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.