Back to reality after a fantastic break in Cornwall. Ate too much, drunk too much and walked too far, now I need a fortnight off to recover from all the excitement. Weather was perfect for what we wanted, not quite right for the sun worshipers, but we just about fitted in everything required in a Cornish break, pasties, ice creams, cliff top stuff, unusual bird spotting (Icterine Warbler), fireworks and Red Arrow displays, ancient exploring stuff, mining and art, not sure how we fitted it all in around great eating stops and sleeping.

It always seems to take ages to get through all the pre-holiday preparations when leaving the nursery and it can be a bit of a wrench to actually leave, but despite being without their dynamic leadership team, the nursery thrived without us with loads of jobs getting done and orders delivered, with only the odd little hiccup (tail lift on big van burst a pipe, fog system in the prop tunnel stopped at the same time as the shade net over the tunnel split and slid off and the sun came out over last weekend!).

We have sorted out those problems this week with some prompt repairs and it’s now all up and running again. Unfortunately not all the news was great with confirmation that our last delivery of pots for this summer was lost in the fire at the coir pot production unit in Sri Lanka. Some of their pressing equipment was damaged too although I believe it will be relatively easy for them to repair it. The facilities there are very basic but it is still a huge blow in such a vulnerable community. For us it isn’t the end of the world, as we have most of our stock here already and will just mean a readjustment of the potting schedules and spring planning, but for the small set up out there it is going to be really tough.
They have already arranged to borrow more money to repair the damage and get going again quickly but I suspect we are going to have to find a way of giving them some support in advancing payments/orders and paying a little more for the pots until they are back on their feet and financially sound. As we are their biggest customer (I believe by quite a long way) we do feel a responsibility to this group who have tried so hard to get their product right for what we want and don’t have very much to fall back on. They were very worried initially that we would move straight on to another supplier, as they feel they have let us down, but we don’t see that as a responsible option unless things take a significant turn for the worse. So far we have agreed to take delivery of and pay for, the last of this year’s loads, despite it being too late to pot most lines by the time they arrive and to put in orders for next year’s stock. What the next step will be I am not sure but I suspect a price rise will be the most obvious way to help. We will see how things develop.

Unfortunately the computers have not cured themselves while we were away and are still not talking to each other unless the firewall is disabled. At the moment I just can’t face the pain of calling the help line at McAfee again to help sort it out having spent one afternoon before we went away trying to cure it after an automatic update sent by them seemed to have started the whole issue. As a couple of the other computers are out of date on their contracts I might ditch the lot and get a different security package it might be easier, or not! Who knows?  Not me that’s for sure!

Eco news

Bat survey results came in this week and have been forwarded to the planning dept. (Decimal point hiccup in my last notes, cost was only £1,650, much more reasonable for one nights recording!) Results were perfect for the turbine planning but not so good for the levels of bats in the area. Only one common little one detected foraging down by the nursery not up on the turbine site. All looking good for the planning application now with everything in place although by the time the ecology report is updated with the bat survey info it isn’t expected to go to the planning committee until October!

Electric company have quoted about £20,000 (yes, decimal point is right on this one) to connect the turbines up to the mains as we need a new post mounted substation and quite a lot of cable to cope with the two way traffic of power.

This year’s electric consumption is now down by 22.51% (at end of July).

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

A good bank holiday meant lots of top ups this week and just the four days to squeeze it all into, but we got it all done before the weekend started and got some potting done too. The scary thing is that this week we started taking deliveries of plant material destined for next year’s sales and I know the sooner we pot it, the chunkier it will be for the spring, so the pressure is on to tidy up and get going. It’s all go! There is this vague hope that we will get a pause between one season ending and the next beginning when we can sort out all those little projects that would make life easier. But as we approach holiday time and staff numbers dwindle, then the sales bowl along for longer each year (which is quite handy!) that gap evaporates and all of a sudden before you know it, it’s winter again! Mind you that might have something to do with age too. We are just about to re-book our annual holiday trek to sunny St Ives, which got cancelled due to the flat we rent being rebuilt. So that’s something to look forward to, roll on November, it’s just around the corner. Mind you I am quite lucky really as I get to go on holiday every day for a few minutes when I sit down for my afternoon/evening tea break after everyone has slipped away. The interweb is great for a taking a quick trip to your favourite place, just let your mind go (mine left ages ago) and you're there.

Quite a bit of effort this week on trying to get some positive comments put up on the planning website (see below) as one of the local councillors phoned earlier in the week worried about the negative landscapers report. It is possible that we make get a straight refusal without it going to the planning committee and then have to take it to appeal unless there is enough interest shown to justify a debate by the committee. She has requested that it should be discussed but we need enough support on the application to back the project up. Our planning man has done a detailed reply to the landscape report which should appear on the planning site very soon and does a great job of picking each point raised and arguing very convincingly that the rules/guidance can be viewed very differently. It’s great to have someone who understands this detail, otherwise we could just get squashed by the ‘experts’ interpretation of the policies.

Eco Update

Wind turbine planning app has been processed and is now being considered. All the details and dates etc are on the Winchester City Council website and there is space there to send in supportive (or not) comments on the application. If you would like to take a look follow this link;

http://planningapplications.winchester.gov.uk/PlanningWeb/Results.aspx?ID=10%2f00895%2fFUL&tab=0

More detail is on there now, including a report from the planning landscape man who visited this week and who like the permission refused due the impact of the turbines on the view. Consultation ends on the 16th June. So please if you have a view express it on the comments button on the planning website. Thanks.

Nature notes

Another RSPB bird watch this weekend. The usual one is early in the year but this gives a count of the summer visitors as well. It’s not very easy to count the bush & tree dwellers with all the foliage out now and the house martins move about so much it’s quite tricky. Rather handily we do have a puddle in the yard we keep topped up, so that the house martins are supplied with nest building material and we counted 11 there yesterday. A Red kite glided over earlier, now seems to be around more regularly. Had a long tailed tit in the office, let it out of the window and it flew into despatch where it called to its mates outside for a couple of hours before finding its way out. It’s funny how some birds struggle to find the exits, insisting on always flying up into the roof rather than out of the 4 wide open doors. The sparrows, robins, great tits and pied wagtails are in and out all the time, feeding on the trapped insects in the tunnel roof spaces, but get a pigeon or partridge in there and you’re lucky if you escape without another puncture hole somewhere.

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