Morning all, 11 October 2010I
Just a quickie this morning as I’ve got to rush off to BBC radio Solent in a minute to be interviewed live about the wind turbine project on their Good Life programme. I’ve done a couple of spots on there before and it’s pretty laid back and I don’t think the listening figures are going to make me an overnight star! I’ve been trying not to think about it this morning, as the shakes begin as soon as I do, but I’m sure it will be fine. Background preparation has gone well, none, but then that’s like any normal day I suppose.
We had a week full of various visits this week the most exciting of which was the installation manager for the turbines. He checked over all the practical challenges on the site, which luckily appear fairly easy to overcome. We looked at the likely order of play with surveys, electrical substation, meter and cable installations, trenching and ground-works etc, but still came out the other end with no real idea how long it will take to come together. At least he was impressed with the site as a whole, great uninterrupted wind flow from all directions, easy access and solid chalk under the foundations. One thing I did learn was that the foundation slabs under each turbine are buried 60cm down and the soil replaced on top so we can replace at least half of the short bit of hedge we remove at each site. This should help the ecology plan that has to be written before we are allowed to start. The archaeologist is lined up to write his pre-commencement proposal and attend the site while digging takes place and the power company are half way to sorting out the new connection quote, so things are moving even if nothing actually gets done for a bit.
Our electricians have been in to sort out a quote for moving all our circuits about to make best use of the renewable supply when it comes in. At the moment we have several separate circuits and meters which have evolved as the nursery grew over 26 years so a bit of a re-jig is necessary. We are looking to disable some parts of the nursery that no longer need a supply and reuse the armoured cable and bits and bobs, where they are still within regulations, this helps with the sustainability of the project and hopefully with the cost too.
I attended our monthly PLATO Sustain meeting this week and we had a new member present his company and products. He was from the UK arm of Hansgrohe who make bathroom fittings. It was amazing to hear some detail of what goes on in other industries. They make very swish fittings, but although more expensive, are so much more efficient in their use of water and energy that they can pay for themselves in a matter of months, all done through clever design and thought. Although you get less water through it doesn’t feel like it, due to the way they introduce air into it and ‘bulk it up’. The reduction in water means less heating hence the energy reduction. Another member who specialises in roofing systems for big buildings was saying that they are taking on a new PV solar panel design that is mounted on a roll of plastic, making it much lighter and easier to install and it is supposed to be less affected by the angle and orientation to the sun. With a life expectancy of 50 years it sounded interesting, although I suspect this sort of technology has plenty more developments to come over the coming years. It’s all go.
Eco news
Electric consumption on nursery down by 23.37% for 2010 up to the end of September. Water consumption down 15.6%.
Nature notes
Nursery rabbit control has taken a leap forward in the last month or two with the arrival of a new cat. We have now officially adopted this stray that just turned up. Younger and fitter than our other two, who now struggle to find the energy to get out of the cat-flap, he has been named Spare as that was what he got used to while we were trying to locate a possible owner. He does have an interesting drinking technique, he hasn’t mastered lapping so dips in his front paw and licks it off. We can now tell when he’s been in the house by the trial of single foot paw prints across the floor. As our friend Roger would say there is more than one way to skin a cat!
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Showing posts with label water recycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label water recycling. Show all posts
Monday, 11 October 2010
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Yesterday was a lovely day to get down the local garden centre or nursery and empty your pockets. A nice drop of rain yesterday and some sensible temperatures for the next few days should keep things bowling along nicely.
This week saw a flurry of activity as everyone stocked up for a promising weekend and all that added to the usual exciting extras that add to the spice of life. Each week I wonder what I am going to put in this little rant and each week I end up having to leave out a load of stuff as so much seems to happen.
We had to have a new water pump and pressure vessel fitted after last week’s breakdown. Ouch. Naturally the day we get it fitted it rains and temperatures plummeted! We are now looking to update the whole system to try and save a bit of water, increase our efficiency and improve plant health and quality. Even when the pump is running we struggle to cope with low pressures etc in hot weather which can be stressful for us and the plants. The current system tends to leave the pots a little too wet in dull cool conditions and too dry in the heat or if they get moved too much. We are looking at a two stage development, first to get the distribution and application better and then reduce our reliance on the mains supply by harvesting the rainfall. We already use less water in a year than falls on the tunnels, so if we can collect that and store it we can reduce our reliance enormously. Unfortunately although the harvesting and storage part is the most environmentally exciting it’s not the most economically beneficial, so for this summer it will be the application we will concentrate on and maybe next year we will look at collection and storage. It would be nice to do both but time and resources would be against us especially as it may take a while to sought out any grant applications and jump through the necessary hoops there may be, on the collect and storage side.
Fantastic meal out last night celebrating Caroline’s birthday with some friends, in a big yurt. Riverford Organics are touring with their restaurant staff to several locations through the summer doing lunches and evening meals. It’s a single sitting job on benches on tables of ten (80 covers a night). The meal was just great, lots of stuff all fresh & yummy, not too fancy but imaginative and the best I’ve had since a stonking fish & chips at the Porthminster Cafe in St Ives. Despite a cool night the yurt was warm & cosy with a really friendly atmosphere all helped along by a very jolly if slightly stressed crew (only their 3rd night) and free flowing organic beverages. The whole exercise was thoughtfully presented with crockery and soft furnishings bought from charity shops in Devon which added to the chaotic, boisterous family feel to the event. It was a good job the crockery was cheap as quite a bit of it seemed to be hitting the floor as one or two of the staff struggled with the challenges set before them. A good end to the birthday celebrations which had started early as somehow I managed to get the day wrong for my present giving! (Incorrect time/date setting on my watch), at least I was early and not late. Also thank goodness for 24 hr opening at Tesco’s, it’s so much better than the garage for those special gifts! http://www.riverford.co.uk/about/riverford/riverford_travelling_field_kitchen.php
Eco Update
The wind turbine planning application has been processed and is now being considered. All the details and dates 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&PAGE=2&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.
Don't forget to do your bit. Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
This week saw a flurry of activity as everyone stocked up for a promising weekend and all that added to the usual exciting extras that add to the spice of life. Each week I wonder what I am going to put in this little rant and each week I end up having to leave out a load of stuff as so much seems to happen.
We had to have a new water pump and pressure vessel fitted after last week’s breakdown. Ouch. Naturally the day we get it fitted it rains and temperatures plummeted! We are now looking to update the whole system to try and save a bit of water, increase our efficiency and improve plant health and quality. Even when the pump is running we struggle to cope with low pressures etc in hot weather which can be stressful for us and the plants. The current system tends to leave the pots a little too wet in dull cool conditions and too dry in the heat or if they get moved too much. We are looking at a two stage development, first to get the distribution and application better and then reduce our reliance on the mains supply by harvesting the rainfall. We already use less water in a year than falls on the tunnels, so if we can collect that and store it we can reduce our reliance enormously. Unfortunately although the harvesting and storage part is the most environmentally exciting it’s not the most economically beneficial, so for this summer it will be the application we will concentrate on and maybe next year we will look at collection and storage. It would be nice to do both but time and resources would be against us especially as it may take a while to sought out any grant applications and jump through the necessary hoops there may be, on the collect and storage side.
Fantastic meal out last night celebrating Caroline’s birthday with some friends, in a big yurt. Riverford Organics are touring with their restaurant staff to several locations through the summer doing lunches and evening meals. It’s a single sitting job on benches on tables of ten (80 covers a night). The meal was just great, lots of stuff all fresh & yummy, not too fancy but imaginative and the best I’ve had since a stonking fish & chips at the Porthminster Cafe in St Ives. Despite a cool night the yurt was warm & cosy with a really friendly atmosphere all helped along by a very jolly if slightly stressed crew (only their 3rd night) and free flowing organic beverages. The whole exercise was thoughtfully presented with crockery and soft furnishings bought from charity shops in Devon which added to the chaotic, boisterous family feel to the event. It was a good job the crockery was cheap as quite a bit of it seemed to be hitting the floor as one or two of the staff struggled with the challenges set before them. A good end to the birthday celebrations which had started early as somehow I managed to get the day wrong for my present giving! (Incorrect time/date setting on my watch), at least I was early and not late. Also thank goodness for 24 hr opening at Tesco’s, it’s so much better than the garage for those special gifts! http://www.riverford.co.uk/about/riverford/riverford_travelling_field_kitchen.php
Eco Update
The wind turbine planning application has been processed and is now being considered. All the details and dates 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&PAGE=2&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.
Don't forget to do your bit. Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 24 May 2010
Yet another great week and a marked change in the weather too. We seem to have moved from late winter to high summer in a week. Still at least it’s due to cool down again fairly quickly next week which should be a bit easier. Gone are the vests and double fleece wearing and bring on the flouncy shirts. Anticipation is already building for the first ‘outing’ of my legendary flowery piece that I wore in the heat of last summer. Having bolstered my case by expressing my confidence in my own sexuality, I am now duty bound to get it out again when the heat builds up this year, although this time with the added expectations of all those who missed out on it last year (luckily it was a very short summer).
Meanwhile the sun coming out and the temperature rising produces the usual irrigation crisis, it always seems to happen when you need the supply most. This time one of the main pumps burst its main seal, tripping out the electric supply and rendering itself inoperable. A man has been to assess it and we need a new pump and pressure vessel due to old age and general fatigue (know how it feels). Not too expensive and luckily we do have a back-up system although pressures are a bit low by the end of the day.
Printer hassle again in the office, with a paper jam error message. Remove paper (stopped in fuser unit), prints one or ten sheets then error repeats. Change all consumables one by one with other printer and think it’s cured but then goes wrong again. Take apart and clean out with air gun, works for 6 hrs then stops again. Now getting a bit cross. Phone consumable supplier, very helpful but never heard of this one before (we always have the errors that have never been heard of before). He gave me the OKI tech support number and the chap there also hadn’t heard of it before but went through a load of possibilities and gave me a number for a printer mender (out of warranty by 3 months). The likely call out charges before time and parts could have made this expensive so I checked the price of a new one. They are currently less than £600 plus £100 cash back, 3 year warranty and a free sat nav. The consumables inside are worth £600+ even when they only fill the toner 1/3 full! This gave me the confidence to take it apart for a closer look. To cut a long story short I sorted it by freeing up a tiny flappy bit which was intermittently getting stuck with one squirt of WD40. Sorted, although I still can’t believe the price of a new one, it is so tempting to chuck away and start again, but what a waste of resources.
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
It’s quite interesting to see the lack of detail in the councils published details, there is much more in our stuff on our website. They have put a scale photo montage of the scale of the turbines in comparison to a big one and a pylon which does indicate nicely how small they are. They are also only notifying by letter, ourselves and our two immediate neighbours which was a surprise. Consultation ends on the 16th June and decision due on 7th June! (I think they mean July) Let’s see what happens now. Suddenly it seems real.
Nature notes
Baby birds all over the place, lots of wagtails crashing about in the tunnels.
Don't forget to do your bit. Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Meanwhile the sun coming out and the temperature rising produces the usual irrigation crisis, it always seems to happen when you need the supply most. This time one of the main pumps burst its main seal, tripping out the electric supply and rendering itself inoperable. A man has been to assess it and we need a new pump and pressure vessel due to old age and general fatigue (know how it feels). Not too expensive and luckily we do have a back-up system although pressures are a bit low by the end of the day.
Printer hassle again in the office, with a paper jam error message. Remove paper (stopped in fuser unit), prints one or ten sheets then error repeats. Change all consumables one by one with other printer and think it’s cured but then goes wrong again. Take apart and clean out with air gun, works for 6 hrs then stops again. Now getting a bit cross. Phone consumable supplier, very helpful but never heard of this one before (we always have the errors that have never been heard of before). He gave me the OKI tech support number and the chap there also hadn’t heard of it before but went through a load of possibilities and gave me a number for a printer mender (out of warranty by 3 months). The likely call out charges before time and parts could have made this expensive so I checked the price of a new one. They are currently less than £600 plus £100 cash back, 3 year warranty and a free sat nav. The consumables inside are worth £600+ even when they only fill the toner 1/3 full! This gave me the confidence to take it apart for a closer look. To cut a long story short I sorted it by freeing up a tiny flappy bit which was intermittently getting stuck with one squirt of WD40. Sorted, although I still can’t believe the price of a new one, it is so tempting to chuck away and start again, but what a waste of resources.
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
It’s quite interesting to see the lack of detail in the councils published details, there is much more in our stuff on our website. They have put a scale photo montage of the scale of the turbines in comparison to a big one and a pylon which does indicate nicely how small they are. They are also only notifying by letter, ourselves and our two immediate neighbours which was a surprise. Consultation ends on the 16th June and decision due on 7th June! (I think they mean July) Let’s see what happens now. Suddenly it seems real.
Nature notes
Baby birds all over the place, lots of wagtails crashing about in the tunnels.
Don't forget to do your bit. Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 22 February 2010
Wow, what a stunning morning. Bit nippy, but bright sunshine and mega white frost on everything. I’m sure Spring is just around the corner and plant sales will go mad after such a long winter. We had a couple of days when the sun struggled through this week and everything lifted, temperature, shoot appearance, everyone’s mood (from happy contented paupers to elated and excited peasants (picture, if you can, the street dancing scenes in Larkford after the discovery of the lost turnip)).
We saw the welcome return of some of our Polish agency workers this week which always marks the approach of spring madness, in more ways than one. They are slightly earlier in, than last year, as we are determined to be even more organised and prepared than usual, getting ahead on potting and pricking-out, label printing, plant prep etc. We have been lucky enough to get back the same star performers as we have had in 3 previous seasons, some coming back from Poland specially to help out. There were even a few hugs, although none for me (I prefer the mysterious, aloof, slightly scary air of a respected leader, or it could be I scared them off with a big hug when they all left last year!).
It’s been a very productive week, lots of orders and pricking out (microprop plants from our lab), a bit of potting, wooden label printing and a new job, label counting. Now we are sending nearly all our plants out in boxes of 12 we have identified a time saving tactic of bundling all labels in 12’s, description labels and price labels. This makes the skilled job of collecting together and distribution onto the individual trays, of the right labels, for each order, really quick. This has always been a potential bottleneck in the despatch process, especially when we get busy, and reduces the possibility of mistakes by some of the less experienced staff. Mind you it doesn’t eliminate the idiot driving the computer (me) where the occasional hiccup of info input may cause the odd problem. Rest assured we are trying hard to get it perfect.
Mr Oki hasn’t yet replied to my stiff note I sent last week, I expect, like me, he is busy getting his hands dirty and can’t find the time to do everything. However his printer is now working very nicely which is the main thing.
Tyranny rules ok
After several years of getting the nursery production into a more organised place, Richard, our production & despatch manager, has decided to spend more time with his new family and reduce his time and role on the nursery, so this puts yours truly back in charge! Ok, perhaps Caroline is really, but she does a great job making me think I have something to do with it.
Since Richard started we have radically changed the nursery production, we have now reached a period when things are much simpler than when he started. By the summer we will have finished with our two big ‘shed’ customers (one went 3 years ago) and the plant range will have consolidated to all 1 litre hairies. Although we will miss Richards daily input, with a small adjustment in roles we are determined to make this a positive change and despite a few jitters on the work-load front, we are sure that this arrangement will work well for everyone. You may well still see Richard about, but the main focus for order enquiries after this coming week, will be Caroline or myself (Derek).
Eco Update
Saw a great water recycling/storage project at Lowaters nursery last week, I want one. Actually we may look into this quite closely, as their payback period was 3 years (with grant aid) and using mains water is very inefficient on the eco front as well as becoming increasingly expensive. Unfortunately it’s another of those ‘jam tomorrow’ investments, but maybe the jam is looking sweeter now (they are bound to see us coming and remove the grant aid just before we do it!)
Very close to putting in planning application for the turbines, ooh tense nervous excitement.
Have a good week
We saw the welcome return of some of our Polish agency workers this week which always marks the approach of spring madness, in more ways than one. They are slightly earlier in, than last year, as we are determined to be even more organised and prepared than usual, getting ahead on potting and pricking-out, label printing, plant prep etc. We have been lucky enough to get back the same star performers as we have had in 3 previous seasons, some coming back from Poland specially to help out. There were even a few hugs, although none for me (I prefer the mysterious, aloof, slightly scary air of a respected leader, or it could be I scared them off with a big hug when they all left last year!).
It’s been a very productive week, lots of orders and pricking out (microprop plants from our lab), a bit of potting, wooden label printing and a new job, label counting. Now we are sending nearly all our plants out in boxes of 12 we have identified a time saving tactic of bundling all labels in 12’s, description labels and price labels. This makes the skilled job of collecting together and distribution onto the individual trays, of the right labels, for each order, really quick. This has always been a potential bottleneck in the despatch process, especially when we get busy, and reduces the possibility of mistakes by some of the less experienced staff. Mind you it doesn’t eliminate the idiot driving the computer (me) where the occasional hiccup of info input may cause the odd problem. Rest assured we are trying hard to get it perfect.
Mr Oki hasn’t yet replied to my stiff note I sent last week, I expect, like me, he is busy getting his hands dirty and can’t find the time to do everything. However his printer is now working very nicely which is the main thing.
Tyranny rules ok
After several years of getting the nursery production into a more organised place, Richard, our production & despatch manager, has decided to spend more time with his new family and reduce his time and role on the nursery, so this puts yours truly back in charge! Ok, perhaps Caroline is really, but she does a great job making me think I have something to do with it.
Since Richard started we have radically changed the nursery production, we have now reached a period when things are much simpler than when he started. By the summer we will have finished with our two big ‘shed’ customers (one went 3 years ago) and the plant range will have consolidated to all 1 litre hairies. Although we will miss Richards daily input, with a small adjustment in roles we are determined to make this a positive change and despite a few jitters on the work-load front, we are sure that this arrangement will work well for everyone. You may well still see Richard about, but the main focus for order enquiries after this coming week, will be Caroline or myself (Derek).
Eco Update
Saw a great water recycling/storage project at Lowaters nursery last week, I want one. Actually we may look into this quite closely, as their payback period was 3 years (with grant aid) and using mains water is very inefficient on the eco front as well as becoming increasingly expensive. Unfortunately it’s another of those ‘jam tomorrow’ investments, but maybe the jam is looking sweeter now (they are bound to see us coming and remove the grant aid just before we do it!)
Very close to putting in planning application for the turbines, ooh tense nervous excitement.
Have a good week
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