Morning all,
Nice to see a bit of winter weather. We had our coldest night for a couple of winters at about -7C during last week’s frosts, but overall just about right. It helps knock back the pests a bit and definitely better to have it now than it appear in April and mess up the spring confidence levels. We had a couple of frozen pipes but they were quickly cleared and one small burst on a bit of kit I had thought was frost-proof. The extra morning coffee to thaw the fingers has seen milk purchasing double but it looks like the dairy industry need all the help it can get so glad to do our bit.
Just a quick one this week as time is pressing and I still need to complete the catalogue which seems beset with delays this year. We sent out a couple of orders last week which was a good trial run for the new labels but naturally it all took ten times as long as it might have, with all sorts of little hiccups to iron out. You always think these things are going to be simple and efficient but there always seem to be new challenges to overcome before all your dreams of super efficiency come true. Such is life.
Major trauma this week was the loss of the main label printer which after many years of hard work and abuse decided enough was enough. Luckily the policy of running a near identical printer in the main office got us over any immediate problems but after consultations with OKI technical support there was no hope for the old one and the decision was made to replace it. Not an ideal option on the cash flow front although by the time I had shopped around a bit and found a new one being sold from an ‘opened box’ complete with the 3 year warrantee the cost was only a £100 more than the value of the consumables in it! Just goes to show how much they must be making out of the consumable sales. Another bonus of getting basically the same model was that the toners are still compatible with the old one so we can use up the toner that was left in the old machine.
We had to start making new printing plates over the past week to price up the skewer labels where needed. Another easy job that turned into a marathon. The etcher wouldn’t etch, the cold water created a deposit on the printing plates, the labels wouldn’t feed onto the printer or bundle and the printer wouldn’t print clearly. Even when it started coming together the computer operator blew a fuse and got the price wrong. New stuff is just so exciting. Here is a taste of some of the new issues; the bamboo skewers are packed in boxes of 1,000 but not all pointing in the same direction and for quick printing you need them all the same way round, the labels look beautifully clean but are in fact covered in a thin film of very fine sawdust left from the cutting process which quickly builds up on the print head and the fatter one end thin the other design of the skewers makes them tricky to handle, feed under the print head and bundle. So to remedy the problems we now have a new label sorting device to quickly get them all the same way round and a new handling/storage tray to keep them all the same way round reading for cleaning and printing. Still on Blue Peter Mark 1 version’s but looking good so far.
New cat flap in office door this morning to accommodate slightly ill nursery cat in warmer surroundings. Not sure this one has used one before so ongoing training required to prevent mishaps in the work environment. As if there wasn’t enough to do.
Anyone local to us should know that Marcus Bonfanti is playing at the village hall in Kings Somborne on Feb 7th. Superbly talented guitarist and songwriter with a great voice and a very personable chap too. Won lots of awards, just slightly bonkers that he has the local village hall listed as a venue on his national acoustic tour.
www.sombornesessions.co.uk
www.marcusbonfanti.com/uk-2015-solo-tour-dates-announced
Availability
There are signs of early growth on a few lines and the odd bud or two showing so spring isn’t too far away. Hopefully we won’tall disappear under a snowdrift anytime soon or get too frozen out, but all the stock is kept cold and well ventilated so should be pretty tough. As the days lengthen the first strong flush of growth comes along pretty quickly so do keep an eye on our emails to see things develop and the spring buds appear, it won’t be long. With the new look labelling and a bit of half decent weather we can put together an attractive display to kick off 2015 sales.
We should have some herbs available in the next week or two, depending on the weather and plant growth.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 26 January 2015
Monday, 19 January 2015
Hirsute Availability
Morning all,
Where is all the time going? I can’t keep up with all the action over this first couple of weeks of the year. This is supposed to be the quiet relaxing time when we can finish on time and cosy up by the wood burner toasting our crumpets.
Two big jobs have been competing for attention, I am very close to finishing up the 2015 catalogue, so just hang on a day or two for that, and the preparations for the new labels are coming together really quickly, so close to being ready for that too. The new labels printed for us by Floramedia arrived early last week which was a week ahead of schedule and very welcome, as we could then get stuck into the task of clearing the last of the old style and repopulating the shelves with the new, all bundled up by us into 12’s ready for pot insertion. The labels are a joy to bundle, just looking so good, I can’t wait to see them all out on parade in a plant display. We are also tweaking the tray header images to complement the new labels, we are going to look so co-ordinated I’m thinking of issuing everyone here with matching shell suits to complete the deal. The newly hewn bamboo skewer dispensers have been screwed together, treated and hung on the benches, another Blue Peter installation makes its mark at Kirton Farm. Plant trimming and tidying carries on at pace too as well as overtime starting already for those locked away in the microprop lab as they endeavour to keep up with the mounting spring workload. It’s all go.
The winter cash-flow is getting closer to its low point and the nervous monetary juggling is already underway, it’s a shame when we are making all these new investments that it is still such a struggle but there you go, such is life in the plant growing game. Still a couple of months until the income picks up a bit so better not dwell on it too long just yet or I’ll struggle to make it out of bed and skip to work. In the end we have to focus on the positives to get our rewards and inspiration. Luckily I can often bathe in the glory of a few simple things, a well stocked wood pile, flushing loo’s, hot water on tap, and getting through the night without a break! I find using one or two triggers to prompt healthy thoughts points me in the right direction. If the tea bag goes straight in the mug from the other side of the table at breakfast we are off to a great start and when I flip the shower squeegee and catch it, the day has ended on a high. The way my eyesight is going I might have to make the morning trigger a bit easier or the mug a bit bigger.
Just want to express my gratitude to the NHS in my own little way after they seem to be under the cosh a bit in recent weeks. What a relief it is that you can so often be sorted out by a professional if you get into trouble, whether it’s a major trauma or just needing to be patched up. Even minor ailments can be miserable and stressful and to be able to go somewhere nearby for help is just such a fantastic thing to be able to do, even if you have to wait a bit to get it. I booked an appointment with our GP before Christmas for a couple of things I’d been saving up to get sorted and not only was he able to explain away my ailments which helped reduced any anxiety, but also provided me with remedies to get them sorted and supplied a pack of special pills for my intermittent back problem (previously sorted out in casualty last summer). On top of all this I topped up on my education too. The GP had to check out my ears as part of my appointment and very tactfully commented that I had very hirsute ears. Now I had for some reason always assumed that hirsute maent something similar to suave or sophisticated but as I thanked him for the compliment I realised I might be wrong. Obviously I recognised that an acceleration of follicle growth in the area was becoming a feature as the years passed but I hadn’t realised that being hirsute was a more tactful description. Live and learn.
Availability
There are signs of early growth on a few lines and the odd bud or two showing so spring isn’t too far away. Hopefully we won’t all disappear under a snowdrift anytime soon or get too frozen out, but all the stock is kept cold and well ventilated so should be pretty tough. As the days lengthen the first strong flush of growth comes along pretty quickly so do keep an eye on our emails to see things develop and the spring buds appear, it won’t be long. With the new look labelling and a bit of half decent weather we can get together an attractive display to kick off 2015 sales.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Where is all the time going? I can’t keep up with all the action over this first couple of weeks of the year. This is supposed to be the quiet relaxing time when we can finish on time and cosy up by the wood burner toasting our crumpets.
Two big jobs have been competing for attention, I am very close to finishing up the 2015 catalogue, so just hang on a day or two for that, and the preparations for the new labels are coming together really quickly, so close to being ready for that too. The new labels printed for us by Floramedia arrived early last week which was a week ahead of schedule and very welcome, as we could then get stuck into the task of clearing the last of the old style and repopulating the shelves with the new, all bundled up by us into 12’s ready for pot insertion. The labels are a joy to bundle, just looking so good, I can’t wait to see them all out on parade in a plant display. We are also tweaking the tray header images to complement the new labels, we are going to look so co-ordinated I’m thinking of issuing everyone here with matching shell suits to complete the deal. The newly hewn bamboo skewer dispensers have been screwed together, treated and hung on the benches, another Blue Peter installation makes its mark at Kirton Farm. Plant trimming and tidying carries on at pace too as well as overtime starting already for those locked away in the microprop lab as they endeavour to keep up with the mounting spring workload. It’s all go.
The winter cash-flow is getting closer to its low point and the nervous monetary juggling is already underway, it’s a shame when we are making all these new investments that it is still such a struggle but there you go, such is life in the plant growing game. Still a couple of months until the income picks up a bit so better not dwell on it too long just yet or I’ll struggle to make it out of bed and skip to work. In the end we have to focus on the positives to get our rewards and inspiration. Luckily I can often bathe in the glory of a few simple things, a well stocked wood pile, flushing loo’s, hot water on tap, and getting through the night without a break! I find using one or two triggers to prompt healthy thoughts points me in the right direction. If the tea bag goes straight in the mug from the other side of the table at breakfast we are off to a great start and when I flip the shower squeegee and catch it, the day has ended on a high. The way my eyesight is going I might have to make the morning trigger a bit easier or the mug a bit bigger.
Just want to express my gratitude to the NHS in my own little way after they seem to be under the cosh a bit in recent weeks. What a relief it is that you can so often be sorted out by a professional if you get into trouble, whether it’s a major trauma or just needing to be patched up. Even minor ailments can be miserable and stressful and to be able to go somewhere nearby for help is just such a fantastic thing to be able to do, even if you have to wait a bit to get it. I booked an appointment with our GP before Christmas for a couple of things I’d been saving up to get sorted and not only was he able to explain away my ailments which helped reduced any anxiety, but also provided me with remedies to get them sorted and supplied a pack of special pills for my intermittent back problem (previously sorted out in casualty last summer). On top of all this I topped up on my education too. The GP had to check out my ears as part of my appointment and very tactfully commented that I had very hirsute ears. Now I had for some reason always assumed that hirsute maent something similar to suave or sophisticated but as I thanked him for the compliment I realised I might be wrong. Obviously I recognised that an acceleration of follicle growth in the area was becoming a feature as the years passed but I hadn’t realised that being hirsute was a more tactful description. Live and learn.
Availability
There are signs of early growth on a few lines and the odd bud or two showing so spring isn’t too far away. Hopefully we won’t all disappear under a snowdrift anytime soon or get too frozen out, but all the stock is kept cold and well ventilated so should be pretty tough. As the days lengthen the first strong flush of growth comes along pretty quickly so do keep an eye on our emails to see things develop and the spring buds appear, it won’t be long. With the new look labelling and a bit of half decent weather we can get together an attractive display to kick off 2015 sales.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 12 January 2015
Hairy New Year to all
Happy New Year to all.
Just a quick update to send best wishes to everyone for a bright and breezy New Year. We are certainly looking forward to an exciting year as we press on with lots of new improvements on the nursery coming into effect. From an injector to reduce the alkalinity levels in the irrigation water, which will further improve foliage quality and reduce fertiliser use, to the new perennial plant labels which add new levels of practicality and a fresh new but subtle plant presentation.We are still busy preparing for the new labels to arrive (just a few days to go) and getting the data compiled to produce our own versions on our printers here to cover those lines which don’t yet warrant a full proper print run. It has all been a bit more work than I originally envisaged hence the delay in the printing of the new 2015 catalogue but it is on the way very soon. I will email out an abridged version during this coming week to bring out the highlights, new stuff and prices etc so that you can get a taster for the exciting opportunities ahead.
I hope everyone had a good festive break. We certainly did, despite the onset of a slight cold for Caroline and severe Man Flu for me. As the weather chilled and we were expecting guests over the break we did push the boat out and put the central heating on, it was Christmas after all, so everyone was super cosy. We were very lucky to get invited again to the farm for Christmas lunch with loads of family and merriment, a perfect day. Then we followed that up with our annual multigenerational family and friends hockey game on the 29th followed by a chilli and jacket potato lunch and afternoon games for 30 people, another great day.
It’s always rewarding to feel more educated with the passing of each day, there is so much to learn. We played Balderdash on Boxing Day, again as guests down on the farm. It’s a really good game to get the inventive juices flowing as you have to make up definitions of words, or describe an event or plot around a given name, date or initials. You score well by producing, either definitions that others find believable, or getting close to the truth. I must admit I never really got close to the truth but did ok on the more inventive side. As the evening progressed a certain hunger welled inside but being a guest I felt a little guilty at expressing my desire so I thought perhaps a subtle hint might just save the evening. The word to be defined was ‘Sniggles’ and my definition when read out by the dealer did the job. ‘ Sniggles – a collection of small turkey sandwiches traditionally served on Boxing Day’. (it is actually a baiting technique used when fishing for eels). I didn’t win the game but did win my traditional Boxing Day supper, and a thick ear.
Nice breeze over the last few days has got the turbines off to an energetic start to the year. The output figures so far are ok, slightly down on the original annual predictions in kWhrs but returns are a little higher which has balanced this out. We are nearly 3 ½ years into production and the returns have covered just over half the cost, so not too far to go before we can hopefully see a profit. Almost forgotten what that word sounds like. Roll on 2015.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Just a quick update to send best wishes to everyone for a bright and breezy New Year. We are certainly looking forward to an exciting year as we press on with lots of new improvements on the nursery coming into effect. From an injector to reduce the alkalinity levels in the irrigation water, which will further improve foliage quality and reduce fertiliser use, to the new perennial plant labels which add new levels of practicality and a fresh new but subtle plant presentation.We are still busy preparing for the new labels to arrive (just a few days to go) and getting the data compiled to produce our own versions on our printers here to cover those lines which don’t yet warrant a full proper print run. It has all been a bit more work than I originally envisaged hence the delay in the printing of the new 2015 catalogue but it is on the way very soon. I will email out an abridged version during this coming week to bring out the highlights, new stuff and prices etc so that you can get a taster for the exciting opportunities ahead.
I hope everyone had a good festive break. We certainly did, despite the onset of a slight cold for Caroline and severe Man Flu for me. As the weather chilled and we were expecting guests over the break we did push the boat out and put the central heating on, it was Christmas after all, so everyone was super cosy. We were very lucky to get invited again to the farm for Christmas lunch with loads of family and merriment, a perfect day. Then we followed that up with our annual multigenerational family and friends hockey game on the 29th followed by a chilli and jacket potato lunch and afternoon games for 30 people, another great day.
It’s always rewarding to feel more educated with the passing of each day, there is so much to learn. We played Balderdash on Boxing Day, again as guests down on the farm. It’s a really good game to get the inventive juices flowing as you have to make up definitions of words, or describe an event or plot around a given name, date or initials. You score well by producing, either definitions that others find believable, or getting close to the truth. I must admit I never really got close to the truth but did ok on the more inventive side. As the evening progressed a certain hunger welled inside but being a guest I felt a little guilty at expressing my desire so I thought perhaps a subtle hint might just save the evening. The word to be defined was ‘Sniggles’ and my definition when read out by the dealer did the job. ‘ Sniggles – a collection of small turkey sandwiches traditionally served on Boxing Day’. (it is actually a baiting technique used when fishing for eels). I didn’t win the game but did win my traditional Boxing Day supper, and a thick ear.
Nice breeze over the last few days has got the turbines off to an energetic start to the year. The output figures so far are ok, slightly down on the original annual predictions in kWhrs but returns are a little higher which has balanced this out. We are nearly 3 ½ years into production and the returns have covered just over half the cost, so not too far to go before we can hopefully see a profit. Almost forgotten what that word sounds like. Roll on 2015.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 22 December 2014
Hairy Christmas to all
Seasons Greetings to all.
Just a quick note to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and jolly New Year.
No list this week as we are hoping to have a quiet few days over the next couple of weeks while we have a catch up and try to get ready for 2015. However you may have already noticed the our extra email Christmas message which is something I put together this week. It is actually the image and text from our card we sent out earlier this week to a few special people who have looked after us in 2014, usually by sending us some dosh after we sent them some lovely hairy stuff. It’s a system that just about keeps us afloat! If you feel ‘special’ but didn’t get a card, please accept my apologies, resources are limited, you can always print it off and experience that warming glow yourself. Bonkersly busy last week getting stuff lined up for the coming season. More colour label preparations, new printing plates for the herb wooden labels ordered, header board blanks ordered, and a new tray liner being sorted out, of which more news in the New Year. More driver training being organised (a free one to one, eco-driving session for each of the van drivers), tree decorated and photographed, Christmas cards designed and made, 2015 catalogue started and new sets of back-up memory sticks put into use (back-up, back-up, back-up). We lost a bit of time on Thursday with the staff Christmas lunch at ‘The Plough’ in Sparsholt which was fantastic, definitely a level above ‘pub grub’. I can certainly recommend them as a good meal out for anyone close to us.
I hope you all have a lovely break and a relaxing time (don’t forget one man’s stress is another’s excitement). We will be in touch again in the New Year, as soon as I can think of something to say.
PS We are here until the 24th if anyone desperately needs to contact us, we will pop in and check emails etc on and off over the break when we are doing our other daily checks. Back to full capacity on Monday 5th.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Just a quick note to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and jolly New Year.
No list this week as we are hoping to have a quiet few days over the next couple of weeks while we have a catch up and try to get ready for 2015. However you may have already noticed the our extra email Christmas message which is something I put together this week. It is actually the image and text from our card we sent out earlier this week to a few special people who have looked after us in 2014, usually by sending us some dosh after we sent them some lovely hairy stuff. It’s a system that just about keeps us afloat! If you feel ‘special’ but didn’t get a card, please accept my apologies, resources are limited, you can always print it off and experience that warming glow yourself. Bonkersly busy last week getting stuff lined up for the coming season. More colour label preparations, new printing plates for the herb wooden labels ordered, header board blanks ordered, and a new tray liner being sorted out, of which more news in the New Year. More driver training being organised (a free one to one, eco-driving session for each of the van drivers), tree decorated and photographed, Christmas cards designed and made, 2015 catalogue started and new sets of back-up memory sticks put into use (back-up, back-up, back-up). We lost a bit of time on Thursday with the staff Christmas lunch at ‘The Plough’ in Sparsholt which was fantastic, definitely a level above ‘pub grub’. I can certainly recommend them as a good meal out for anyone close to us.
I hope you all have a lovely break and a relaxing time (don’t forget one man’s stress is another’s excitement). We will be in touch again in the New Year, as soon as I can think of something to say.
PS We are here until the 24th if anyone desperately needs to contact us, we will pop in and check emails etc on and off over the break when we are doing our other daily checks. Back to full capacity on Monday 5th.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 15 December 2014
Hairy Decorations!
Good morning all.
Hope those till bells are ringing and those Christmas trees flying out of the door. That will hopefully release a cash flood and get us all in the mood for a big sales push on plants as soon as the weather smiles on us all. We all live in hope.
Getting quite excited here with the dawn of a new hairy labelling era creeping up on us, the bamboo skewers are here, the blank sheets of ‘new shape’ labels arrived this week for those extra varieties that we will print ourselves, the confirmation of printing (and cost, ouch) of the Floramedia ‘new shape’ labels arrived and we are well underway with setting up all the new picture formats to fit on those blank label sheets. We have even put together the next label order for the early summer. That’s confidence for you. The matching of our home printed labels with the Floramedia ones should make such a difference in presentation impact. Last year we had a fantastic range of super stock with propagation material coming from more varied sources, but we had at least 6 different label designs decorating them which was ok but perhaps a bit disjointed at times. Watch out 2015 coordination is coming to town, well to labelling anyway!
I am going to warn you now that when we get into 2015 I don’t want to see any of the new management catch phrases popping up. Apparently the latest couple are ‘derisking’ and ‘unbuying’. I know there has been quite a bit of this going on over the last 2 or 3 years, but I hadn’t actually heard the terms for it before. They are pretty self explanatory but just in case you are as slow on the uptake as me, ‘derisking’ is not ordering or buying any stock and ‘unbuying’ is cancelling orders or sending stuff back after delivery. Now I know we all have our jobs to keep but let’s get a bit of empathy going for the plant suppliers,who take huge risks growing their crops for very marginal or non-existent return. We all have to shoulder some element of risk in selling stuff, isn't that what makes commercial enterprises prosper in the longer term? Shove all the risk onto one level and it will all collapse. Growers currently struggle to find the motivation to be innovative and forward thinking when there is not the commitment and sensible thinking in place further up the line. Is there something wrong with working together for all our mutual benefit and is short term bullying really such a positive tactic? There is a New Year round the corner let’s work together and make it a good one.
Must get off and decorate the tree before I run out of weekend. Great decorations in Waitrose I noticed, all very tasteful, simple corrugated card cut-outs. Someone had thought about it hard at an early stage, a combination of sustainability, style, simplicity, value, image, practicality and christmasyness. Well done them, you can do it all, if you believe. I did make a point of letting a member of staff know of my approval, ‘Nutter On The Bus’ aisle 6!
Availability
If the weather holds off getting too wintery we should have an expanding range looking good going into early 2015. The new labels are due in week commencing the 19th January so the complete new refreshed display will be ready for then, if any brave souls want to get started on their perennial displays.
Erysimum varieties are coming on stream already, beautifully bushy with the shades of crimson red on Red Jep already showing really well and even a flush of bud and a hint of colour on the very long flowering. Even the ever popular Bowles Mauve has good bud appearing.
Hellebourus are just starting to come ready with a few new additions to the range. We are trying a new H. orientalis selection called Crown Dark Purple which is reported to flower after its first winter, it is certainly coming on nicely at the moment. There were 3 great new H. viridus varieties looking very smart and distinctly different from each other. ‘Silver and Rose’ and ‘Rose Green’ have sold out but ‘White Green’ with its deep green leaves with strong cream veining is still looking great. A nice short variety with the odd flower shoot appearing and looking enthusiastic in their pots. Euphorbia’s looking smart, nice pot full’s of foliage.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Hope those till bells are ringing and those Christmas trees flying out of the door. That will hopefully release a cash flood and get us all in the mood for a big sales push on plants as soon as the weather smiles on us all. We all live in hope.
Getting quite excited here with the dawn of a new hairy labelling era creeping up on us, the bamboo skewers are here, the blank sheets of ‘new shape’ labels arrived this week for those extra varieties that we will print ourselves, the confirmation of printing (and cost, ouch) of the Floramedia ‘new shape’ labels arrived and we are well underway with setting up all the new picture formats to fit on those blank label sheets. We have even put together the next label order for the early summer. That’s confidence for you. The matching of our home printed labels with the Floramedia ones should make such a difference in presentation impact. Last year we had a fantastic range of super stock with propagation material coming from more varied sources, but we had at least 6 different label designs decorating them which was ok but perhaps a bit disjointed at times. Watch out 2015 coordination is coming to town, well to labelling anyway!
I am going to warn you now that when we get into 2015 I don’t want to see any of the new management catch phrases popping up. Apparently the latest couple are ‘derisking’ and ‘unbuying’. I know there has been quite a bit of this going on over the last 2 or 3 years, but I hadn’t actually heard the terms for it before. They are pretty self explanatory but just in case you are as slow on the uptake as me, ‘derisking’ is not ordering or buying any stock and ‘unbuying’ is cancelling orders or sending stuff back after delivery. Now I know we all have our jobs to keep but let’s get a bit of empathy going for the plant suppliers,who take huge risks growing their crops for very marginal or non-existent return. We all have to shoulder some element of risk in selling stuff, isn't that what makes commercial enterprises prosper in the longer term? Shove all the risk onto one level and it will all collapse. Growers currently struggle to find the motivation to be innovative and forward thinking when there is not the commitment and sensible thinking in place further up the line. Is there something wrong with working together for all our mutual benefit and is short term bullying really such a positive tactic? There is a New Year round the corner let’s work together and make it a good one.
Must get off and decorate the tree before I run out of weekend. Great decorations in Waitrose I noticed, all very tasteful, simple corrugated card cut-outs. Someone had thought about it hard at an early stage, a combination of sustainability, style, simplicity, value, image, practicality and christmasyness. Well done them, you can do it all, if you believe. I did make a point of letting a member of staff know of my approval, ‘Nutter On The Bus’ aisle 6!
Availability
If the weather holds off getting too wintery we should have an expanding range looking good going into early 2015. The new labels are due in week commencing the 19th January so the complete new refreshed display will be ready for then, if any brave souls want to get started on their perennial displays.
Erysimum varieties are coming on stream already, beautifully bushy with the shades of crimson red on Red Jep already showing really well and even a flush of bud and a hint of colour on the very long flowering. Even the ever popular Bowles Mauve has good bud appearing.
Hellebourus are just starting to come ready with a few new additions to the range. We are trying a new H. orientalis selection called Crown Dark Purple which is reported to flower after its first winter, it is certainly coming on nicely at the moment. There were 3 great new H. viridus varieties looking very smart and distinctly different from each other. ‘Silver and Rose’ and ‘Rose Green’ have sold out but ‘White Green’ with its deep green leaves with strong cream veining is still looking great. A nice short variety with the odd flower shoot appearing and looking enthusiastic in their pots. Euphorbia’s looking smart, nice pot full’s of foliage.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 8 December 2014
Hairy Overload
Good morning all.
Critical week for Christmas tree sales I’m sure. The weather here has just perked up and yesterday was fine, the colder snap and early retail consumer activity seems to have got Christmas sales moving. Hopefully not everyone has run out of money yet and those Christmas specials all get sold. I must admit we manage to avoid the annual tree costs by redecorating my own homemade tree. The current model knocked up out of a bit of 2x2 and an old wooden venetian blind is still going strong and always attracts plenty of attention, despite it coming last in the village show craft section! I’m not bitter. I always like a bit of creative thought to go into Christmas, you can’t buy it all off the shelf. Paper chains are one of my favourites, memories of sticking gummed paper strips together as a kid were revisited when I made some new ones a few years ago. This time I upgraded to a more subtle version by cutting the strips into 4, 8 and even 16. The smallest size made little loops just big enough to go round my little-finger tip, it was a bit fiddly and took forever to make any length but the overall effect was very dinky and looks great on the tree. They have kept for years by storing in a biscuit tin, just watch out if you try it yourself, you will need the strips with gum/glue all over the back not just the ends. Get the kids on it , should keep them quiet for hours. I must get out more.
No time for decorating this week, Nearly all Tuesday disappeared with a trip to get a vehicle recall issue sorted on the big van and a visit from the new bank manager to sort out the overdraft for the next year. Bit stressful as the years figures are vastly improved over the previous two disastrous seasons but still not a pretty sight. Luckily he could see the positive side and assuming he can get it all approved by his bosses we should be able to squeeze through another winter until the cash starts appearing again.
Wednesday was a very educational day with a trip to Lowaters nursery for an IPPS workshop on compost tea, biological controls and the latest pesticide updates. The sheer volume of info was slightly mind numbing by the end of the day but life on the growing side of things looks like getting increasingly challenging as more chemicals are lost (usually because growers don’t buy enough) and we try and maintain quality by nurturing more of natures assets to combat the weeds, pests and diseases. We are certainly going to have a go ourselves at extending our natural armoury to get a better balance and reduce even further our use of the occasional pesticide. It is an area with a rather ‘muck & magic’ feel but hearing from different grower experiences and advisors at the workshop has pushed me over the edge. It appears not to be a magic bullet to cure everything but it more of a general protectorant and tonic with combined benefits of higher disease and pest resistance and lower nutritional demand from artificial fertilisers. The large variety of ‘good biology’ growing in the tea which we brew up on site for a day or two before applying to the crops, gives it the broad spectrum of benefits. We already have a lot of the infrastructure in place to accommodate this new development so hopefully we can get it going quite easily. Thursday was another mind blower, having to proof read again 355 colour label designs. Then Friday was a rodent control seminar where I learnt some scary stuff. Brown rats can deform their skulls to enable them to get through a 13mm yes that’s not a typo, 13mm, hole, and mice 6mm! Mice are inquisitive but rats are neophobic (afraid of new things). So snappy traps are good for mice who will investigate them but with rats it is best to leave any traps unsprung for a week until they get used to them and then set them. Rats can breed at just 3 months old, 9 per litter, mice 3 weeks and 6 per litter. Rats can jump 1 metre vertically and drop 15m unharmed. Poor sight but excellent smell, touch and hearing. They will get used to deterrents like sonic devices so only use then intermittently to keep up the strangeness factor. That’s me done brain full.
Availability
Erysimum varieties are coming on stream already, beautifully bushy with the shades of crimson red on Red Jep already showing really well and even a flush of bud and a hint of colour on the very long flowering and hugely popular Bowles Mauve.
Hellebourus are just starting to come ready with a few new additions to the range. We are trying a new H. orientalis selection called Crown Dark Purple which is reported to flower after its first winter, it is certainly coming on nicely at the moment.
There are three great new H. viridus varieties which are looking very smart and distinctly different from each other. ‘Silver and Rose’ has attractive solidly silvered foliage, ‘White Green’ has deep green leaves with strong cream veining, and ‘Rose Green’ has a more glaucous green leaf with pretty flush of pink in the stems and some leaf veining. Nice short varieties looking enthusiastic in their pots. Euphorbia’s and Ajuga’s looking smart, nice pot full’s of foliage.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Critical week for Christmas tree sales I’m sure. The weather here has just perked up and yesterday was fine, the colder snap and early retail consumer activity seems to have got Christmas sales moving. Hopefully not everyone has run out of money yet and those Christmas specials all get sold. I must admit we manage to avoid the annual tree costs by redecorating my own homemade tree. The current model knocked up out of a bit of 2x2 and an old wooden venetian blind is still going strong and always attracts plenty of attention, despite it coming last in the village show craft section! I’m not bitter. I always like a bit of creative thought to go into Christmas, you can’t buy it all off the shelf. Paper chains are one of my favourites, memories of sticking gummed paper strips together as a kid were revisited when I made some new ones a few years ago. This time I upgraded to a more subtle version by cutting the strips into 4, 8 and even 16. The smallest size made little loops just big enough to go round my little-finger tip, it was a bit fiddly and took forever to make any length but the overall effect was very dinky and looks great on the tree. They have kept for years by storing in a biscuit tin, just watch out if you try it yourself, you will need the strips with gum/glue all over the back not just the ends. Get the kids on it , should keep them quiet for hours. I must get out more.
No time for decorating this week, Nearly all Tuesday disappeared with a trip to get a vehicle recall issue sorted on the big van and a visit from the new bank manager to sort out the overdraft for the next year. Bit stressful as the years figures are vastly improved over the previous two disastrous seasons but still not a pretty sight. Luckily he could see the positive side and assuming he can get it all approved by his bosses we should be able to squeeze through another winter until the cash starts appearing again.
Wednesday was a very educational day with a trip to Lowaters nursery for an IPPS workshop on compost tea, biological controls and the latest pesticide updates. The sheer volume of info was slightly mind numbing by the end of the day but life on the growing side of things looks like getting increasingly challenging as more chemicals are lost (usually because growers don’t buy enough) and we try and maintain quality by nurturing more of natures assets to combat the weeds, pests and diseases. We are certainly going to have a go ourselves at extending our natural armoury to get a better balance and reduce even further our use of the occasional pesticide. It is an area with a rather ‘muck & magic’ feel but hearing from different grower experiences and advisors at the workshop has pushed me over the edge. It appears not to be a magic bullet to cure everything but it more of a general protectorant and tonic with combined benefits of higher disease and pest resistance and lower nutritional demand from artificial fertilisers. The large variety of ‘good biology’ growing in the tea which we brew up on site for a day or two before applying to the crops, gives it the broad spectrum of benefits. We already have a lot of the infrastructure in place to accommodate this new development so hopefully we can get it going quite easily. Thursday was another mind blower, having to proof read again 355 colour label designs. Then Friday was a rodent control seminar where I learnt some scary stuff. Brown rats can deform their skulls to enable them to get through a 13mm yes that’s not a typo, 13mm, hole, and mice 6mm! Mice are inquisitive but rats are neophobic (afraid of new things). So snappy traps are good for mice who will investigate them but with rats it is best to leave any traps unsprung for a week until they get used to them and then set them. Rats can breed at just 3 months old, 9 per litter, mice 3 weeks and 6 per litter. Rats can jump 1 metre vertically and drop 15m unharmed. Poor sight but excellent smell, touch and hearing. They will get used to deterrents like sonic devices so only use then intermittently to keep up the strangeness factor. That’s me done brain full.
Availability
Erysimum varieties are coming on stream already, beautifully bushy with the shades of crimson red on Red Jep already showing really well and even a flush of bud and a hint of colour on the very long flowering and hugely popular Bowles Mauve.
Hellebourus are just starting to come ready with a few new additions to the range. We are trying a new H. orientalis selection called Crown Dark Purple which is reported to flower after its first winter, it is certainly coming on nicely at the moment.
There are three great new H. viridus varieties which are looking very smart and distinctly different from each other. ‘Silver and Rose’ has attractive solidly silvered foliage, ‘White Green’ has deep green leaves with strong cream veining, and ‘Rose Green’ has a more glaucous green leaf with pretty flush of pink in the stems and some leaf veining. Nice short varieties looking enthusiastic in their pots. Euphorbia’s and Ajuga’s looking smart, nice pot full’s of foliage.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 1 December 2014
Clouded Yellow Sunday
Good morning all.
I’m not sure if I was the only one but I managed to get past Black Friday with my wallet unscathed? I can’t help but get rather anxious about the blatant promotion of unbridled spending and consumption. It might be to do with the fact that I have got so tight on access to cash over the last few years with things the way they are for the plant production industry, or possibly the combination of waste and deception that goes on within a lot of retailing these days. Let’s face it there are very few real bargains in promotional events, either they were over priced before, dodgy quality or it’s old stock/models. Add an extra 30+% to the retail price so we can knock it off later. There are some outlets I know Caroline never buys at full price because if you wait a week or two it will all be discounted by massive amounts, what sort of message of trust, service and loyalty does this give to the buying public when they start to see through it? Ikea and John Lewis seem to be able to manage their customer’s expectations with a more sustainable approach which I assume means steadier sales and more loyal and appreciative customers, a nice asset to have.
Last Thursday was my quarterly therapy session at our NBIS (Nursery Business Improvement Scheme) meeting. The usual mix of figures and trends to analyse and experiences to share, coupled with a large dose of irreverent Mickey taking and laughter. We all overcame the hurdle of having to admit that we were horticulturists and not making any money years ago, and it’s been downhill from then. There are very few meetings that we don’t come away with information or ideas on how to improve something, save some money, reduce our workload or lower our risk levels. It can be a shockingly open discussion but all the
more refreshing for it and much cheaper than a session at The Priory. I often wonder where we would be and how isolated we would feel without this support over the years, it’s a shame that not more people have the vision to see what a valuable exercise something like this can be. I do have an admission to make. I had said that we were going to put QR codes on our new bespoke labels but it looks like this won’t happen now. We had always been a bit worried about their practical application and just how much they would actually get used, but the cleverness of the codes is so attractive. The codes are easy enough to generate and print but the target of the codes was where we could have fallen down. We had started to create mobile friendly web pages for each variety with the dawning realisation that we couldn’t realistically create enough captivating content to provide that gripping or invaluable user experience. We were planning to load up our best pictures and plant info but it is so easy now, and just as quick, to Google search for info or images. We may still do a few limited codes and new webpages to give more detailed background on the pots and the nursery etc, but to try and compete with Google for content is a touch ambitious for us on our weeny scale. The nail in the coffin was a tale of a QR code being issued on a nursery info leaflet taken by many thousands of gardeners at big retail shows, resulting in only 12 website visits. For most people life is just too short unless you are after a very specific piece of individual information. One very useful use I heard about was putting QR codes on house sale boards, taking you straight to the estate agents page for that house. Promoting a sale through an efficient and detailed individual service.
Had a very pleasant flash back this week when I reached for a beer. While in St Ives a couple of weeks ago I saw my first Clouded Yellow butterfly. Stunning colour in flight, invisible when it lands. I only guessed it's name by the reports of sightings on the local birding websites and a quick Google image search provided the backup. Later the same day we spotted another in Hayle and just to prove all good things come in threes I spotted another in the off-license that evening. The third was actually a St Austell wheat beer called Clouded Yellow, but it was just as impressive. Brought one or two home, hence the flashback.
Almost as good as being on holiday again.
Availability
Erysimum varieties are coming on stream already, beautifully bushy with the shades of crimson red on Red Jep already showing really well and even a flush of bud and a hint of colour on the very long flowering and hugely popular Bowles Mauve. Hellebourus are just starting to come ready with a few new additions to the range. We are trying a new H. orientalis selection called Crown Dark Purple which is reported to flower after its first winter, it is certainly coming on nicely at the moment. There are three great new H. viridus varieties which are looking very smart and distinctly different from each other. ‘Silver & Rose’ has attractive solidly silvered foliage, ‘White Green’ has deep green leaves with strong cream veining, and ‘Rose Green’ has a more glaucous green leaf with pretty flush of pink in the stems and some leaf veining. Nice short varieties looking enthusiastic in their pots.Euphorbia’s and Ajuga’s looking smart, nice pot full’s of foliage.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
I’m not sure if I was the only one but I managed to get past Black Friday with my wallet unscathed? I can’t help but get rather anxious about the blatant promotion of unbridled spending and consumption. It might be to do with the fact that I have got so tight on access to cash over the last few years with things the way they are for the plant production industry, or possibly the combination of waste and deception that goes on within a lot of retailing these days. Let’s face it there are very few real bargains in promotional events, either they were over priced before, dodgy quality or it’s old stock/models. Add an extra 30+% to the retail price so we can knock it off later. There are some outlets I know Caroline never buys at full price because if you wait a week or two it will all be discounted by massive amounts, what sort of message of trust, service and loyalty does this give to the buying public when they start to see through it? Ikea and John Lewis seem to be able to manage their customer’s expectations with a more sustainable approach which I assume means steadier sales and more loyal and appreciative customers, a nice asset to have.
Last Thursday was my quarterly therapy session at our NBIS (Nursery Business Improvement Scheme) meeting. The usual mix of figures and trends to analyse and experiences to share, coupled with a large dose of irreverent Mickey taking and laughter. We all overcame the hurdle of having to admit that we were horticulturists and not making any money years ago, and it’s been downhill from then. There are very few meetings that we don’t come away with information or ideas on how to improve something, save some money, reduce our workload or lower our risk levels. It can be a shockingly open discussion but all the
more refreshing for it and much cheaper than a session at The Priory. I often wonder where we would be and how isolated we would feel without this support over the years, it’s a shame that not more people have the vision to see what a valuable exercise something like this can be. I do have an admission to make. I had said that we were going to put QR codes on our new bespoke labels but it looks like this won’t happen now. We had always been a bit worried about their practical application and just how much they would actually get used, but the cleverness of the codes is so attractive. The codes are easy enough to generate and print but the target of the codes was where we could have fallen down. We had started to create mobile friendly web pages for each variety with the dawning realisation that we couldn’t realistically create enough captivating content to provide that gripping or invaluable user experience. We were planning to load up our best pictures and plant info but it is so easy now, and just as quick, to Google search for info or images. We may still do a few limited codes and new webpages to give more detailed background on the pots and the nursery etc, but to try and compete with Google for content is a touch ambitious for us on our weeny scale. The nail in the coffin was a tale of a QR code being issued on a nursery info leaflet taken by many thousands of gardeners at big retail shows, resulting in only 12 website visits. For most people life is just too short unless you are after a very specific piece of individual information. One very useful use I heard about was putting QR codes on house sale boards, taking you straight to the estate agents page for that house. Promoting a sale through an efficient and detailed individual service.
Had a very pleasant flash back this week when I reached for a beer. While in St Ives a couple of weeks ago I saw my first Clouded Yellow butterfly. Stunning colour in flight, invisible when it lands. I only guessed it's name by the reports of sightings on the local birding websites and a quick Google image search provided the backup. Later the same day we spotted another in Hayle and just to prove all good things come in threes I spotted another in the off-license that evening. The third was actually a St Austell wheat beer called Clouded Yellow, but it was just as impressive. Brought one or two home, hence the flashback.
Almost as good as being on holiday again.
Availability
Erysimum varieties are coming on stream already, beautifully bushy with the shades of crimson red on Red Jep already showing really well and even a flush of bud and a hint of colour on the very long flowering and hugely popular Bowles Mauve. Hellebourus are just starting to come ready with a few new additions to the range. We are trying a new H. orientalis selection called Crown Dark Purple which is reported to flower after its first winter, it is certainly coming on nicely at the moment. There are three great new H. viridus varieties which are looking very smart and distinctly different from each other. ‘Silver & Rose’ has attractive solidly silvered foliage, ‘White Green’ has deep green leaves with strong cream veining, and ‘Rose Green’ has a more glaucous green leaf with pretty flush of pink in the stems and some leaf veining. Nice short varieties looking enthusiastic in their pots.Euphorbia’s and Ajuga’s looking smart, nice pot full’s of foliage.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
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