No rest for the wicked. I can’t remember such a long period when one deadline seems to be followed by another. The busy spring period is always bonkers with so many little deadlines to stick to in order to get all the orders out on time but as things start to quieten we expect to be able to relax slightly. Not a hope this year.

The nursery is filling with rooted cuttings and young plants for next season’s crop which we are trying to get potted as quickly as we can, looking good so far, a few new varieties but such a lot to get through.

The turbines are still stationary as we approach energisation day on Tuesday (19th) assuming we get a dry enough day for the engineers to connect the new supply without turning off the overhead cable. I hope they remember their rubber wellies. (You do have to keep an eye on the automatic spell check on this programme, I nearly missed one there). Then a separate team is due to install the meters before the turbine installers arrive to finish off their electrics and testing and finally the SSE inspection engineer tests everything for final commissioning on Thursday evening. Slight cock-up this week when the meter installer arrived unannounced to do his bit but couldn’t complete without a live supply. The supply installation manager had booked them to do the work, it must have slipped his mind that they needed it all live, I wonder if any supplies are connected in time? Hopefully he has rebooked them and it all goes smoothly and we will be generating by the end of the week. Cue a month of summer high pressure settled air. We still haven’t had the old poles removed that carried the old overhead cable, I checked and they had the job down as being complete, so hopefully I have resurrected it again, we’ll see.

As well as still sending out lots of orders again, we had the Woking Show to attend this week which added to the deadline list. As usual we were well prepared having planned what we were up to several hours in advance of leaving to set up on Tuesday. We are always full of good intentions to get proper signage done when we dismantle the previous show but before you know it there are only moments to go and it’s all too late. Luckily I had made some notes after the last one and so remembered that the stand space was slightly bigger than it used to be and I needed to take more stuff to fill it up. I’m sure all the info is in the exhibitors info pack but that sort of paperwork falls into the category of ‘please confirm you have read and accepted our terms and conditions before completing your order’. Anyway the weather was perfect and we had a really good day. I suspect that the organisers would have been a bit disappointed with attendance but we met lots of existing and potential customers and had plenty of positive responses. We got some excellent feedback from customers after showing them our trial tray insert that will hold a temporary water reservoir after watering to allow the compost to more efficiently absorb what it needs so reducing watering time. We hope to have these available next year after trials are completed.

Bacon roll for breakfast and a delicious lunch added to the day and on top of all that we were delighted to win the ‘Best Stand’ award. I proudly sported the winners rosette for the next couple of days despite the ‘Best of Breed’ overtones of the resulting appearance. I knew it hit the spot when Jamie on the nursery couldn’t stop laughing every time I stepped in view.

Excitement and tension are building on the farm with the imminent start of this year’s harvest. We have cleared out one barn ready for a crop and I should clear another this afternoon if the rain stops for long enough. Then we stand back and let them get on with it. The scale of kit involved these days is astonishing, it makes me feel quite inadequate on our little nursery, still size isn’t everything.

Eco News

I have managed to break into my You Tube account and put on a video of one of our turbines being lifted into position if anyone fancies a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ44nQpdVnI

Nature Notes

The first of the house martins have fledged and the skies are filling with more and more swooping chirping stars. I think there are 7 nests on the house and now a second late swallows nest has appeared on the nursery so by the end of the summer it will be mayhem. Can’t wait.

Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

What a week!

They are up. It all happened so quickly I missed most of it. Unfortunately SSE who are trying to connect our new supply are unable to send a team over for a few hours to connect the cable to the overhead wire until July 19th so the turbines will be stationary until another SSE engineer can then arrange to come after that date and witness the commissioning of the turbines. A bit frustrating but such is life when playing with the big boys! The SSE metering team have also still to fit the import export meters too so just a bit of fiddling to do. Oh yes and SSE still have to take the overhead cable poles down which are now spoiling my view of the turbines.

Anyway they look great to us even if they won’t go round. Quite big close up but shrink quite quickly as you move away. They are a definite addition to the landscape as they are sat on top of a windy hill but hopefully not too dominating.  I think that they are attractively majestic in their appearance. I had been a bit worried about the galvanised mast looking a bit clunky but they are quite elegant and do disappear fairly well into the background from most viewing angles.

Bank manager visited on the day of the turbine erections so that was nice to show him what they had missed out on supporting. He was very complementary and glad to hear the positive comments from the erection team on what a great site it was and we all lived happily ever after.

The turbines arrived on Monday on a couple of arcti-lorries, were assembled on the floor on over two days and hoisted up by crane on Wednesday. The hoisting and bolting down was done in 3 hours, all very dramatic. They looked a bit big when they first went up but shrunk quite quickly as we got used to them. I hope by next week to have a video on ‘You Tube’ as soon as I can work out how to get into my new account.

I had an interesting letter this week from SSE containing a copy of one of our many new contracts, it was addressed to a Mr D. Pot Plant. ! Not quite sure where that name came from as the contract details inside were all correct.

Woking Show this week so it will be the usual last minute panic to get things together and set up for that and then a whole day of being nice to everyone, can I hold it together? I must say that the lunch usually makes it worth going, as well of course the opportunity to meet lots of lovely customers. I wonder how well attended it will be after the recent National Plant Show at Stoneleigh? Last year was quieter but still well worth attending and still a fun thing to do. It does get me off site for a few hours, it’s almost like a mini holiday, a change is as good as a rest.

Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

What a lovely week of cool and damp relief. Looks like warming up again next week, in the south east anyway, so brace yourselves. Feeling slightly sorry for my brother in law and his family who always have a break in Cornwall before harvest kicks in and almost every year it is a wet week. Needless to say last week was their week! Still at least they got away and are back today, they could have been with Gold Whatsit and stuck overseas, covering hotel bills and sorting out a flight home.

We did our stint at the Woking Show on Wednesday which was a great day out. I always try to be better organised than previous years and get away from the nursery, on setting up day, in plenty of time. As usual I failed and didn’t leave the nursery this time until 3.50 (day didn’t start well with a tyre puncture on the big van which needed replacing and it was uphill from then on). We were due to be set up and off the show site by 6.00 and with the help of one of our young eager staff members we just about got it done. The stand looked fresh, colourful and hairy which is just what we were after, although I will have to come up with some new signs for next time to polish it up a bit.

It is surprising to walk round the show and see how we stand out as the only exhibitor making anything much of the sustainability issues that are set to challenge the way we live. The quality of plants and the displays were fantastic but I do get the impression that only lip service is being paid to the issues that are going to dominate our lives in years to come. I know plants themselves and gardening are pushing things in the right direction because of the benefits of ‘doing it’, but surely we can make more of this.
At the PLATO Sustain (business improvement) meetings I attend everyone thinks that it’s easy for us to ‘go green’ because of the industry we are in and it is quite hard to try and explain why the majority of the trade doesn’t seem very interested in the opportunities that might be out there.

Anyway, the actual show day went well with several new contacts made and existing ones reinforced. Visitors were a bit thin on the ground due, we suspect, to the National Plant Fair at Stoneleigh a couple of weeks ago, which was very well attended. It will be interesting to see how the show adapts and recovers over the next year or two.

Eco news

Bat survey this coming week if the weather is ok. Then it’s on with the turbine application. Each day I see our poplar windbreak rustling & bending in the breeze I can picture those blades turning.

Nature notes

Tiny frogs all over the shop.
Don't forget to do your bit. Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Just a quickie as we are going out for a educational (prehistoric stuff) walk and pub lunch. Need to make the most of it as this may be the summer holiday!

We are still sending out lots of lovely stock despite the hot and dry weather which does makes the garden a bit of a challenge. Hopefully we will all have a bit of rain and some cooler temperatures over the coming week to freshen everything up and pep up the enthusiasm again. There is still lots of horticultural TV coverage so there is plenty to get excited about.

Woking Show this coming Wednesday hope to see lots of you there!  I must have a think about sorting out a display and printing a few catalogues. Plenty of time for that!

Eco news

Bat survey booked for week after next. Ouch, nearly £2,000.

Nature notes

Tiny frogs all over the shop.

Don't forget to do your bit. Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries