshine, it has been glorious down here. Way too much flesh has been tempted into the fresh air, along with a few regrets when some mornings turned out to be a bit nippier than anticipated! I had forgotten what dry roads looked like, along with the added benefit that we can now see all the potholes so much more easily.  Sales this week jumped reassuringly as gardeners made a reappearance in the plant sales areas, I suspect there may be a lot of pent-up plant purchasing out there, let’s hope it spills out and hangs around for many weeks to come.  We’ve had a few of our seasonal staff returning this week which always adds some exciting social interactions, with everyone catching up on all the latest nursery developments and gossip. We were actually busy enough to have all 5 vans out on Thursday, quite an achievement when at the beginning of the week we only had two drivers and three vans operational. A few minor servicing and repair jobs were completed on the vehicles and drivers, and, touch wood, we are ready to go full steam next week. 

Plenty of potting already underway with the first young plants in modules finding their way into some lovely fresh peat-free compost. The first 80 cubic meter load arrived from the factory in Holland late on Sunday evening and unloaded ready for potting machine loading first thing on Monday. We never know quite when they are going to deliver, we generally get a call from the driver as he is either getting on or off the ferry which gives us a few hours to get ready. I know we could tell him to park-up somewhere and wait until Monday morning but then he would be in the way when everyone is buzzing around picking up the orders, so much better to get him sorted and out of the way. It keeps the driver happy and his tacho hours manageable and efficient, which hopefully will keep costs down for us in the future. 

Having said that it is bound to go up if fuel costs are messed up by the troubles in the Middle East, best not think about that. I am still itching to invest in an electric delivery van and the news looks promising. There are now very strong indications that this summer the rules will be relaxed around van weights and driving rules for EV delivery vans. You can already drive a van up to 4.25t with a standard driving license, if it is electric, but it still needs a speed limiter, tacho (which restricts driving times) and tighter MOT restrictions. A slightly higher weight allowance compensates for the extra battery weight and allows us to still carry an economic payload. Fingers crossed it all goes through parliament ok, but I’m not counting my chickens just yet.  

Summary of the improvements to shelf life for 2026 

We are introducing three changes this season in how we prepare our plants for delivery to our lovely retailers. We know some sites struggle to maintain the quality of our plants once they arrive on the retail plant sales areas. To help provide a longer lasting 'looking good' shelf life we are going to be doing the following: 

1/ Adding a reusable, recycled wool capillary mat in the bottom of each tray which will hold onto extra water for the plants to take up. These are expensive and will need to be returned for reuse with the boxes. 

2/ Adding extra wetting agent at despatch to allow the compost to hold onto more water and rewet more easily if dry. 

3/ Adding a dose of organic slow-release feed as a top dressing to compensate for any leaching of nutrients. Do your 2026 retail prices need changing? If you are still to get started on this year’s hairy pot sales don’t forget to have a think about your retail prices and let us know if you want to adjust them. 

Availability list. 

The warmth in the air and now some sunshine, is pushing on the early plant growth. It must be spring, the Dicentra spectabilis have shot out of the ground, both colours instantly showing flower buds. Another herald of springtime is Brunnera. both the green leaved and variegated varieties have early flower bud among the freshly emerging foliage. Polemonium Heaven Scent are looking great, bushy bronzed bushy foliage with tight bud just appearing. We have a big batch of the delightful Snakes Head Lily (Fritillaria) just beginning to do its spring thing. Buds from the off. The early spring bulbs are showing well with most of the Narcissus now in bud and colour, Don’t hang about, not a lot left. The deep blue Scilla sibirica are showing bud and a good colour and Muscari Blue Magic are now up and in tight bud. Two of the Ipheion have their first buds appearing. Ground hugging foliage and short flower stems they are simply lovely. Pulmonaria varieties are in bud and starting to show colour. Most Erysimum varieties are already showing bud and the odd flash of colour, they stood up to the last frosts very well so should be plenty tough enough for outside life despite it still only being early March. Wild primrose (P. vulgaris) and Cowslip (P.veris) think it’s springtime with expanding foliage, bud and a touch of colour. The first thing the Pulsatilla does in the spring is throw up their first flower buds, even before the leaves come. A few of the winter flowering Helleborus have colour or bud showing. Cyclamen coum Silver-leaved are flowering and will flower from November through to March and April.  

Best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.  

Hairy developments

Hi. 

Warmth is spreading and the plants love it with growth on some looking quite vigorous for February. Looks disappointingly damp over the coming weekend but you never know, any dry spells should ignite those spring yearnings to loosen the gardening purse strings. Our bank balance is certainly looking forward to a bit of relief after the buildup of winter pressures! We have some pretty exciting, and for us a little scary, news to share. We have just taken on a young couple (Rachel and Josh) to assist the ancient folk who pretend to oversee the production and sale all this hairy pot stuff. After years of various wise owls asking us about our future plans and eventual slowing down, we were recently approached by a dynamic couple interested in working and learning the management side of our little enterprise. Both have nursery and management experience, are very bright, enthusiastic and annoyingly young. They started last week and already we are seeing some changes as they introduce us to the wonders of modern computing communications and new efficiencies. It’s going to be a very steep learning curve on both sides but so far so good. There will probably be a few subtle email address and admin changes coming up, but in theory everything should be more or less the same, just better! There may be some social media activity coming up too, but I don’t really understand that bit yet. In theory it should be useful and relevant to commercial buyers rather than anything directed to the retail consumer. I’m a bit anxious about TikTok, I’m not sure my dance moves will sell many plants. We will see. 

Nature has started up spring activity here in earnest, last Thursday evening I stepped out of the office to a chorus of frogs doing their thing in the main nursery pond. How they all seem to know which night to turn up on I haven’t a clue. A burst of activity over 3 or 4 nights and it’s all over, just leaving a heap of spawn behind, ready to repopulate the tunnels though the summer. Then there are the bats at dusk, flying up and down the hedges, one by the nursery gate, one up by the donkey paddock and another round the house, it’s all go. The dawn chorus has been building, but it was one late evening that I heard the loudest shouting match. Two song thrushes we going at it hammer and tong, with the volume set to 11.  My weekend seed sowing was interrupted by a nesting robin who had chosen my black crate tower as home. I tie crates together to create a loading platform so I can rest the bag on top and tip the seed compost ingredients into the concrete mixer. They picked the same tower last year, so I was confident enough to keep using it as I know they go straight back to it as soon as my back is turned. They managed two broods last year, but starting this early they could be on for more. Gregs rainwater sump clearance went really well last week, huge amounts of sludge were cleared from the bottom, and the pump and filter are now running with relatively clear water. Just need to stop the field above us washing down the hill in heavy rain and we would be in a much better place. Might have to start some farm negotiations. 

Summary of the improvements to shelf life for 2026 

We are introducing three changes this season in how we prepare our plants for delivery to our lovely retailers. We know some sites struggle to maintain the quality of our plants once they arrive on the retail plant sales areas. To help provide a longer lasting 'looking good' shelf life we are going to be doing the following: 

1/ Adding a reusable, recycled wool capillary mat in the bottom of each tray which will hold onto extra water for the plants to take up. These are expensive and will need to be returned for reuse with the boxes. 

2/ Adding extra wetting agent at despatch to allow the compost to hold onto more water and rewet more easily if dry. 

3/ Adding a dose of organic slow-release feed as a top dressing to compensate for any leaching of nutrients. 

Do your 2026 retail prices need changing? If you are still to get started on this year’s hairy pot sales don’t forget to have a think about your retail prices and let us know if you want to adjust them. 

Availability list. 

The warmth in the air is pushing on the early plant growth, even if the sun is still a bit shy. Polemonium Heaven Scent are looking great, bushy bronzed bushy foliage with tight bud just appearing. We have a big batch of the delightful Snakes Head Lily (Fritillaria) just beginning to do its spring thing. Buds from the off. The early spring bulbs are showing well with most of the Narcissus now in bud and colour, Don’t hang about, not a lot left. The deep blue Scilla sibirica are showing bud and a good colour and Muscari Blue Magic are now up and in tight bud. Pulmonaria varieties are in bud, not far from showing colour. We don’t have much Blue Ensign left but plenty of the others. Most Erysimum varieties are already showing bud and the odd flash of colour, they stood up to the last frosts very well so should be plenty tough enough for outside life despite it still only being early March. Wild primrose (Primula vulgaris) and Cowslip (P.veris) think it’s springtime with expanding foliage, bud and a touch of colour. The first thing the Pulsatilla does in the spring is throw up their first flower buds, even before the leaves come. A few of the winter flowering Helleborus have colour or bud showing. Cyclamen coum Silver-leaved are flowering and will flower from November through to March and April.  

Best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.