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. 

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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.