Morning all,


After a disappointing few days on the wind front we are making up for it this morning with over 20 units an hour since 8.00. This will make up a lot if it carries on over the next day or two. First excitement of each day is to pull back the curtains to see if they are turning. Yes I am old.

So now the turbines are sorted, what’s next? Well we are still adding to the irrigation efficiency with our evapo-sensor control system to set up, which should reduce water use by adjusting application rates to each days weather changes more accurately than I can, and the new variable speed pump to plumb in which is energy efficient and will make irrigating quicker and more versatile. Then I’m off to the Four Oaks trade show in a couple of weeks to check out LED lighting for the lab growth room, bio-mass boilers for our propagation needs and any other helpful stuff I can find. We can’t do it all straight away as the cash flow is so tight but it gives us some things to aim for. We are still trialling box inserts for the wooden display trays we use to make it easier to maintain the stock in their display areas. They are very shallow inserts which just hold the irrigation water around the pot base a little longer to allow the water to absorb before draining slowly away. They are looking very promising, we are just fine tuning the sizing and longevity before taking the plunge.

Started shopping for a replacement 7.5 tonne van this week. The old one is getting more expensive to keep on the road and the newer models are that bit more efficient and cleaner running. Not only that but the new emission controls in London come into effect next year and we need a cleaner vehicle to avoid the huge penalty charges involved. I know it will be another added burden on the cash flow but we can’t manage without a reliable workhorse at the centre of a busy spring. We can always resort to hire vehicles in an emergency but having a purpose built van to hand is essential if we are to get everything done effectively during the busy times. The cost of using specialist trolley carriers is getting very expensive too with charges ranging from £45/trolley for very local delivery to £85 + fuel surcharges for East Anglia, Cornwall and the North Midlands. These costs are going to have a bigger impact on trade overall as the years pass and costs continue to rise. Buying from local suppliers is going to have a real financial benefit to all sides in the future, something to bear in mind as you plan for the medium term. ‘Free delivery’ doesn’t exist, someone pays and at the moment that will be the local customer rather than the distant one and that can’t continue as it simply isn’t fair or sustainable.

Off on our summer break on Sunday which I am looking forward too after a long sales season, turbine excitement and recent troubles. There is nothing like a day trip to the Isle of Wight! It has become an annual pilgrimage to sun worship on the beach with a sandy sandwich and a small beer. OK it did rain most of the day last year and I didn’t get out of my coat but we stuck it out, as long as we are with friends it’s a great day out. A change is as good as a rest and besides, I get a little holiday every day when I get on the web cam over looking Porthmeor beach in St Ives each tea time when everyone has gone home.

Eco News

Virtually all our stock now has MET 52 incorporated in the compost to give 2 season protection against the dreaded vine weevil. It is a bio-insecticide (a fungus) that infects the larvae in the compost as it grows. It has been shown to slow the effect of a few other soil living pests as well such as sciarid fly, onion fly, cabbage root fly and thrips so it could turn out to be a really useful and safe asset to have around. Naturally it doesn’t come cheap but with such beneficial results we should get a higher quality plant overall and less wastage from plant loses which will help cover that extra cost.

I had advanced notification from Floramedia (label printers) that they will be offering a wooden label printing service very soon. They have been doing a few for one big customer but are now able to offer it more widely for anyone interested. You may want to sit down before you read the price list. Still it is great to see more use of natural materials being taken up.

Nature notes

Biological rabbit control in full effect this morning. Spare Cat picked off one off the biggest ones and having dragged it off has now consumed most of it and can’t find a comfortable position in which to sleep it off. I’ve got to move him in a minute and I’m a bit anxious that something is going to give.

Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Phew, what a scorcher. This is all a bit of a shock to the system, it’s been like June out there not early April. It does make everything look stunning in the hedgerows and gardens so hopefully everyone will be enthused and excited about the spring garden projects. I wonder how many out there are asking already about bedding plants? - it must be tempting despite the prospect of weeks of potential frosts still to come. Summer also arrived with the first two swallows spotted on Sunday shooting off down the valley, then on Tuesday our pair arrived and started nesting activity and feeding around the donkey shed, which is their usual haunt. Lots of feel good stuff going on, don’t forget to look up and see it.

Usual nursery activity on the arrival of the sun and heat, fog system goes on a go slow, in need of new nozzles and ventilation fan in microprop weening tunnel trips out, needing a motor rewind. Perfect, so plants and pricking out teams have been wilting all week. In the house the insulation is beginning to get too efficient and we may have to look at a change in tactics for the summer. In theory it can keep the house cooler in summer but not when you’ve got an Aga generating heat in the middle! Whereas before most of the heat leaked away and left us in the cold it is now all retained which is great until the sun comes out. Still at least we have reduced our oil consumption by over 60% this winter, and I reckon it will be more next year as we didn’t get the insulation complete until December.

If I can find time this week we will need to have a bit of a tidy up as we have a team of judges coming round for the local business awards competition. The nursery looks pretty smart, for a nursery, but the judges may not be used to the somewhat primitive facilities we are all used to here. We are in the Green Innovations final and the overall Business of the Year final which is all very exciting. I can’t say I’m brimming over with confidence as they have asked to see our financial results and our business plan. Well the financials are ok, we are showing a marked improvement in the last couple of years after many years of less than impressive returns but the business plan is stored away in the spreadsheet that is my head. In other words we make it up as we go along. Not sure if that will be sufficient to impress anyone with our long term planning! The trouble with doing a written plan, well one of my written plans anyway, is that it is out of date before it’s even finished.

Eco news
I’m in print already. Our copy of South East Farmer magazine arrived complete with the telephone interview I unwittingly gave last week and it’s ok, luckily no picture. http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?referral=other&refresh=w18B3K0j1mJ7&PBID=86ca4d1f-d261-48bf-a7cf-4c10bd9ca517&skip=

After introducing the anti vine weevil fungus (Met 54 or is it 55, can’t remember) as a new bio control this spring we have also got another new introduction to come onto the nursery next week. We have had a couple of aphid predators before among our usual bio control introductions but this is a ready mixed tube of six different ones that cover the control of over thirty different aphid types. We hang the tube up in the tunnel, they hatch, have a feed of glucose syrup on the end of the tube and that gives them the energy to zoom off and start eating and laying eggs in their prey. It’s not a particularly cheap solution at over £18/tube, one in each tunnel, three introductions needed to build up a population but results last year were said to be impressive and it should further reduce any control sprays we use.

Nature ramblings

Swallows in residence.

Newts active and feeding on the tadpoles which are growing strongly. They will soon be grown and getting revenge by eating newt babies. It’s an amphibian eat amphibian world out there.

Wagtails are nest building somewhere but haven’t spotted where yet, it’s bound to be somewhere inconvenient it always is. It only seems to take a day or two, you put a pile of crates down and go to move them and find it, complete with occupants. Then it’s a case of setting up an exclusion zone and hoping for the best.

Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Morning all,

I can’t remember which day it was, but I took someone, can’t remember who, up to see the wind turbine site, luckily I did manage to remember where that was. I do recall it was a rare sunny moment in the week and that very noticeably spring was springing with loads of skylarks doing their thing. Sometimes it’s good to lift your nose from the grindstone for a second to take in the simple stuff. Bit grey today and lots of bird song but no skylarks yet.

Sadly we didn’t win the Nursery Stock Grower of the Year Award which was presented on Thursday, we will have to make do with reaching the final three. I couldn’t bring myself to part with the ticket money (£180 each + travel, drinks, parking, sleeping etc) at a time of the year when cash flow tends to be a bit tight and the total cost of night out for two would keep us in logs for the winter. As an alternative night out we took a few friends out to see Imelda May in Southampton on Friday, which was great value (just 17.50 to see a big selling live performance). She and her band were brilliant, lively, slick and professional, the night just flew by. If you get the chance go and see her, and the support band Big Boy Bloater!

Struggling to walk this morning after a late night on Friday and hockey yesterday. Last week’s result got worse with the news that it was 0-10 not the nine I counted. We did better this week 1-1, so pride restored a bit, although scabby weepy knees and elbows resulting from a few close encounters on a sandy pitch are a high price to pay. No Saturday night cuddles for me!

Excitement on the nursery this week with the return of the potting machine which has been off at the menders all winter having its bearings, sprockets and chains replaced. Everything on it had been moving in odd directions and making a lot of strange noises during last year and now it is reported to be a smooth operator. Can anyone do the same for worn out nursery chaps?

Lots of fresh chunky spring growth coming on the plants especially the perennials which is great to see. We have a few casualties after the December freeze but hopefully not too many. The nursery is looking quite tidy after the big winter sort out. Nearly all the plastic stuff has gone off to the recycling man or other nurseries for reuse, with just a few old tunnel sheets to repack into bulk bags when we get a dry spare moment. Much of the stock has had its winter tart up and the last of the irrigation plumbing is nearly done. We sent some of the pallets we have accumulated down to the farm for reuse this week, sorted out the broken ones for the wood burner and kept a few for reuse here, a very satisfactory job and a bit more space too.

Eco news
We had a visit this week from our PLATO Sustain group leader/consultant to see how we were progressing on the sustainability front and where the group might be able to help us progress further. Although not a horticulturist it was a useful couple of hours and helped me focus a bit more on what else we can go for in the short, medium and long term. Lots to think about from water use and recycling, waste management and recycling, to longer term future transport issues and how that could affect us and the industry in general. It is something that will need to be addressed soon. With escalating transport costs, the problem of getting stock to the customer on anything but a local level is going to become a major factor in plant prices. For example one trolley distributor is charging £59/ trolley plus £10 collection from our site and a fuel surcharge, to deliver from us to East Anglia, North Midlands & Devon/Cornwall. This gets us to £75+ per trolley with no multiple drop discount until you reach 4 or 5 trolleys per delivery. Luckily we rarely deliver this far, we mostly use our own lorries and I’m sure there are slightly cheaper alternatives, but energy prices are only going to increase over the years and it is something that will need some thought over the next few years.

As soon as we start potting again we will be incorporating the new bio-insecticide Met52 in all our potting composts. This is a fungal inoculation that gives long term protection against the dreaded vine weevil. Since introducing the herb and soft fruit ranges we have shied away from using chemical control in favour of introducing the safe nematode controls, but they are expensive, not always effective and take a lot of time to apply. Although not all our stock is attractive to this pest, by using the fungus in all compost mixes, it should give us an opportunity to get right back on top of its control.

Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Morning all,

I can always tell when it’s been a hectic week when I open up Word to record my weekly thoughts and last week’s version was the last file opened. The first thing to do is welcome a few newcomers to my weekly availability list posting, brace yourselves, this is as much to do with my unloading of stuff running around in an aging brain as it is providing the latest list of yummy looking hairy pots for you to release into the wild. I look on it as a bit of a free therapy session to delay the inevitable visit of men in white coats. The extra readership comes courtesy of the local GAN tradeshow which took place last week. It was a little quieter for us than last year, but still rewarding, and it was quite a shock to hear the next day that it was to be the last one. Attendance by stall holders and visitors did seem reduced and maybe the show had run its course, but it will leave a gap in our spring build up. The official reason for the closure was that the space was needed for plant production which is a positive move for a nursery!

Signs of hard times are hitting home here with the local pub closing this week, it has been struggling and has passed through several tenants in the past few years. Then I heard yesterday that the pub we use, to rehydrate after a tough game of hockey, has closed too, which was quite a surprise as it seemed really busy. That meant there was nowhere to drown our sorrows after getting stuffed 9-0 yesterday!

This week could be a big one on the awards front, with the dinner to announce the Nursery Stock Grower of the Year. We are one of three or four finalists, but we have decided not to lash out on the shockingly expensive tickets. It would have been £500+ for two of us to attend on the off-chance we might win, and I can think of better value things that the dosh could go on. Luckily I located someone who is attending, who has ‘volunteered’ to collect any surprise packages that come our way.

As an alternative night out we are getting a few friends together to go and see the very exciting Imelda May, must polish up my dancing shoes! www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxj5wlXY9No&feature=channel

Talking of dancing shoes, we went to see Ben Waters again this week (Boogie Woogie pianist).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT4IzEo6hhY&feature=related A great night out enhanced rather bizarrely by a tall lady in a red shirt and black tights, who danced from start to finish in what can only be described as a ‘classical style’. Pointy toes, pirouettes, leg kicks, no-holds barred, it’s great when you reach a certain age when what other people think doesn’t matter, as long as you are having a good time! After an initial embarrassment period, on the part of the audience, she certainly made a lot of people smile!

Eco news

I can now tell you that we will be incorporating the new bio-insecticide Met52 in our potting composts. This was launched at the GAN show and is a fungus that gives long term protection against the dreaded vine weevil. Since introducing the herb and soft fruit ranges we have shied away from using chemical control in favour of introducing the safe nematode controls, but they are expensive, not always effective and take a lot of time to apply. Although not all our stock is attractive to this pest, by using the fungus in all compost mixes, it should give us an opportunity to get right back on top of its control.

Wind turbines continue to get closer to starting but still not quite there. Turbine prices due to increase at the end of the month so the pressure is on!

January electric use down on last year (warmer weather and less heating), so a good start to further carbon reduction for 2011. Gave away a load of trays and pots to other growers this week, and more loads went off to the plastic recycling man, so we are very nearly clear of our old plastic pot orientated production clobber. The wood burner continues to use up the scrap wood and a few old coir pots so we are land filling less and less rubbish. For a business employing 25+ people we send a remarkably small amount of stuff to land fill, just one wheelie bin (small 4 wheeled) a week, and we hope to get this down to a domestic sized one later in the year when the recycling gets really fine tuned.

Nature notes

Spring is springing, loads of bird song well into the evening at the moment shows that as Valentines Day approaches (don’t forget chaps) thoughts are turning to love. There was definite plopping in the big pond the other night when I walked past, although no sign of any spawn yet. Sunny yesterday but cool today (9.2 C in the office at the moment)

Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries