Morning all,
Not a nice day to be on the nursery. The wet I can cope with but when I can feel the office moving in the wind it all gets a bit tense. Luckily for me I can retreat to the sanctuary of the house later and listen to the football on the radio. Work on the new mess room cabin has been rained off, we’ve got the floor and walls up and the whole thing sheeted over but the roof will have to wait for some calmer conditions. Pre-treating the timbers worked brilliantly as I got the rain timings all wrong and ended up finishing the wall construction in rather wet conditions but all the water shed off nicely. Quite pleased with the results although it isn’t quite as spacious as I had imagined. It will be very cosy with twin walls and loads of insulation and not much space to heat! Looks like tomorrow is going to be better building weather, but still too windy for the roofing insulation sheets, but should get the last of the wall insulation fitted and some of the roof parts in place all ready for a last sprint to finish it off.
Struck down with stinker of cold which has completely shut down my brain. A nice lie down this afternoon is just what I need to recover a bit. No hockey this week so might have the time, although the chimney is demanding attention. Had to let the fire out this morning when the house filled with smoke. Something is stopping a decent draw so the brushes are ready for action. Hope it clears ok otherwise the heating is going to have to come on again.
Availability highlights
Still early days yet, but there are a lot of early signs of plant activity, many not quite ready for the list but it won’t be long if the weather doesn’t take a dive. The relatively mild winter, so far, has encouraged the Pulmonaria’s and Erysimums into bud and some are even showing some colour too. They are nice chunky plants with lots of potential and if the weather doesn’t go drastically cold there will be more to follow.
The Tulips and Alliums are poking through nicely with roots bursting through the pot sides, if anyone needs a few bulbs, Fritillarias are nicely showing now, it will be a little while before buds show but looking full of promise. Evergreen Liriope muscari looking verdant, definitely the best crop of these we have ever grow, always a tricky one to get leaf and roots both doing well at the same time! We have changed the production process completely and although a bit longer and more effort the results are really satisfying.
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter.
During the winter our range of available stock is limited by the lack of enthusiasm of a lot of stock to show their face in the cold, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing and a few early season show offs too. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 8 February 2016
Tuesday, 2 February 2016
Hairy Demolition
Morning all
January gone already and still not got all my jobs done. The days are filling up with quite a few orders going out and all the cutting back and plant tidying well under way. We managed to give our despatch area a spring clean, getting all the work stations back in there right place all kitted up with the right tools all ready to hand. I lashed out on a few new wheelbarrows to replace those beyond further repair, so hopefully no more ‘discussions’ over who pinched who’s and we can get back to ultra materials handling efficiency!
Big job this week was clearing the old mess room porta-cabin in preparation for the arrival of the new wooden cabin replacement. Unfortunately we were unable to avoid send quite a bit of the wreckage to landfill, it was in a dreadful state. We stripped out a load of the chunkier wood for the wood burner and the majority of the metal for the scrap man, all of the lighting and electrics was separated and broken down for suitable recycling/disposal, but the rest will end up in a hole.
The new building will be so much more sustainable, with virtually all of it being recyclable, reusable or used as a carbon neutral fuel. I am hoping it will outlast us anyway but at least the following generation will not have the waste disposal guilt that we have. The dismantling went really well, far less dirty and difficult than I had imagined. With us all kitted out in full PPE garb it probably looked a bit OTT but you never know with these things. After removing the windows the vertical metal legs, that in theory held everything up, simply pulled away from the structure with the smallest of wiggles. The gentle persuasion of a sledgehammer to remove the end walls was all that was needed for a very controlled folding of the remaining shell. Luckily I had checked the clearance for the fall, as option one looked ok, but actually could have ‘nicked’ the base of the despatch tunnel. A little push in the opposite direction ensured a gentle plop by the loos and all the excitement was over.
The new cabin is here and being treated before erection to ensure maximum life from those bits which we hope not to see again after construction. Just a bit more to treat later today and we should be ready to roll on the construction side. Just need a bit of time and the right weather. It does look massively complicated with so many pieces but the instructions look comprehensive and we have some very practical bodies on site so I’m sure it will be a breeze. Insulation levels look great with solid insulation board all round including 70mm between the twin walls and double glazing, so hoping for a cosy place for tea with a much lower energy input. The main plus point though will be a whole new level of comfort, hygiene and convenience for all the hard working crew who really deserve a little bit of luxury after a really challenging few years. You wouldn’t think it was too much to ask to be able to make a cup of coffee in a clean and comfy place these days, but to us I think it could be quite a big psychological step on the road to more positive outlook for plant production. We have many challenges still ahead of us with the Living Wage introduction adding a lot of pressure and the gambles we take on production levels with the vagaries of the weather etc, but it will be good to start the season on the front foot.
Availability highlights
Still early days yet, but there are a lot of early signs of plant activity, many not quite ready for the list but it won’t be long if the weather doesn’t take a dive. The relatively mild winter, so far, has encouraged the Pulmonaria’s and Erysimums into bud and some are even showing some colour too. They are nice chunky plants with lots of potential and if the weather doesn’t go drastically cold there will be more to follow.
The Tulips and Alliums are poking through nicely with roots bursting through the pot sides, if anyone needs a few bulbs, Fritillarias are nicely showing now, it will be a little while before buds show but looking full of promise.
Evergreen Liriope muscari looking verdant, definitely the best crop of these we have ever grown, always a tricky one to get leaf and roots both doing well at the same time! We have changed the production process completely and although a bit longer and more effort the results are really satisfying.
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter.
During the winter our range of available stock is limited by the lack of enthusiasm of a lot of stock to show their face in the cold, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing and a few early season show offs too. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
January gone already and still not got all my jobs done. The days are filling up with quite a few orders going out and all the cutting back and plant tidying well under way. We managed to give our despatch area a spring clean, getting all the work stations back in there right place all kitted up with the right tools all ready to hand. I lashed out on a few new wheelbarrows to replace those beyond further repair, so hopefully no more ‘discussions’ over who pinched who’s and we can get back to ultra materials handling efficiency!
Big job this week was clearing the old mess room porta-cabin in preparation for the arrival of the new wooden cabin replacement. Unfortunately we were unable to avoid send quite a bit of the wreckage to landfill, it was in a dreadful state. We stripped out a load of the chunkier wood for the wood burner and the majority of the metal for the scrap man, all of the lighting and electrics was separated and broken down for suitable recycling/disposal, but the rest will end up in a hole.
The new building will be so much more sustainable, with virtually all of it being recyclable, reusable or used as a carbon neutral fuel. I am hoping it will outlast us anyway but at least the following generation will not have the waste disposal guilt that we have. The dismantling went really well, far less dirty and difficult than I had imagined. With us all kitted out in full PPE garb it probably looked a bit OTT but you never know with these things. After removing the windows the vertical metal legs, that in theory held everything up, simply pulled away from the structure with the smallest of wiggles. The gentle persuasion of a sledgehammer to remove the end walls was all that was needed for a very controlled folding of the remaining shell. Luckily I had checked the clearance for the fall, as option one looked ok, but actually could have ‘nicked’ the base of the despatch tunnel. A little push in the opposite direction ensured a gentle plop by the loos and all the excitement was over.
The new cabin is here and being treated before erection to ensure maximum life from those bits which we hope not to see again after construction. Just a bit more to treat later today and we should be ready to roll on the construction side. Just need a bit of time and the right weather. It does look massively complicated with so many pieces but the instructions look comprehensive and we have some very practical bodies on site so I’m sure it will be a breeze. Insulation levels look great with solid insulation board all round including 70mm between the twin walls and double glazing, so hoping for a cosy place for tea with a much lower energy input. The main plus point though will be a whole new level of comfort, hygiene and convenience for all the hard working crew who really deserve a little bit of luxury after a really challenging few years. You wouldn’t think it was too much to ask to be able to make a cup of coffee in a clean and comfy place these days, but to us I think it could be quite a big psychological step on the road to more positive outlook for plant production. We have many challenges still ahead of us with the Living Wage introduction adding a lot of pressure and the gambles we take on production levels with the vagaries of the weather etc, but it will be good to start the season on the front foot.
Availability highlights
Still early days yet, but there are a lot of early signs of plant activity, many not quite ready for the list but it won’t be long if the weather doesn’t take a dive. The relatively mild winter, so far, has encouraged the Pulmonaria’s and Erysimums into bud and some are even showing some colour too. They are nice chunky plants with lots of potential and if the weather doesn’t go drastically cold there will be more to follow.
The Tulips and Alliums are poking through nicely with roots bursting through the pot sides, if anyone needs a few bulbs, Fritillarias are nicely showing now, it will be a little while before buds show but looking full of promise.
Evergreen Liriope muscari looking verdant, definitely the best crop of these we have ever grown, always a tricky one to get leaf and roots both doing well at the same time! We have changed the production process completely and although a bit longer and more effort the results are really satisfying.
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter.
During the winter our range of available stock is limited by the lack of enthusiasm of a lot of stock to show their face in the cold, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing and a few early season show offs too. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 25 January 2016
Hairy Roller Coaster
A hectic week of ups and downs. Very cold early in the week, struggling to get the outside work done and fingers mobile in sub zero temperatures yet this morning I’m in the office with the door wide open and no heaters on. Naturally the heating in the weaning tunnel broke down in the cold snap, luckily the warmer section with the most sensitive stock was ok but the frost protection area tripped out. The hot water was circulating but no fans running to move the air about. Electricians summoned and heaters sorted by the end of the day. Over time, water had tracked through a cracked plastic junction box cover down the inside of a length of the cable, filling one of the fan switches with water. A bit of a freak combination of events, which fooled the electrician for quite a while. The fault seems to have upset the control computer too but hoping to sort that out next week.
A tense start to the week was compounded by my impending compulsory spraying assessment on Thursday. As of last November I no longer qualified under ‘grandfather rights’ (being old, and wise(!) enough not to need an official sprayer qualification) to apply chemicals with our knapsack sprayer. I tend to get a bit over sensitive about these rare incursions onto the nursery by anyone looking to test my worthiness, so I was hoping to be mega prepared for a slightly unknown level of interrogation. Needless to say we were so busy I had little spare time and ended up flying by the seat of my pants as usual. Luckily we have a lovely little, very nicely organised, chemical store and fairly limited chemical and equipment range to deal with, so it was reasonably easy to make a sensible impression of how we apply the products we do. The large number of alternatives to sprays we utilise is right up the street of the modern day best practice of pest and weed control, so I pressed lots of the right buttons there. I now officially meet with the standards of competency required, hurrah, now I can relax and enjoy this moment of glory. OK done that.
Caroline is spending her Sunday packing a good sized microprop order for a delivery on Monday. Possibly a moment to rejoice in some early high value sales, compensating for the interruption to the weekend, but unfortunately no, she has just called through to say that quite a lot of the rain last night, is now residing on the floor of the growth room, Ace.
Had a great day out yesterday with friends at Taunton racecourse, perfect weather and lots of excitement. I don’t go racing often but I do enjoy the occasional flutter in good company. There was plenty of ridicule at my tactics of betting each-way on relative outsiders and a run of 11 races on the trot (including the previous meeting) with zero return was backing them up and getting me down. But my luck turned on the very last race and I won back all my dosh. Neither the owner or trainer turned up to see their horse run in a 6 horse race which usually points to ultra low expectations, but the race ended with two leaders falling (all ok) leaving my grey to romp home at 14/1. I tried desperately not to look too smug and failed spectacularly.
Sad about David Bowie’s passing last week, I haven’t followed a lot of his recent stuff but grew up through a lot of his earlier incarnations, a great artist who entertained and pushed back a lot of boundaries. Then a few days later The Strypes release a youthfully energetic, joyous live album to light my fire again. Oh to be young again. Onwards and upwards.
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter.
During the winter our range of available stock is limited by the lack of enthusiasm of a lot of stock to show their face in the cold, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing and a few early season show offs too. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield. Drop us a line and we will try and put together a few orders to make it work for everyone.
Availability highlights
Dainty flowered hardy Cyclamen coum are in colour/bud now, including the silvered leaved form too, They should flower from now until April. Not the face full of flower of the pot plant types, but a continuous classy show of hardy blooms. The relatively mild winter, so far, has encouraged the Pulmonaria’s and Erysimums into bud and some are even showing some colour too. They are nice chunky plants with lots of potential and if the weather doesn’t go drastically cold there are more to follow. The Tulips and Alliums are poking through nicely with roots bursting through the pot sides, if anyone needs a few bulbs,
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
A tense start to the week was compounded by my impending compulsory spraying assessment on Thursday. As of last November I no longer qualified under ‘grandfather rights’ (being old, and wise(!) enough not to need an official sprayer qualification) to apply chemicals with our knapsack sprayer. I tend to get a bit over sensitive about these rare incursions onto the nursery by anyone looking to test my worthiness, so I was hoping to be mega prepared for a slightly unknown level of interrogation. Needless to say we were so busy I had little spare time and ended up flying by the seat of my pants as usual. Luckily we have a lovely little, very nicely organised, chemical store and fairly limited chemical and equipment range to deal with, so it was reasonably easy to make a sensible impression of how we apply the products we do. The large number of alternatives to sprays we utilise is right up the street of the modern day best practice of pest and weed control, so I pressed lots of the right buttons there. I now officially meet with the standards of competency required, hurrah, now I can relax and enjoy this moment of glory. OK done that.
Caroline is spending her Sunday packing a good sized microprop order for a delivery on Monday. Possibly a moment to rejoice in some early high value sales, compensating for the interruption to the weekend, but unfortunately no, she has just called through to say that quite a lot of the rain last night, is now residing on the floor of the growth room, Ace.
Had a great day out yesterday with friends at Taunton racecourse, perfect weather and lots of excitement. I don’t go racing often but I do enjoy the occasional flutter in good company. There was plenty of ridicule at my tactics of betting each-way on relative outsiders and a run of 11 races on the trot (including the previous meeting) with zero return was backing them up and getting me down. But my luck turned on the very last race and I won back all my dosh. Neither the owner or trainer turned up to see their horse run in a 6 horse race which usually points to ultra low expectations, but the race ended with two leaders falling (all ok) leaving my grey to romp home at 14/1. I tried desperately not to look too smug and failed spectacularly.
Sad about David Bowie’s passing last week, I haven’t followed a lot of his recent stuff but grew up through a lot of his earlier incarnations, a great artist who entertained and pushed back a lot of boundaries. Then a few days later The Strypes release a youthfully energetic, joyous live album to light my fire again. Oh to be young again. Onwards and upwards.
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter.
During the winter our range of available stock is limited by the lack of enthusiasm of a lot of stock to show their face in the cold, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing and a few early season show offs too. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield. Drop us a line and we will try and put together a few orders to make it work for everyone.
Availability highlights
Dainty flowered hardy Cyclamen coum are in colour/bud now, including the silvered leaved form too, They should flower from now until April. Not the face full of flower of the pot plant types, but a continuous classy show of hardy blooms. The relatively mild winter, so far, has encouraged the Pulmonaria’s and Erysimums into bud and some are even showing some colour too. They are nice chunky plants with lots of potential and if the weather doesn’t go drastically cold there are more to follow. The Tulips and Alliums are poking through nicely with roots bursting through the pot sides, if anyone needs a few bulbs,
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Wednesday, 20 January 2016
Hairy House
Morning all,
A taste of winter at last. Not quite as cold as expected over the last few days but still a bit of a shock after such a mild winter so far. Just about the right level for the plants to start with, a nice cooling to get them used to it rather than shocking them too much with monster changes. Having seen the forecast we succumbed and turned on the central heating on Friday, just a couple of radiators downstairs but what a difference. Just a bit anxious now that we will struggle to turn it off again especially with the lure of super cheap heating oil again, but just think of all that carbon released. Oh the torment of living with an environmental conscience. The electric consumption on the nursery has leapt with the turning up of the frost protection heaters in all our various shacks and heating the office and coffee shacks over the last few days. Probably something I wouldn’t have noticed 10 years ago before becoming a daily meter reading nerd. It is up by about 60 units a day which is about 25%, it looks a lot on my graphs but actually only costs between £3 or £7 a day depending on whether the turbines are generating or we are importing the power so it’s not going to break the bank. It’s also far cheaper than having to unfreeze or repair burst pipes.
Big decision made on Monday after many years of wishing we could replace the nursery mess-room porta-cabin. We have been hanging on until we could make enough money to justify our existence and the investment in such a decadent non-productive cost. However, a long series of replacement plastic sheet roofs, plywood patches on the floor and walls, slabs supporting the failing floor joists, corex boards filling in the broken window, door adjustments allowing closure in the shape-changing door frame and wide ranging collection of rare fungal colonies on various wall patches, forced our hand on Monday when we decided we can’t wait for those elusive good days we have to act now. Executive decision made, we have ordered up a very well insulated, double glazed, environmentally sympathetic eco structure, slightly smaller than the original but with a pitched roof (no more flat roof leaks) and ‘easy’ self construct design. Yes we have ordered a shed. It’s due in a couple of weeks, I’ll let you know how we get on. I can’t believe what a relief it is to see an end in sight for that porta-cabin, and not just for me. Bring on The Wendy House.
I set aside my Jive evening on Tuesday to attend a meeting organised by AHDB (used to be the HDC) to discuss the future direction of the organisation who take a big chuck of our turnover as a compulsory levy. I’m not really into this sort of thing, we are too small and industry politics have always been a bit of a turnoff, I struggle with the establishment element, I need to plough my own furrow. Anyway my main reason for attending was to bump into other nursery folk and having a bit of a social while eating bacon butties paid for out of my levy, I could slip away early and still get a jive session in, to round off the evening. There have been a series of these meetings held around the country to help push AHDB expenditure in the direction the levy payers needed, so quite important you would think. Unfortunately for central southern England I was the only representative for the entire horticultural sector, so not just ornamentals but fruit, veg, glasshouse, trees, landscape the lot. The rest of the audience were farmers from all sorts of sectors. Unfortunately I had been
identified as the only horticulturist present by AHDB representatives and any chance of an early exit were scuppered. If the AHDB research suddenly lurches into Wendy Houses you will know who to blame.
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter.
As the winter arrives our range falls away with the many deciduous varieties withdrawing into the relative warmth of the compost, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield. Drop us a line and we will try and put together a few orders to make it work for everyone.
Availability highlights
Dainty flowered hardy Cyclamen coum are in colour/bud now, including the silvered leaved form too, They should flower from now until April. Not the face full of flower of the pot plant types, but a continuous classy show of hardy blooms. The mild winter, so far, has encouraged the Pulmonaria’s and Erysimums into bud and some are even showing some colour too. They are nice chunky plants with lots of potential and if the weather doesn’t go drastically cold there are more to follow. The Tulips and Alliums are poking through nicely with roots bursting through the pot sides, if anyone needs a few bulbs.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
A taste of winter at last. Not quite as cold as expected over the last few days but still a bit of a shock after such a mild winter so far. Just about the right level for the plants to start with, a nice cooling to get them used to it rather than shocking them too much with monster changes. Having seen the forecast we succumbed and turned on the central heating on Friday, just a couple of radiators downstairs but what a difference. Just a bit anxious now that we will struggle to turn it off again especially with the lure of super cheap heating oil again, but just think of all that carbon released. Oh the torment of living with an environmental conscience. The electric consumption on the nursery has leapt with the turning up of the frost protection heaters in all our various shacks and heating the office and coffee shacks over the last few days. Probably something I wouldn’t have noticed 10 years ago before becoming a daily meter reading nerd. It is up by about 60 units a day which is about 25%, it looks a lot on my graphs but actually only costs between £3 or £7 a day depending on whether the turbines are generating or we are importing the power so it’s not going to break the bank. It’s also far cheaper than having to unfreeze or repair burst pipes.
Big decision made on Monday after many years of wishing we could replace the nursery mess-room porta-cabin. We have been hanging on until we could make enough money to justify our existence and the investment in such a decadent non-productive cost. However, a long series of replacement plastic sheet roofs, plywood patches on the floor and walls, slabs supporting the failing floor joists, corex boards filling in the broken window, door adjustments allowing closure in the shape-changing door frame and wide ranging collection of rare fungal colonies on various wall patches, forced our hand on Monday when we decided we can’t wait for those elusive good days we have to act now. Executive decision made, we have ordered up a very well insulated, double glazed, environmentally sympathetic eco structure, slightly smaller than the original but with a pitched roof (no more flat roof leaks) and ‘easy’ self construct design. Yes we have ordered a shed. It’s due in a couple of weeks, I’ll let you know how we get on. I can’t believe what a relief it is to see an end in sight for that porta-cabin, and not just for me. Bring on The Wendy House.
I set aside my Jive evening on Tuesday to attend a meeting organised by AHDB (used to be the HDC) to discuss the future direction of the organisation who take a big chuck of our turnover as a compulsory levy. I’m not really into this sort of thing, we are too small and industry politics have always been a bit of a turnoff, I struggle with the establishment element, I need to plough my own furrow. Anyway my main reason for attending was to bump into other nursery folk and having a bit of a social while eating bacon butties paid for out of my levy, I could slip away early and still get a jive session in, to round off the evening. There have been a series of these meetings held around the country to help push AHDB expenditure in the direction the levy payers needed, so quite important you would think. Unfortunately for central southern England I was the only representative for the entire horticultural sector, so not just ornamentals but fruit, veg, glasshouse, trees, landscape the lot. The rest of the audience were farmers from all sorts of sectors. Unfortunately I had been
identified as the only horticulturist present by AHDB representatives and any chance of an early exit were scuppered. If the AHDB research suddenly lurches into Wendy Houses you will know who to blame.
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter.
As the winter arrives our range falls away with the many deciduous varieties withdrawing into the relative warmth of the compost, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield. Drop us a line and we will try and put together a few orders to make it work for everyone.
Availability highlights
Dainty flowered hardy Cyclamen coum are in colour/bud now, including the silvered leaved form too, They should flower from now until April. Not the face full of flower of the pot plant types, but a continuous classy show of hardy blooms. The mild winter, so far, has encouraged the Pulmonaria’s and Erysimums into bud and some are even showing some colour too. They are nice chunky plants with lots of potential and if the weather doesn’t go drastically cold there are more to follow. The Tulips and Alliums are poking through nicely with roots bursting through the pot sides, if anyone needs a few bulbs.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Tuesday, 12 January 2016
Hairy Trussing
Morning all,
Happy New Year to everyone. Looking forward to a heart warming and productive 2016 down this end, I hope yours is a good one too and our thoughts go out to anyone facing tough challenges whether from recent climate issues or things closer to the heart.
There has been a long festive break since my last update and there have been loads of things happening along the way. I always imagine this as our quiet time of year but it’s been a riot of activity, most of it, although not all, very positive, which is just what we need when the weather has been so miserable for so many around the country.
The Christmas run up went swimmingly starting with a very positive meeting with the bank manager who was very pleased with the overall financial improvement, We easily convinced him about the light at the end of the tunnel and dispelled all notions that it was in fact the train coming in the opposite direction! Good news like this always lightens the mood for a delicious Christmas lunch for everyone down at The Plough which was just great. We even managed to juggle the work load in the lab to get Christmas Eve off for the majority Polish staff for whom that day is pretty special.
The Christmas break was lovely, lots of family, dietary consumption and games. A fantastic monster turkey lunch at Richard and Pollyann’s nearly came a cropper when the main course refused to enter the oven until extra trussing just about pulled everything together. I am personally now in a similar position trying to hold back on input and upping the trussing. We again hosted the annual post Christmas family and friends hockey and chilli bonanza, On the one beautiful sunny day we had, 15 a side plus supporters may have been a bit crowded but everyone safely staggered off the pitch in the end, Caroline scored her annual goal (with her lacrosse stick) and as usual it ended in an honourable draw (4-4). Over the years the balance of players has changed drastically, when we started many of the youngsters were toddlers and it was the grown-ups showing off, but now the boot is on the other foot and they fly by us as if we’re not there. What is going on? It’s turning into a thought provoking annual reality check, not a bad thing really.
I can’t believe we have only been back at work a week, we‘ve seen so much activity in just a few days. Sadly we heard on Monday that one of our lab ladies, Bozena is not too well and will be off for a little while, so we wish her and her family well and hope to see her again after a speedy recovery. Consequently we now have another new lab trainee in need of encouraging and nurturing through the challenges of learning a completely new set of skills. The lab are at full tilt which is always a challenge so early in the year, juggling which varieties get priority to meet all the various deadlines, while coping with training new staff and supply chain challenges, On the nursery, the last badly ruptured tunnel got nicely recovered, our heated weaning tunnel had a big side vent replaced, we sent out a nice few orders, the forklift died and got repaired, the new batch of LED growth room lights arrived, lots of plants got cut back/tidied up and the new seasons micro-prop pricking-out got started. It’s all go.
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter.
As the winter arrives our range falls away with the many deciduous varieties withdrawing into the relative warmth of the compost, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield. Drop us a line and we will try and put together a few orders to make it work for everyone.
Availability highlights
Dainty flowered but hardy Cyclamen coum are showing bud now in all three separate colours and now the silvered leaved form too, They should flower from now until April. You don’t get the face full of flower of the pot plant types but a continuous classy steady show of hardy blooms.
The mild winter, so far, has encouraged the Pulmonaria’s and Erysimums into bud and some are even showing some colour too. They are nice chunky plants with lots of potential and if the weather doesn’t go drastically cold there will be more to follow. The evergreen Bergenia’s are showing signs of fresh growth and early bud formation although it is likely to be a while before they show strong colour.
The Tulips and Alliums are poking through nicely with roots bursting through the pot sides, if anyone needs a few bulbs,.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Happy New Year to everyone. Looking forward to a heart warming and productive 2016 down this end, I hope yours is a good one too and our thoughts go out to anyone facing tough challenges whether from recent climate issues or things closer to the heart.
There has been a long festive break since my last update and there have been loads of things happening along the way. I always imagine this as our quiet time of year but it’s been a riot of activity, most of it, although not all, very positive, which is just what we need when the weather has been so miserable for so many around the country.
The Christmas run up went swimmingly starting with a very positive meeting with the bank manager who was very pleased with the overall financial improvement, We easily convinced him about the light at the end of the tunnel and dispelled all notions that it was in fact the train coming in the opposite direction! Good news like this always lightens the mood for a delicious Christmas lunch for everyone down at The Plough which was just great. We even managed to juggle the work load in the lab to get Christmas Eve off for the majority Polish staff for whom that day is pretty special.
The Christmas break was lovely, lots of family, dietary consumption and games. A fantastic monster turkey lunch at Richard and Pollyann’s nearly came a cropper when the main course refused to enter the oven until extra trussing just about pulled everything together. I am personally now in a similar position trying to hold back on input and upping the trussing. We again hosted the annual post Christmas family and friends hockey and chilli bonanza, On the one beautiful sunny day we had, 15 a side plus supporters may have been a bit crowded but everyone safely staggered off the pitch in the end, Caroline scored her annual goal (with her lacrosse stick) and as usual it ended in an honourable draw (4-4). Over the years the balance of players has changed drastically, when we started many of the youngsters were toddlers and it was the grown-ups showing off, but now the boot is on the other foot and they fly by us as if we’re not there. What is going on? It’s turning into a thought provoking annual reality check, not a bad thing really.
I can’t believe we have only been back at work a week, we‘ve seen so much activity in just a few days. Sadly we heard on Monday that one of our lab ladies, Bozena is not too well and will be off for a little while, so we wish her and her family well and hope to see her again after a speedy recovery. Consequently we now have another new lab trainee in need of encouraging and nurturing through the challenges of learning a completely new set of skills. The lab are at full tilt which is always a challenge so early in the year, juggling which varieties get priority to meet all the various deadlines, while coping with training new staff and supply chain challenges, On the nursery, the last badly ruptured tunnel got nicely recovered, our heated weaning tunnel had a big side vent replaced, we sent out a nice few orders, the forklift died and got repaired, the new batch of LED growth room lights arrived, lots of plants got cut back/tidied up and the new seasons micro-prop pricking-out got started. It’s all go.
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter.
As the winter arrives our range falls away with the many deciduous varieties withdrawing into the relative warmth of the compost, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield. Drop us a line and we will try and put together a few orders to make it work for everyone.
Availability highlights
Dainty flowered but hardy Cyclamen coum are showing bud now in all three separate colours and now the silvered leaved form too, They should flower from now until April. You don’t get the face full of flower of the pot plant types but a continuous classy steady show of hardy blooms.
The mild winter, so far, has encouraged the Pulmonaria’s and Erysimums into bud and some are even showing some colour too. They are nice chunky plants with lots of potential and if the weather doesn’t go drastically cold there will be more to follow. The evergreen Bergenia’s are showing signs of fresh growth and early bud formation although it is likely to be a while before they show strong colour.
The Tulips and Alliums are poking through nicely with roots bursting through the pot sides, if anyone needs a few bulbs,.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 14 December 2015
Late and Hairy
Morning all,
Busy, busy, busy, hence the slightly late email this week. Lots to do on the nursery but nothing new there, it’s a rush of social engagements that has caught me out. The past week was pretty full with skittles twice and my first Christmas dinner, then this weekend has been bonkers. John Otway gig on Friday night, walloped 9-0 on the hockey pitch followed by a lovely dinner out on Saturday, exciting horse racing on Sunday where I lost everything (luckily Caroline backed a good one) finished off by a 35th wedding anniversary celebration entertained by a very loud young rock blues band (Raveneye) until the early hours. Bit deaf and slightly sore headed this morning trying to gather some brain cells together for a local Christmas quiz tonight. Then it’s off to the Christmas Ball at the Guildhall on Tuesday night with four dance floors and a chocolate fountain ready for impressing the bank manager on Wednesday! Luckily I’m hoping the better figures this year will do the talking for me as we continue to claw our way back from the disappointing previous few seasons. Still a way to go yet but feeling quite proud of ourselves just at the moment. Might be a bit different in a few weeks when the annual winter cash-flow crisis hits home! Roll on the spring, or is this it?
Good to see some political movement on the climate front this week, let’s hope we see some more positive changes happening from the top rather than pandering all the time to the cash gods. At some time we have to take some responsibility for what we are doing. While we wait for guidance from those above us, don’t forget it is also down to us too. Lots of little people doing little things can still make a big difference. It is still too easy to say it isn’t down to us, the media always seem keen to blame everyone else and I know the likes of China and India are chucking out lots of rubbish but we are still consuming as many resources and using as much power per person as anyone else, there are just less of us. If this issue becomes as big as it now looks like it will we could be world leaders in something again if we picked up the challenge.
Hoping to receive our next delivery of LED growing lights for the lab just before the Christmas break so I can get them fitted over the holidays. Luckily I can install these myself so the costs are kept in check, my rates are very reasonable. We recently replaced the workstation lights but these are a bit more specialist, designed specifically for growing plants under but using a lot less power (70% less) and producing less heat. The heat reduction saves power too as we don’t have to cool the growth room as much. Because the lights are on 14 hrs a day 7 days a week the pay-back period is only about 3 years and we need to gradually replace the old light units anyway as they wear out. This batch will reduce our annual electric use by another 4%, another positive nibble on our part. It would be nice to do the whole lot in one go and make an even bigger cut in consumption but we have to cut our cloth and all that.
2016 Catalogues are in production and hoping to get them out this week. I will get it uploaded on the website too so you can have a catch up on all the background detail of all things Hairy.
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter.
As the winter approaches our range falls away with the many deciduous varieties withdrawing into the relative warmth of the compost, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield. Drop us a line and we will try and put together a few orders to make it work for everyone.
Availability highlights
Dainty flowered but hardy Cyclamen coum are showing bud now in all three separate colours and now the silvered leaved form too, They should flower from now until April. You don’t get the face full of flower of the pot plant types but a continuous classy steady show of hardy blooms.
The slightly showier hardy Cyclamen hederifolium types are also now in bloom. Bolder colours and more floriferous. Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display. H. Niger, the classic Christmas Rose and its slightly earlier flowering cousin H niger Praecox are already producing some buds and very occasional open flower.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Busy, busy, busy, hence the slightly late email this week. Lots to do on the nursery but nothing new there, it’s a rush of social engagements that has caught me out. The past week was pretty full with skittles twice and my first Christmas dinner, then this weekend has been bonkers. John Otway gig on Friday night, walloped 9-0 on the hockey pitch followed by a lovely dinner out on Saturday, exciting horse racing on Sunday where I lost everything (luckily Caroline backed a good one) finished off by a 35th wedding anniversary celebration entertained by a very loud young rock blues band (Raveneye) until the early hours. Bit deaf and slightly sore headed this morning trying to gather some brain cells together for a local Christmas quiz tonight. Then it’s off to the Christmas Ball at the Guildhall on Tuesday night with four dance floors and a chocolate fountain ready for impressing the bank manager on Wednesday! Luckily I’m hoping the better figures this year will do the talking for me as we continue to claw our way back from the disappointing previous few seasons. Still a way to go yet but feeling quite proud of ourselves just at the moment. Might be a bit different in a few weeks when the annual winter cash-flow crisis hits home! Roll on the spring, or is this it?
Good to see some political movement on the climate front this week, let’s hope we see some more positive changes happening from the top rather than pandering all the time to the cash gods. At some time we have to take some responsibility for what we are doing. While we wait for guidance from those above us, don’t forget it is also down to us too. Lots of little people doing little things can still make a big difference. It is still too easy to say it isn’t down to us, the media always seem keen to blame everyone else and I know the likes of China and India are chucking out lots of rubbish but we are still consuming as many resources and using as much power per person as anyone else, there are just less of us. If this issue becomes as big as it now looks like it will we could be world leaders in something again if we picked up the challenge.
Hoping to receive our next delivery of LED growing lights for the lab just before the Christmas break so I can get them fitted over the holidays. Luckily I can install these myself so the costs are kept in check, my rates are very reasonable. We recently replaced the workstation lights but these are a bit more specialist, designed specifically for growing plants under but using a lot less power (70% less) and producing less heat. The heat reduction saves power too as we don’t have to cool the growth room as much. Because the lights are on 14 hrs a day 7 days a week the pay-back period is only about 3 years and we need to gradually replace the old light units anyway as they wear out. This batch will reduce our annual electric use by another 4%, another positive nibble on our part. It would be nice to do the whole lot in one go and make an even bigger cut in consumption but we have to cut our cloth and all that.
2016 Catalogues are in production and hoping to get them out this week. I will get it uploaded on the website too so you can have a catch up on all the background detail of all things Hairy.
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter.
As the winter approaches our range falls away with the many deciduous varieties withdrawing into the relative warmth of the compost, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield. Drop us a line and we will try and put together a few orders to make it work for everyone.
Availability highlights
Dainty flowered but hardy Cyclamen coum are showing bud now in all three separate colours and now the silvered leaved form too, They should flower from now until April. You don’t get the face full of flower of the pot plant types but a continuous classy steady show of hardy blooms.
The slightly showier hardy Cyclamen hederifolium types are also now in bloom. Bolder colours and more floriferous. Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display. H. Niger, the classic Christmas Rose and its slightly earlier flowering cousin H niger Praecox are already producing some buds and very occasional open flower.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 7 December 2015
Windy and Hairy
Morning all,
It’s still so mild, many plants are still growing and not really settled down for the winter. Hopefully it won’t turn too cold too quickly and catch them out, we will have to keep an eye on rots setting in if that happens. We have started cutting back the top growth now of those lines that go more or less dormant over the cold months despite some still showing some fresh growth, the problem is if we don’t start soon we won’t have time to get it done in the new year when thoughts suddenly turn to ‘spring’ sales.
The warm temperatures and constant wind has been drying plants out more than normal for the time of year so the irrigation has been back in action again just to top up the beds and compost moisture levels. Luckily the semi automated system we have set up to blow out all the irrigation pipes to prevent bursts in the cold is really quick effective. I just start up the compressor, turn off the water, hook up the air supply to the irrigation circuit and set off the computer programme to clear the lines one at a time. Then I can sleep easy as the frosts return.
I hope none of you are suffering too badly after this weekend’s winds and floods. We seem to be getting a real run of strong storms over the last few weeks, perhaps a reminder of things to come if we don’t get our act together as a society on the climate front. Cumbria and the north got a real battering and soaking again just 6 years after a ‘once in 200 year event’. Over 300mm rain in a day is a bonkers amount to cope with, that would be about 3 months worth down here. Luckily for us although we have been thwarted in our attempts to re-clad 8 of our tunnels (only 3 done) because of the run of storms, it has meant that the wind turbines have been working overtime. We have shot past our best ever ‘rolling 30 day average’ output, we peaked at 421Kw/hr a day previously and got very close to this on a couple of other occasions but we are now on 443. Unfortunately with only 3 little turbines so we aren’t going to get rich but it all helps both financially and on the sustainability front and to top it off I get excited too.
Even more excitement, the electrician was in last week fitting some new LED strip lights in the lab work cabinets and general overhead lights, now we can see better and save energy. Unfortunately the cost of fitting was more than the cost of purchase so that will add a couple more years before the lights pay back in electric savings, how come I can’t charge £40/hr for my staff output? With a bit of luck the improved work rates under the new lights will help, we all live in hope! Speculate to accumulate. Again. Sometime soon we must be due for a hell of a lot of accumulating.
Christmas is rushing upon us again, nearly time to decorate my home-made tree again, I must have saved a fortune over the years, not having to buy a fresh one each year but still having an 8ft talking point to marvel at. Nothing wrong with a bit of 2x2 and a collection of unwanted wooden blind slats if you can get creative. This must be the Mark3 version I think, The original idea, 22 years ago, of screwing cut branches from the garden onto the 2x2 worked fine for a bit but things move on and one gradually gets more sophisticated (and tighter)!
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter.
As the winter approaches our range falls away with the many deciduous varieties withdrawing into the relative warmth of the compost, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield. Drop us a line and we will try and put together a few orders to make it work for everyone.
Availability highlights
Dainty flowered but hardy Cyclamen coum are showing bud now in all three separate colours and now the silvered leaved form too, They should flower from now until April. You don’t get the face full of flower of the pot plant types but a continuous classy steady show of hardy blooms.
The slightly showier hardy Cyclamen hederifolium types are also now in bloom. Bolder colours and more floriferous. Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display. H. Niger, the classic Christmas Rose and its slightly earlier flowering cousin H niger Praecox are already producing some buds and very occasional open flower.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
It’s still so mild, many plants are still growing and not really settled down for the winter. Hopefully it won’t turn too cold too quickly and catch them out, we will have to keep an eye on rots setting in if that happens. We have started cutting back the top growth now of those lines that go more or less dormant over the cold months despite some still showing some fresh growth, the problem is if we don’t start soon we won’t have time to get it done in the new year when thoughts suddenly turn to ‘spring’ sales.
The warm temperatures and constant wind has been drying plants out more than normal for the time of year so the irrigation has been back in action again just to top up the beds and compost moisture levels. Luckily the semi automated system we have set up to blow out all the irrigation pipes to prevent bursts in the cold is really quick effective. I just start up the compressor, turn off the water, hook up the air supply to the irrigation circuit and set off the computer programme to clear the lines one at a time. Then I can sleep easy as the frosts return.
I hope none of you are suffering too badly after this weekend’s winds and floods. We seem to be getting a real run of strong storms over the last few weeks, perhaps a reminder of things to come if we don’t get our act together as a society on the climate front. Cumbria and the north got a real battering and soaking again just 6 years after a ‘once in 200 year event’. Over 300mm rain in a day is a bonkers amount to cope with, that would be about 3 months worth down here. Luckily for us although we have been thwarted in our attempts to re-clad 8 of our tunnels (only 3 done) because of the run of storms, it has meant that the wind turbines have been working overtime. We have shot past our best ever ‘rolling 30 day average’ output, we peaked at 421Kw/hr a day previously and got very close to this on a couple of other occasions but we are now on 443. Unfortunately with only 3 little turbines so we aren’t going to get rich but it all helps both financially and on the sustainability front and to top it off I get excited too.
Even more excitement, the electrician was in last week fitting some new LED strip lights in the lab work cabinets and general overhead lights, now we can see better and save energy. Unfortunately the cost of fitting was more than the cost of purchase so that will add a couple more years before the lights pay back in electric savings, how come I can’t charge £40/hr for my staff output? With a bit of luck the improved work rates under the new lights will help, we all live in hope! Speculate to accumulate. Again. Sometime soon we must be due for a hell of a lot of accumulating.
Christmas is rushing upon us again, nearly time to decorate my home-made tree again, I must have saved a fortune over the years, not having to buy a fresh one each year but still having an 8ft talking point to marvel at. Nothing wrong with a bit of 2x2 and a collection of unwanted wooden blind slats if you can get creative. This must be the Mark3 version I think, The original idea, 22 years ago, of screwing cut branches from the garden onto the 2x2 worked fine for a bit but things move on and one gradually gets more sophisticated (and tighter)!
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter.
As the winter approaches our range falls away with the many deciduous varieties withdrawing into the relative warmth of the compost, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield. Drop us a line and we will try and put together a few orders to make it work for everyone.
Availability highlights
Dainty flowered but hardy Cyclamen coum are showing bud now in all three separate colours and now the silvered leaved form too, They should flower from now until April. You don’t get the face full of flower of the pot plant types but a continuous classy steady show of hardy blooms.
The slightly showier hardy Cyclamen hederifolium types are also now in bloom. Bolder colours and more floriferous. Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display. H. Niger, the classic Christmas Rose and its slightly earlier flowering cousin H niger Praecox are already producing some buds and very occasional open flower.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
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