What a great run of weather, maybe we could with a drop of rain, just as long as it is at night. This morning is fantastic, early nip, bit of mist, blue skies and no wind, a perfect day to get outside and get to grips with life the universe and everything. I am expecting a change in attitude to the windless days in a few months time, but not today.
Another hectic week has passed, we sent out more deliveries this week than we have done for years, the fuel bill is growing but luckily the sales are there to cover that. Next we have a bonkers three weeks when the bank holidays and peak season will combine for a fun time for all. Hopefully we can all revel in the fact that we are all so popular at the moment rather than panic at the impending workload and lack of time. We will be pulling as many rabbits out of the hat as we can so do bear with us as we do our very best to make things go smoothly.
On top of the busy week we also had our Winchester Business Awards judging visit as finalists in the Green Innovation section and the overall Business of the Year. Despite my fears of a lack of written plans the nursery walk-round provided loads of examples of what we have done, what’s half way through and what is coming up providing we can find the funding. This seemed to get everyone quite excited although afterwards I kept thinking of bits I had missed out, like the ponds we put in, the LED lighting we are looking at in the lab growth room and worst miss of all, the handmade Christmas cards we slave over!
On the awards front, I was astonished to receive the player of the season of our old gits hockey team at the club bash on Friday night. I now have a small but heavyweight plaque on the mantelpiece, which I believe is made of solid green, as discovered by Lord Percy (Blackadder).
All the warm weather has got the insects going, the wasps and flies have all made an early rather dopey appearance. I’m hopeless with flies, something about them just makes me very tense. It is something to do with their second sense of what they can do to cause maximum irritation. Classic last night with Caroline reporting a whopper in the bathroom. Checked it out with the swatter and nothing, at least not until I got in the shower. Then of course it appears and gets in too, restricted space, lots of water, dopey fly, a recipe for true slapstick, good job no one saw that.
Eco news
End of March electric savings up to 28.24% on the 2009 figures, 7.7% on 2010. Extra savings this year probably down to the milder late winter. Looking forward to next year when we should be generating our own and hopefully selling a bit back to the grid.
The grid folk are currently (no pun intended) sorting out the way leaves across the field where the new cable has to go, then hopefully we will have some dates provided so we can organise the trenching and foundation works. Lull before the storm.
Nature ramblings
Fantastic sighting of the Red Kite this week. It must have been searching for food, performing repeated circles quite low to the ground over the nursery and the next field.
Swallows in residence and very active.
Jackdaws are nesting somewhere, I caught one perched on one of the donkeys backs pulling out the moulting hairs. It was there for ages with a great beak full.
There rabbits are at it. Our young cat Spare has been waddling around for a couple of weeks now, full of baby rabbit, leaving the odd half eaten trophy in the house just to let us know he is earning his keep. In this lovely weather even our ancient two are showing an interest. Seeing what the youngsters get up to gets the mind going even if the body can’t follow it up. Bit like me at the hockey dinner dance.
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Showing posts with label hockey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hockey. Show all posts
Monday, 18 April 2011
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
I can’t believe the amount of stuff that goes on in one week. Not only have we delivered lots of plants and finished the bulk of the potting, but we discovered lots of new info about insulation possibilities for the house and clever hot water heating systems. I struggled to walk for two days after starting the new hockey season in less than peak physical shape and oh yes, we got the planning permission for the wind turbines approved by the city planning committee.
The sudden dip in temperature at night is a bit of a shock, especially as it has timed itself really well with the aga going on the blink, the living room chimney being opened up for repair creating a mini ‘mistral’ through the room and the house boiler out of action. Even the cats are getting a bit fed up trying to find a warm spot for a nap.
The plants don’t seem to mind the cool as we seem to be getting a real growth spurt before the cold really sets in. We are just going through a bit of a change in watering regimes at the moment which is likely to keep developing over the next couple of seasons. We are introducing more of a wet /dry cycle into the production to try and toughen up the plants, reduce the amount of green glop on the compost surface and reduce water use. With our current sub-irrigated sand-beds, which had been considered the best system around at one time for plant quality and water conservation, we get constantly moist compost when compost/sand-bed contact is good, this has served us well in the past but we can now do better. After years of repeated niggles with the sand-beds we were finally persuaded to try a different approach by the water usage figures produced by the NBIS. These figures illustrated the extra water consumed by the nurseries using capillary sand-beds compared with those using a well managed wet/dry system (usually overhead), the opposite of the expected results. This has been recorded over three years so we know it’s not a one-off. Our current focus on tieing in sustainability with improved crop management has led us to incorporate an overhead system together with the sub irrigated option, trying out new wet/dry sub-irrigation systems and aiming to install some degree of rain water collection. Hopefully this will pay back quickly in reduced water bills, reduced plant wastage and time saved in pot tidying at despatch. You never stop learning in this trade.
Eco news
Ok, the really exciting news was really the planning consent given to our 3 wind turbines. What a relief, I have been playing it down in my head for so long that I can’t really get to grips with the fact that it’s got through and we can get on with it. No individuals turned up to object at the meeting, but as expected a representative for the two parish councils did read out a list of objection points. I did my bit and although I was a bit nervous I think it went ok, I am sure that the personal approach can work, with something like this, rather than sending in a non-local expert to represent you. Anyway, the planners dealt with all the raised points very well and the questions and debate from the committee eventually came to a sensible conclusion. The planning committee did recognise that public opinion has turned in favour of getting something done about renewable energy production, noted that there had only been three individual objections to the project and that the turbines themselves were not enormous. We passed unanimously in the end which was perfect. Thanks go to all those who have supported us on this one, even if it was a only few words of encouragement, it all added to the momentum. One shocking fact that the parish council did raise was that, according to them, this will be the biggest installation in Hampshire! If that is true, I am shocked and embarrassed as a Hampshire resident, that this small project is all we have managed. Still we have to start somewhere.
Last weekend’s Whitely Village energy exhibition was not quite the extravaganza I envisaged but we did meet one very informative chap from a builder merchants (Covers) who have an ‘Eco Centre’ specialising in wide range sustainable products for buildings, from insulation to boilers, heat pumps, energy generation etc. There is an amazing range of clever and sometimes very simple kit aimed at sorting out more sustainable domestic living but it won’t work if we don’t install it!
This year’s nursery electric consumption is now down by 23.02% (at end of August).
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
The sudden dip in temperature at night is a bit of a shock, especially as it has timed itself really well with the aga going on the blink, the living room chimney being opened up for repair creating a mini ‘mistral’ through the room and the house boiler out of action. Even the cats are getting a bit fed up trying to find a warm spot for a nap.
The plants don’t seem to mind the cool as we seem to be getting a real growth spurt before the cold really sets in. We are just going through a bit of a change in watering regimes at the moment which is likely to keep developing over the next couple of seasons. We are introducing more of a wet /dry cycle into the production to try and toughen up the plants, reduce the amount of green glop on the compost surface and reduce water use. With our current sub-irrigated sand-beds, which had been considered the best system around at one time for plant quality and water conservation, we get constantly moist compost when compost/sand-bed contact is good, this has served us well in the past but we can now do better. After years of repeated niggles with the sand-beds we were finally persuaded to try a different approach by the water usage figures produced by the NBIS. These figures illustrated the extra water consumed by the nurseries using capillary sand-beds compared with those using a well managed wet/dry system (usually overhead), the opposite of the expected results. This has been recorded over three years so we know it’s not a one-off. Our current focus on tieing in sustainability with improved crop management has led us to incorporate an overhead system together with the sub irrigated option, trying out new wet/dry sub-irrigation systems and aiming to install some degree of rain water collection. Hopefully this will pay back quickly in reduced water bills, reduced plant wastage and time saved in pot tidying at despatch. You never stop learning in this trade.
Eco news
Ok, the really exciting news was really the planning consent given to our 3 wind turbines. What a relief, I have been playing it down in my head for so long that I can’t really get to grips with the fact that it’s got through and we can get on with it. No individuals turned up to object at the meeting, but as expected a representative for the two parish councils did read out a list of objection points. I did my bit and although I was a bit nervous I think it went ok, I am sure that the personal approach can work, with something like this, rather than sending in a non-local expert to represent you. Anyway, the planners dealt with all the raised points very well and the questions and debate from the committee eventually came to a sensible conclusion. The planning committee did recognise that public opinion has turned in favour of getting something done about renewable energy production, noted that there had only been three individual objections to the project and that the turbines themselves were not enormous. We passed unanimously in the end which was perfect. Thanks go to all those who have supported us on this one, even if it was a only few words of encouragement, it all added to the momentum. One shocking fact that the parish council did raise was that, according to them, this will be the biggest installation in Hampshire! If that is true, I am shocked and embarrassed as a Hampshire resident, that this small project is all we have managed. Still we have to start somewhere.
Last weekend’s Whitely Village energy exhibition was not quite the extravaganza I envisaged but we did meet one very informative chap from a builder merchants (Covers) who have an ‘Eco Centre’ specialising in wide range sustainable products for buildings, from insulation to boilers, heat pumps, energy generation etc. There is an amazing range of clever and sometimes very simple kit aimed at sorting out more sustainable domestic living but it won’t work if we don’t install it!
This year’s nursery electric consumption is now down by 23.02% (at end of August).
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 15 March 2010
Sun is out and only a slight breeze, it’s almost warm, must be spring at last. Over-trousers are out and I have my shorts on today! Mind you that may be something to do with the fact that I have an early hockey game today and had to pitch up today ready changed. Luckily, for all concerned, the amount of extra clobber we wear nowadays means that any upsetting excess flesh is hidden away under long socks, shin pads, knee pads and long shorts. The only daft bit of kit we have, considering this is a winter sport, is short sleeved shirts, there are too many young folk playing these days who are keen to expose themselves, which is fine in the right place but not in old boys games.
New little car going well (mid 50’s mpg) although Caroline did come back last weekend saying she had had a nasty experience in it. Now considering it’s a Toyota, I did wonder if something had dropped off but no, she had gone through a puddle. Unfortunately it was no ordinary puddle, it was coming from a broken and over flowing sewage drain! Although the bulk of it was on the other side of the road she had the misfortune to time her passing at the same moment as someone coming from the opposite direction. The car got covered and the smell was apparently overwhelming. In need of immediate cleaning, I did the decent thing and made sure she was wearing adequate protection with stout gloves and wellies.
Big van went in for MOT this week and passed, hooray, but it did mean we had to hire one for a couple of days. I’m sure it’s just us, but why when we get a hire van do they always breakdown? Our thanks go to those customers who put up with us hanging about waiting to be mended, helped out with forklift unloading, or had their deliveries delayed 24 hrs. It turned out to be down to new batteries being incorrectly fitted and a tail lift with some sort of independent thought process of its own!
We have a new 3.5 ton small van coming in a couple of weeks which will be nice and give us a bit more flexibility for zipping about with local drops.
Eco Update
We have been asked to attend the local Parish Council meeting in Crawley on Monday to answer questions and put our case. I have heard that they are planning to object to the proposals on visual grounds, which is a shame. We were a bit disappointed that they haven’t even visited the site but there you go, we will see how it goes. Whatever happens at the meeting the planning application will be going in next week if all goes to plan.
You can see the outline proposal in our ‘Dear Neighbour’ letter and the full details of the planning backup documentation at http://www.kirtonfarm.co.uk/ and http://www.hairypotplants.co.uk/
10:10 filming got cancelled due to their heavy work-load. Hope they hadn’t read the blog site about removing trousers!
Had another PLATO Sustain group meeting last week which was good. The group has created a ‘toolkit’ for recording lots of info (electric, water, gas, oil, transport, waste (recycled, landfill, hazardous and by type), production of green energy, procurement (main material purchases by type, cost, volume etc) and company background details (turnover, area, employees etc). All the info is combined to produce progress reports on environmental performance (KPI’s), waste percentages and a basic carbon footprint summary. It’s not perfect but it’s a start and does give us some way of measuring progress and gives us indicators to show how we compare with others.
Nature notes
No frogspawn yet in any of our ponds, but have seen a frog in the pond (looking a bit dopey, it was icy)
Birds still chomping through kilos of feed and doing a lot of singing.
Have a good week.
New little car going well (mid 50’s mpg) although Caroline did come back last weekend saying she had had a nasty experience in it. Now considering it’s a Toyota, I did wonder if something had dropped off but no, she had gone through a puddle. Unfortunately it was no ordinary puddle, it was coming from a broken and over flowing sewage drain! Although the bulk of it was on the other side of the road she had the misfortune to time her passing at the same moment as someone coming from the opposite direction. The car got covered and the smell was apparently overwhelming. In need of immediate cleaning, I did the decent thing and made sure she was wearing adequate protection with stout gloves and wellies.
Big van went in for MOT this week and passed, hooray, but it did mean we had to hire one for a couple of days. I’m sure it’s just us, but why when we get a hire van do they always breakdown? Our thanks go to those customers who put up with us hanging about waiting to be mended, helped out with forklift unloading, or had their deliveries delayed 24 hrs. It turned out to be down to new batteries being incorrectly fitted and a tail lift with some sort of independent thought process of its own!
We have a new 3.5 ton small van coming in a couple of weeks which will be nice and give us a bit more flexibility for zipping about with local drops.
Eco Update
We have been asked to attend the local Parish Council meeting in Crawley on Monday to answer questions and put our case. I have heard that they are planning to object to the proposals on visual grounds, which is a shame. We were a bit disappointed that they haven’t even visited the site but there you go, we will see how it goes. Whatever happens at the meeting the planning application will be going in next week if all goes to plan.
You can see the outline proposal in our ‘Dear Neighbour’ letter and the full details of the planning backup documentation at http://www.kirtonfarm.co.uk/ and http://www.hairypotplants.co.uk/
10:10 filming got cancelled due to their heavy work-load. Hope they hadn’t read the blog site about removing trousers!
Had another PLATO Sustain group meeting last week which was good. The group has created a ‘toolkit’ for recording lots of info (electric, water, gas, oil, transport, waste (recycled, landfill, hazardous and by type), production of green energy, procurement (main material purchases by type, cost, volume etc) and company background details (turnover, area, employees etc). All the info is combined to produce progress reports on environmental performance (KPI’s), waste percentages and a basic carbon footprint summary. It’s not perfect but it’s a start and does give us some way of measuring progress and gives us indicators to show how we compare with others.
Nature notes
No frogspawn yet in any of our ponds, but have seen a frog in the pond (looking a bit dopey, it was icy)
Birds still chomping through kilos of feed and doing a lot of singing.
Have a good week.
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