Hi,
Another week closer to Christmas and the credit card is taking a pounding. Unfortunately for Caroline, it isn't on flash presents, but on a series of breakdowns that always seem to build up as the festive break gets close and guests threaten to visit. After several months of a deteriorating TV signal we lost all channels last week and had to call in an expert to sort us out. A very helpful chap has got us going again, with a new areal amplifier/splitter, which after 30 years had given up. Luckily we had just invested in a TV stick so could log into BBC iplayer and catch up on a few missed programmes, while the aerial was out of action. That went well for 24hrs until the wireless router in the house died, so a new one is now on the way. Then the electric fly killer in the loft burnt out and will have to be replaced. That's my three, so should be a good run in from now.
Talking of shopping, I have just sorted out a new 3.5t van purchase, which should be ready for the end of February, just in time for the new season to really get going. We were so busy last year we ended up hiring a van for most of the spring and summer, which was not only quite expensive but inefficient too. The hire vans are not set up to carry trolleys and payloads are not great, we end up with a load capacity 35% below our bespoke van, which is fine for emergencies but not good for the long term. I have researched electric options, in the hope that we could take another bold step, but it's not quite there yet. Fiat have one due next year that has promise, but we will need to wait until they are in operation to see what the practical implications on payload and range will be. The body maker we use, already has industry leading payloads, thanks to its super lightweight design and materials. This time we have been able to order a fractionally wider body than before, which fits the trolleys much better and allows us to use a shorter body length. The loading ramp also doubles up as one of the rear doors which adds practicality and saves more weight. We have lashed out a little extra on alloy wheels and an even lighter alloy back-frame, which gives even more payload. Both should pay back handsomely over time. The more we deliver on each trip, the lower the impact on both the environment and the wallet.
Plant passport changes have arrived ready or not!.
The official start date was the 14th of December and although we have, in theory, a 12 month grace period to get it all set up correctly, we are trying to get it right from the word GO. Like many producers we have had to take a bit of a punt on how we interpret the new rules, after a period of a lack of clarity or clear practical direction from the advisory bodies. The next stage will be seeing what the Plant Health Inspectors make of our efforts, although I don't suppose they will have time to make many visits, until the dust settles after the implementation date and the likely ministerial and EU developments coming over the next few weeks. I am hoping you will not actually notice too much of a change, we have tried to keep our implementation as seamless as we can.
Here are the main changes we have made that you will see, to comply with the new regulations;
- All individual plant labels from now on will have extra PP info on them (A- the genus and species of the plant, B-our producer plant passport number, C- a batch number, D- country of origin, an image of the EU flag).
- All delivery notes have been redesigned to included the same info.
- All invoices have been redesigned to included the same info.
In theory, at the moment, we need not put the PP details on each individual plant, if we are supplying retailers. We could just attached a label on each trolley listing all the plants. However complications may occur if the plant is then sold on to another professional, who is buying and planting for someone else (eg a landscaper), where the plant passport info really should be passed on. This is only practical if the PP info is passed on with each plant. Quite how the landscaper then keeps the info on record for the required three years I'm not sure, but I suspect that issue will get ironed out at a later stage.
All new colour labels will have the PP info printed on them, and all old label stock will be over-stuck with small sticky labels
with PP info on each. The wooden herb labels, which we print ourselves, are all having new printing plates made for them and the info will appear towards the bottom of the label.
The changes to the delivery note and invoice are so that you can easily comply with the regulations and keep the PP records for the required three years. You have to keep invoices as a tax record for a longer time than three years already, so you can just use these as your PP record, without involving any extra filing etc. Alternatively you can use the delivery notes as your record, or use a combination of the two.
If I don't catch you next week, have a great Christmas and New Year. May you be cool, cosy and relaxed over the whole period and well into the coming year.
Best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Monday, 16 December 2019
Monday, 9 December 2019
Hairy Passports
Hi,
I hope you are all having a good run up to Christmas. Our tree was decorated yesterday so I'm ready.
Plant passport changes are here.
Considering how quiet it should be for us at this time of year, I still find myself here late into the evening and weekends too. The whole updating of the plant passporting system has really thrown a bit of a spanner in the works. The official start date is the 14th of December and although we have, in theory, a 12 month grace period to get it all set up correctly, we would really like to get it right from the word GO. Like many producers we have had to take a bit of a punt on how we interpret the new rules, after a period of a lack of clarity or clear practical direction from the advisory bodies. Last week saw a flurry of new guidance, but I'm not sure if it's all a bit late for most.
I am hoping you will not actually notice too much of a change, we have tried to keep the implementation as seamless as we can. Here are the main changes we have made that you will see, to comply with the new regulations;
- All individual plant labels from now on will have extra PP info on them (A- the genus and species of the plant, B-our producer plant passport number, C- a batch number, D- country of origin, an image of the EU flag).
- All delivery notes have been redesigned to included the same info.
- All invoices have been redesigned to included the same info.
In theory, at the moment, we need not put the PP details on each individual plant, if we are supplying retailers. We could just attached a label on each trolley listing all the plants. However complications may occur if the plant is then sold on to another professional, who is buying and planting for someone else (eg a landscaper), where the plant passport info really should be passed on. This is only practical if the PP info is passed on with each plant. Quite how the landscaper then keeps the info on record for the required three years I'm not sure, but I suspect that issue will get ironed out at a later stage.
All new colour labels will have the PP info printed on them, and all old label stock will be over-stuck with small sticky labels with PP info on it (160,000 to stick). The PP info appears in the rather convenient blank space, behind the top of the skewer on the reverse side of the label. The wooden herb labels, which we print ourselves, are all having new printing plates made for them and the info will appear towards the bottom of the label and is obscured from general sight at or just below the compost level. Because we now treat the labels with a bit of water protection the details remain visible for many weeks. If the authorities are worried about this positioning, we may have to print the info on a separate label and insert that in the pot too but we are hoping to avoid this, to save on resources.
The changes to the delivery note and invoice are so that you can easily comply with the regulations and keep the PP records for the required three years. You have to keep invoices as a tax record for a longer time than three years already, so you can just use these as your PP record, without involving any extra filing etc. Alternatively you can use the delivery notes as your record, or use a combination of the two.
I won't bore you with the programming fun I have had changing spreadsheet fields and data, report formats, screen designs and alike, but I hope we are just about there on all the paperwork. The colour label over-sticker printing and application is well underway (up to E!) and about half the new herb printing plates are made. I suspect my £10,000 estimate on implementation costs will be conservative, but luckily our programmer, sticker printer and plate maker is super cheap and likes a challenge!
Wooden box collections
We are just about done now with the collections of our wooden boxes. We are not out much at the moment but if anyone still has any trays ready to go, just drop me a line and we will pop in when next close by. Thanks for all your help, on the whole we have kept up a great return rate, which helps the whole system continue to work sustainably.
Availability highlights
Cyclamen coum varieties are doing their thing, in bud and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush.
Winter interest in vartieties of evergreens bowls along, with a wider range than usual of Bergenia's which will start flowering in very early spring, along with the lovely Euphorbia's.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
I hope you are all having a good run up to Christmas. Our tree was decorated yesterday so I'm ready.
Plant passport changes are here.
Considering how quiet it should be for us at this time of year, I still find myself here late into the evening and weekends too. The whole updating of the plant passporting system has really thrown a bit of a spanner in the works. The official start date is the 14th of December and although we have, in theory, a 12 month grace period to get it all set up correctly, we would really like to get it right from the word GO. Like many producers we have had to take a bit of a punt on how we interpret the new rules, after a period of a lack of clarity or clear practical direction from the advisory bodies. Last week saw a flurry of new guidance, but I'm not sure if it's all a bit late for most.
I am hoping you will not actually notice too much of a change, we have tried to keep the implementation as seamless as we can. Here are the main changes we have made that you will see, to comply with the new regulations;
- All individual plant labels from now on will have extra PP info on them (A- the genus and species of the plant, B-our producer plant passport number, C- a batch number, D- country of origin, an image of the EU flag).
- All delivery notes have been redesigned to included the same info.
- All invoices have been redesigned to included the same info.
In theory, at the moment, we need not put the PP details on each individual plant, if we are supplying retailers. We could just attached a label on each trolley listing all the plants. However complications may occur if the plant is then sold on to another professional, who is buying and planting for someone else (eg a landscaper), where the plant passport info really should be passed on. This is only practical if the PP info is passed on with each plant. Quite how the landscaper then keeps the info on record for the required three years I'm not sure, but I suspect that issue will get ironed out at a later stage.
All new colour labels will have the PP info printed on them, and all old label stock will be over-stuck with small sticky labels with PP info on it (160,000 to stick). The PP info appears in the rather convenient blank space, behind the top of the skewer on the reverse side of the label. The wooden herb labels, which we print ourselves, are all having new printing plates made for them and the info will appear towards the bottom of the label and is obscured from general sight at or just below the compost level. Because we now treat the labels with a bit of water protection the details remain visible for many weeks. If the authorities are worried about this positioning, we may have to print the info on a separate label and insert that in the pot too but we are hoping to avoid this, to save on resources.
The changes to the delivery note and invoice are so that you can easily comply with the regulations and keep the PP records for the required three years. You have to keep invoices as a tax record for a longer time than three years already, so you can just use these as your PP record, without involving any extra filing etc. Alternatively you can use the delivery notes as your record, or use a combination of the two.
I won't bore you with the programming fun I have had changing spreadsheet fields and data, report formats, screen designs and alike, but I hope we are just about there on all the paperwork. The colour label over-sticker printing and application is well underway (up to E!) and about half the new herb printing plates are made. I suspect my £10,000 estimate on implementation costs will be conservative, but luckily our programmer, sticker printer and plate maker is super cheap and likes a challenge!
Wooden box collections
We are just about done now with the collections of our wooden boxes. We are not out much at the moment but if anyone still has any trays ready to go, just drop me a line and we will pop in when next close by. Thanks for all your help, on the whole we have kept up a great return rate, which helps the whole system continue to work sustainably.
Availability highlights
Cyclamen coum varieties are doing their thing, in bud and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush.
Winter interest in vartieties of evergreens bowls along, with a wider range than usual of Bergenia's which will start flowering in very early spring, along with the lovely Euphorbia's.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Monday, 25 November 2019
Hairy Perudo
Hi
I'm back, did you miss me? No, I don't think they did here either. But that's it for another year, only 49 weeks to go before we can do it all again. Mega diet now, to try and regain pre holiday status before it all goes out the window again at Christmas. Had a great time, with some wild seaside weather making for some spectacular seas. A few friends came along and a number of pasties and beers were consumed, between dodging the rain. Now I need a quiet rest, it's surprisingly hard work all that relaxing.
One relief on our return was that the new drains, finished as we left, seem to be doing a good job with no issues so far. Fingers crossed. Otherwise, there was the usual mountain of emails and a bit of post to sort out, which took a while, but I'm just about there now I think, just a few big ones needing a bit more research.
All the boxes returned over the last few weeks have been cleaned, dried and stored away, and the broken un-repairable ones have been knocked apart and cut for the wood burner. So that part of despatch looks pretty organised and tidy. The top part however, is still full of trolleys of potted bulbs just waiting for growth to start up, before putting down in the tunnels. Quite a few are down already, but we try and keep them out of reach of hungry pests as long as we can, they can decimate crops very quickly if they work out where they are and get a taste. A few well placed, covered traps, help keep on top of anything getting a bit too adventurous but it is an ongoing battle.
It's been a bit of an eye opener this week, with the realisation of the scale of the work needed to get on top of the new Plant Passport regulations, that come into force on December 14th. It is something that has been rumbling around for a while, but we have been waiting for everything to settle down before committing to any major changes. It is a great idea in principle and we definitely need to be able to track down where plants have originated from, to improve the UKs level of bio-security. Unfortunately it has all come to a head, right in the middle of Brexit and the election, which means that the officials are unable to give clear direction on any queries (something to do with purdah, which I believe means they are playing the pirate dice game). I have spent a long time on the phone and email over the week, trying to pin down exactly what we need to do. There is plenty of contradictory advice available from various different 'high up' sources and it's been a tricky job to get the detail right. In fact we haven't sorted all of it yet, but we have all been told to just to have a go, as best we can, and APHA and DEFRA will sort it out over the coming year. So our plastic free, colour label design, for next spring's new labels has been adjusted to include all the PP details (including the EU flag which is likely to need to be changed to a UK flag should we leave Europe), I have changed the software here so we can print our own colour labels with the new details, and I have created a little program to print little sticky labels to over-stick the old label stock (approx 160,000). Then the most fun will be to make an entire set of new printing plates for all the wooden herb labels and start printing new labels. All our wooden labels are made in-house which gives us a lot of flexibility in what we can do, but when something like this pops up it does seem a job too far. Trouble is we are good at it and we can't afford the cost or inflexibility of passing it over to an outside printer. Luckily the work for this has peaked at a relatively quiet time for us, so we have a few weeks to get on top of it, but the cost in time and materials is going to exceed £10,000, which isn't a great start to our new financial year or for the cash-flow going into the winter. I just hope they don't make too many changes to the system, once we are underway, or it could get worse.
Wooden box collections
We are just about done now with the collections of our wooden boxes. If anyone still has any trays ready to go, just drop me a line and we will pop in when next close by. Thanks for all your help, on the whole we have kept up a great return rate, which helps the whole system continue to work sustainably.
Availability highlights
Cyclamen coum varieties are now beginning to bud up and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush. Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme at this time. We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range, along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with just a few Hellebore orientalis in stock and plenty of the Bergenia's.
Erigeron Stallone is still producing the occasional bud and flower although I haven't marked them on the list as they could stop any time. we had some still in colour at Christmas last year outside the back door, it just goes on and on. The neat little Erodiums still have the odd flower opening. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
I'm back, did you miss me? No, I don't think they did here either. But that's it for another year, only 49 weeks to go before we can do it all again. Mega diet now, to try and regain pre holiday status before it all goes out the window again at Christmas. Had a great time, with some wild seaside weather making for some spectacular seas. A few friends came along and a number of pasties and beers were consumed, between dodging the rain. Now I need a quiet rest, it's surprisingly hard work all that relaxing.
One relief on our return was that the new drains, finished as we left, seem to be doing a good job with no issues so far. Fingers crossed. Otherwise, there was the usual mountain of emails and a bit of post to sort out, which took a while, but I'm just about there now I think, just a few big ones needing a bit more research.
All the boxes returned over the last few weeks have been cleaned, dried and stored away, and the broken un-repairable ones have been knocked apart and cut for the wood burner. So that part of despatch looks pretty organised and tidy. The top part however, is still full of trolleys of potted bulbs just waiting for growth to start up, before putting down in the tunnels. Quite a few are down already, but we try and keep them out of reach of hungry pests as long as we can, they can decimate crops very quickly if they work out where they are and get a taste. A few well placed, covered traps, help keep on top of anything getting a bit too adventurous but it is an ongoing battle.
It's been a bit of an eye opener this week, with the realisation of the scale of the work needed to get on top of the new Plant Passport regulations, that come into force on December 14th. It is something that has been rumbling around for a while, but we have been waiting for everything to settle down before committing to any major changes. It is a great idea in principle and we definitely need to be able to track down where plants have originated from, to improve the UKs level of bio-security. Unfortunately it has all come to a head, right in the middle of Brexit and the election, which means that the officials are unable to give clear direction on any queries (something to do with purdah, which I believe means they are playing the pirate dice game). I have spent a long time on the phone and email over the week, trying to pin down exactly what we need to do. There is plenty of contradictory advice available from various different 'high up' sources and it's been a tricky job to get the detail right. In fact we haven't sorted all of it yet, but we have all been told to just to have a go, as best we can, and APHA and DEFRA will sort it out over the coming year. So our plastic free, colour label design, for next spring's new labels has been adjusted to include all the PP details (including the EU flag which is likely to need to be changed to a UK flag should we leave Europe), I have changed the software here so we can print our own colour labels with the new details, and I have created a little program to print little sticky labels to over-stick the old label stock (approx 160,000). Then the most fun will be to make an entire set of new printing plates for all the wooden herb labels and start printing new labels. All our wooden labels are made in-house which gives us a lot of flexibility in what we can do, but when something like this pops up it does seem a job too far. Trouble is we are good at it and we can't afford the cost or inflexibility of passing it over to an outside printer. Luckily the work for this has peaked at a relatively quiet time for us, so we have a few weeks to get on top of it, but the cost in time and materials is going to exceed £10,000, which isn't a great start to our new financial year or for the cash-flow going into the winter. I just hope they don't make too many changes to the system, once we are underway, or it could get worse.
Wooden box collections
We are just about done now with the collections of our wooden boxes. If anyone still has any trays ready to go, just drop me a line and we will pop in when next close by. Thanks for all your help, on the whole we have kept up a great return rate, which helps the whole system continue to work sustainably.
Availability highlights
Cyclamen coum varieties are now beginning to bud up and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush. Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme at this time. We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range, along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with just a few Hellebore orientalis in stock and plenty of the Bergenia's.
Erigeron Stallone is still producing the occasional bud and flower although I haven't marked them on the list as they could stop any time. we had some still in colour at Christmas last year outside the back door, it just goes on and on. The neat little Erodiums still have the odd flower opening. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Monday, 4 November 2019
New Hairy Catalogue
Hi
Not quite there on the last tunnel cover. We had a chance first thing Monday but a late delivery of the replacement timber side rail meant we missed the chance. Never mind I'm sure we will find a day soon enough, the exposed crops are all well established so no harm done yet.
The new drain inspection chamber is installed and just needs a tidy up. It is going to be one of those jobs that looks like very little has been done in the end, but it should help out enormously in the long run. A relief all round to get it sorted out.
I've been busy knocking up the catalogue for next year in an effort to get the info out there before the season actually starts. If you receive the availabiliy list by e mail there is a link on the bottom of the email which should take you straight to the new catalogue, otherwise if you head to the website and track down the wholesale info page there is a link there too. I have added a couple of pages near the start, illustrating the new varieties that have appeared recently or are coming in the new season. There are likely to be a few more new ones on trial through the season, but it just gives a you taste of the things to come. There is a small price increase for 2020 (page 61 in the catalogue), but this will not kick in until 1st Jan 2020.
If we usually print our wooden price labels for you, perhaps you might want to have a think about next year's retail prices, and whether you may want to adjust them. If you can let me know in advance I can get some labels printed up over the winter in readiness for the hectic spring and summer ahead of us. I am always full of good intentions at this time of year to get preparations well underway before we get too busy and this year I'm determined it is going to happen. Now I have a nice warm highly insulated office and print room, there should be less incentive to slope off for tea and crumpets in front of the fire. We'll see what happens.
I am away now for a short while but the rest of the crew are still here to take any orders that come in, so I'm sure you won't miss me. I will reply to any queries that can't be dealt with by the remaining team on my return, it won't be too long, so please bear with us.
Wooden box collections
We are just about done now with the collections of our wooden boxes. If anyone still has any trays ready to go, just drop me a line and we will pop in when next close by. Thanks for all your help, on the whole we have kept up a great return rate, which helps the whole system continue to work sustainably.
Availability highlights
Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are still showing good colour, but only a few left now.
Cyclamen coum varieties are now beginning to bud up and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush.
Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme at this time. We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range, along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with Hellebore orientalis in stock and the Bergenia's back on line. Erigeron Stallone is still producing bud and flower, it just goes on and on. The neat little Erodiums are still flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. We still have an ongoing flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Not quite there on the last tunnel cover. We had a chance first thing Monday but a late delivery of the replacement timber side rail meant we missed the chance. Never mind I'm sure we will find a day soon enough, the exposed crops are all well established so no harm done yet.
The new drain inspection chamber is installed and just needs a tidy up. It is going to be one of those jobs that looks like very little has been done in the end, but it should help out enormously in the long run. A relief all round to get it sorted out.
I've been busy knocking up the catalogue for next year in an effort to get the info out there before the season actually starts. If you receive the availabiliy list by e mail there is a link on the bottom of the email which should take you straight to the new catalogue, otherwise if you head to the website and track down the wholesale info page there is a link there too. I have added a couple of pages near the start, illustrating the new varieties that have appeared recently or are coming in the new season. There are likely to be a few more new ones on trial through the season, but it just gives a you taste of the things to come. There is a small price increase for 2020 (page 61 in the catalogue), but this will not kick in until 1st Jan 2020.
If we usually print our wooden price labels for you, perhaps you might want to have a think about next year's retail prices, and whether you may want to adjust them. If you can let me know in advance I can get some labels printed up over the winter in readiness for the hectic spring and summer ahead of us. I am always full of good intentions at this time of year to get preparations well underway before we get too busy and this year I'm determined it is going to happen. Now I have a nice warm highly insulated office and print room, there should be less incentive to slope off for tea and crumpets in front of the fire. We'll see what happens.
I am away now for a short while but the rest of the crew are still here to take any orders that come in, so I'm sure you won't miss me. I will reply to any queries that can't be dealt with by the remaining team on my return, it won't be too long, so please bear with us.
Wooden box collections
We are just about done now with the collections of our wooden boxes. If anyone still has any trays ready to go, just drop me a line and we will pop in when next close by. Thanks for all your help, on the whole we have kept up a great return rate, which helps the whole system continue to work sustainably.
Availability highlights
Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are still showing good colour, but only a few left now.
Cyclamen coum varieties are now beginning to bud up and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush.
Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme at this time. We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range, along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with Hellebore orientalis in stock and the Bergenia's back on line. Erigeron Stallone is still producing bud and flower, it just goes on and on. The neat little Erodiums are still flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. We still have an ongoing flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Sunday, 20 October 2019
Hairy Risks
Hi
Still topping up the water aquifer levels over the past week, which must be good news for next year's supplies locally. We had one lull in the dampness and managed to get one tunnel recovered, just 5 to go. I'm hoping the brighter forecast for early next week will appear as predicted, as I have taken a gamble and removed another two more covers in anticipation. It doesn't take us very long to attach a new cover, it's the preparation that can put a spanner in the works. It's not until you get the old cover off that you can really see the condition of the wooden beams along the tunnel edge and if the odd one has rotted or split,
then we need to get it replaced before the new cover goes back on. It doesn't take a huge amount of time or resources but it just adds in an irritating delay and the dreams of getting two covered in a day evaporate. With a good run we might get them all done next week which would be perfect timing, before temperatures drop and the tunnel sheets get less stretchy.
As the potting slows right up, just the odd little batch still going through, and sales drop away, we get started on the autumn clear out and clean up. All through the main season we just don't have the time to keep on top of all the housekeeping, sales and production output, naturally take priority. Now pressure on storage space in the barn builds as we squeeze all in the cleaned up wooden boxes to store dry through the winter. Suddenly the quantity of recycling materials we have stored away in there becomes a huge inconvenience, so to clear that away and make a load of space is very gratifying to all. Today we managed to take 16 pallets of material to Eco Gen Recycling in Alresford which is just a few miles away. The plastic tubs we use in the lab all get recycled along with the old tunnel sheets and big card boxes that the pots are delivered in all find a home there. The recycling collections we get from the local waste collectors are like many, more expensive and very restricted in what they will take away, so to get a higher percentage of our waste recycled we have to organise collecting stuff together ourselves and then finding other parties to help out on the recycling. It is surprising how much extra we can get recycled rather than incinerated with a bit of effort.
Tunnel clearing continues into the autumn as we amalgamate the remaining pots from some of the summer and autumn plant batches. It's another satisfying job, transforming the tunnel from a bomb site to a clear and clean space ready to produce mega crops again next spring. We aim to have 8 or so empty tunnels ready to put the potted bulbs down onto in a month or two, and for the late winter and early spring potting which needs a home before more space appears after the anticipated early spring sales. It's all go.
Time for a bit of shopping too. Our next big batch of card based colour pot labels is ordered which will, unfortunately for me, trigger a mind numbing session of proof reading in few weeks, before the actual print run. We are delighted and relieved how the new card labels we introduced last year, went down, we used about 160,000 which were used in about 50% of all the stock sold, without any know issues and the labels we have left are still in mint condition. These new initiatives are always a bit of a worry, however much testing you do beforehand, so to be able to order 288,000 for next year with confidence is a nice position to be in (until the invoice appears). As the first outdoor plant supplier to develop and commit to using this type of thing, we might even make a bit more fuss about it this year and perhaps mention it to the trade press, apparently single-use plastic avoidance is quite the in thing these days.
Wooden box collections
We are just about done with the collections of our wooden boxes, just a couple of outlying ones still to gather in. If anyone still has any trays ready to go, just drop me a line and we will pop in when next close by. Thanks for all your help, on the whole we have kept up a great return rate, which helps the whole system continue to work sustainably.
Availability highlights
Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are now showing great colour. Cyclamen coum varieties are now beginning to bud up and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush. Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme among the remaining stock in flower, We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with Hellebore orientalis in stock and the Bergenia's coming back on line.
Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is in bud, it just goes on and on. Autumn is here with Sedum Autumn Joy in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still making a great show. The neat little Erodiums are still flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. We have an ongoing flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Still topping up the water aquifer levels over the past week, which must be good news for next year's supplies locally. We had one lull in the dampness and managed to get one tunnel recovered, just 5 to go. I'm hoping the brighter forecast for early next week will appear as predicted, as I have taken a gamble and removed another two more covers in anticipation. It doesn't take us very long to attach a new cover, it's the preparation that can put a spanner in the works. It's not until you get the old cover off that you can really see the condition of the wooden beams along the tunnel edge and if the odd one has rotted or split,
then we need to get it replaced before the new cover goes back on. It doesn't take a huge amount of time or resources but it just adds in an irritating delay and the dreams of getting two covered in a day evaporate. With a good run we might get them all done next week which would be perfect timing, before temperatures drop and the tunnel sheets get less stretchy.
As the potting slows right up, just the odd little batch still going through, and sales drop away, we get started on the autumn clear out and clean up. All through the main season we just don't have the time to keep on top of all the housekeeping, sales and production output, naturally take priority. Now pressure on storage space in the barn builds as we squeeze all in the cleaned up wooden boxes to store dry through the winter. Suddenly the quantity of recycling materials we have stored away in there becomes a huge inconvenience, so to clear that away and make a load of space is very gratifying to all. Today we managed to take 16 pallets of material to Eco Gen Recycling in Alresford which is just a few miles away. The plastic tubs we use in the lab all get recycled along with the old tunnel sheets and big card boxes that the pots are delivered in all find a home there. The recycling collections we get from the local waste collectors are like many, more expensive and very restricted in what they will take away, so to get a higher percentage of our waste recycled we have to organise collecting stuff together ourselves and then finding other parties to help out on the recycling. It is surprising how much extra we can get recycled rather than incinerated with a bit of effort.
Tunnel clearing continues into the autumn as we amalgamate the remaining pots from some of the summer and autumn plant batches. It's another satisfying job, transforming the tunnel from a bomb site to a clear and clean space ready to produce mega crops again next spring. We aim to have 8 or so empty tunnels ready to put the potted bulbs down onto in a month or two, and for the late winter and early spring potting which needs a home before more space appears after the anticipated early spring sales. It's all go.
Time for a bit of shopping too. Our next big batch of card based colour pot labels is ordered which will, unfortunately for me, trigger a mind numbing session of proof reading in few weeks, before the actual print run. We are delighted and relieved how the new card labels we introduced last year, went down, we used about 160,000 which were used in about 50% of all the stock sold, without any know issues and the labels we have left are still in mint condition. These new initiatives are always a bit of a worry, however much testing you do beforehand, so to be able to order 288,000 for next year with confidence is a nice position to be in (until the invoice appears). As the first outdoor plant supplier to develop and commit to using this type of thing, we might even make a bit more fuss about it this year and perhaps mention it to the trade press, apparently single-use plastic avoidance is quite the in thing these days.
Wooden box collections
We are just about done with the collections of our wooden boxes, just a couple of outlying ones still to gather in. If anyone still has any trays ready to go, just drop me a line and we will pop in when next close by. Thanks for all your help, on the whole we have kept up a great return rate, which helps the whole system continue to work sustainably.
Availability highlights
Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are now showing great colour. Cyclamen coum varieties are now beginning to bud up and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush. Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme among the remaining stock in flower, We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with Hellebore orientalis in stock and the Bergenia's coming back on line.
Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is in bud, it just goes on and on. Autumn is here with Sedum Autumn Joy in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still making a great show. The neat little Erodiums are still flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. We have an ongoing flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Saturday, 12 October 2019
Hairy trip and dip
Hi
Every cloud has a silver lining. The autumn rain puts a damper on many activities but it is topping up the very low local water levels down here and pushing the wind turbines round nicely. If the forecast is right over the next couple of weeks we could have a good run of output and catch up a bit on our slightly low numbers for this year. Night time temperatures are not too bad which should give the predatory nematodes I released last Saturday a good run at knocking out any vine weevil grubs they find, which makes me feel better about settling the last of the predator invoices. At this time of year when I see the totals spent on predators for the season it looks like a pretty major investment and all we do is let them go free in the tunnels. They are so small we can't see them actually doing anything, we just have to assume they are doing their job, based on the evidence of low pest populations. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
The bulb potting was finished this week and the top of despatch is matching the bottom with the level of congested mayhem. We have trolleys and trolleys of potted stock all waiting for those roots to get going and shoots to burst through. We put them onto trolleys initially to try and delay the local rodents from tucking into a free lunch. In the past we have had complete batches wiped out where we put them straight onto the beds, but the trolley trick allows them to be a bit more established before we put them down. It adds a bit more handling to the job but at least we can be more sure of getting a crop out of it in the end. Live and learn.
I managed an evening out last Saturday with a jive ball at the Guildhall. A big do with hundreds of party goers, it was a great night out despite a dodgy start and finish. Having scrubbed up fairly well from a day on the nursery, I arrived in my DJ and best shoes to find a host of security bouncers on the door. Wanting to make a cool and grown up entrance in front of the welcoming committee, I skipped up the stone steps, tripping over my own feet and landing on my hands and knees in front of them. Cool or what. The evening was rounded off by a dash back to the car park in heavy rain. I avoided the ramp which I had seen earlier had a muddy puddle at the bottom in favour of the steps. Stayed upright this time but didn't see the puddle in the dark at the bottom. One step in, sod it, another step, a bit deeper, another and I'm in over my laces. So I arrived in my best shoes and left not. This is why old folk don't go out much, we are such an embarrassment in public.
If anyone was paying attention last week you may recall I videoed Caroline resetting the turbine blade tip. Well I found a young person to help get it off my phone so here it is, it is a bit pixelated but you can get the drift of what's going on. The technique used is to push the blade away from you and as it swings back, hit it with your special foam covered extendable pole. The tip then pops back into position.
Wooden box collections
We are up to our necks now in cleaned and drying boxes as we draw close to finishing our big autumn sweep. There are pallets of them already stacked up nice and dry in the barn ready for next season, with the bottom of despatch festooned with carefully balanced piles of boxes all vying for that rare bit of sunshine or breath of drying air movement to get fully dried off. Thanks to all those for helping out with the collection and if anyone still has any trays ready to go just drop me a line and we will pop in when next close by. I know we have another Manchester run next week and a couple into London too, so by the end of the week we should have covered most bases. In this case all that reuse/recycling does work, well done to all.
Availability highlights
Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme among the remaining stock in flower, We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with a few Hellebores in stock and the Bergenia's coming back on line. Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is in bud, it just goes on and on.
The next batches of our mini Chrysanthemum (Garden Mums) are looking colourful. Lovely bushy plants with lots of flower and bud and more to come. A good range of colours, showing off nicely.
Autumn must be here with Sedum Autumn Joy in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still making a great show.
The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. We have an ongoing flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are now showing great colour. Cyclamen coum varieties are now beginning to bud up and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Every cloud has a silver lining. The autumn rain puts a damper on many activities but it is topping up the very low local water levels down here and pushing the wind turbines round nicely. If the forecast is right over the next couple of weeks we could have a good run of output and catch up a bit on our slightly low numbers for this year. Night time temperatures are not too bad which should give the predatory nematodes I released last Saturday a good run at knocking out any vine weevil grubs they find, which makes me feel better about settling the last of the predator invoices. At this time of year when I see the totals spent on predators for the season it looks like a pretty major investment and all we do is let them go free in the tunnels. They are so small we can't see them actually doing anything, we just have to assume they are doing their job, based on the evidence of low pest populations. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
The bulb potting was finished this week and the top of despatch is matching the bottom with the level of congested mayhem. We have trolleys and trolleys of potted stock all waiting for those roots to get going and shoots to burst through. We put them onto trolleys initially to try and delay the local rodents from tucking into a free lunch. In the past we have had complete batches wiped out where we put them straight onto the beds, but the trolley trick allows them to be a bit more established before we put them down. It adds a bit more handling to the job but at least we can be more sure of getting a crop out of it in the end. Live and learn.
I managed an evening out last Saturday with a jive ball at the Guildhall. A big do with hundreds of party goers, it was a great night out despite a dodgy start and finish. Having scrubbed up fairly well from a day on the nursery, I arrived in my DJ and best shoes to find a host of security bouncers on the door. Wanting to make a cool and grown up entrance in front of the welcoming committee, I skipped up the stone steps, tripping over my own feet and landing on my hands and knees in front of them. Cool or what. The evening was rounded off by a dash back to the car park in heavy rain. I avoided the ramp which I had seen earlier had a muddy puddle at the bottom in favour of the steps. Stayed upright this time but didn't see the puddle in the dark at the bottom. One step in, sod it, another step, a bit deeper, another and I'm in over my laces. So I arrived in my best shoes and left not. This is why old folk don't go out much, we are such an embarrassment in public.
If anyone was paying attention last week you may recall I videoed Caroline resetting the turbine blade tip. Well I found a young person to help get it off my phone so here it is, it is a bit pixelated but you can get the drift of what's going on. The technique used is to push the blade away from you and as it swings back, hit it with your special foam covered extendable pole. The tip then pops back into position.
Wooden box collections
We are up to our necks now in cleaned and drying boxes as we draw close to finishing our big autumn sweep. There are pallets of them already stacked up nice and dry in the barn ready for next season, with the bottom of despatch festooned with carefully balanced piles of boxes all vying for that rare bit of sunshine or breath of drying air movement to get fully dried off. Thanks to all those for helping out with the collection and if anyone still has any trays ready to go just drop me a line and we will pop in when next close by. I know we have another Manchester run next week and a couple into London too, so by the end of the week we should have covered most bases. In this case all that reuse/recycling does work, well done to all.
Availability highlights
Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme among the remaining stock in flower, We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with a few Hellebores in stock and the Bergenia's coming back on line. Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is in bud, it just goes on and on.
The next batches of our mini Chrysanthemum (Garden Mums) are looking colourful. Lovely bushy plants with lots of flower and bud and more to come. A good range of colours, showing off nicely.
Autumn must be here with Sedum Autumn Joy in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still making a great show.
The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. We have an ongoing flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are now showing great colour. Cyclamen coum varieties are now beginning to bud up and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Monday, 7 October 2019
Hairy Clamber
Hi,
It's looking pretty autumnal out there, as the wind blows and rain patters on the roof of the shed, sorry I mean office. The forecast for next week doesn't look much different either, so we are gathering ourselves for a last potting push in the wet and cool conditions. Still have my fingers crossed for a few warm still days at some point, so we can get the replacement tunnel covers on before the winter sets in. It all seems to have changed so quickly.
It's been a week of all action jobs, on top of the potting and box collecting. We had two turbines throw out their centrifugal pinned blade tips on Sunday afternoon, that's the first time they have done that for nearly four years. It is one of the safety measures to avoid over-speeding blades if the power cuts out and the brakes don't come on in time. Unfortunately it was too wild on Sunday to send Caroline up the mast, but first thing Monday it was harnesses and hard hats on for a quick clamber.
All went smoothly, once I remembered how to park the blades in the right position for Caroline to knock back into position. I've got a nice little video clip of her in action, but I don't have a young person here at the moment to get it off my phone and onto the computer so that will have to wait.
Then we had a double whammy in the loos, with a water pipe coming adrift and the outflow getting blocked on the same day. The water pipe was ok but the other was a bit more of a challenge. Pipes were disconnected and a variety of poking rods, hoses and sticks deployed, but in the end we had to get the pit pumped out to reduce resistance to the flow and then it all cleared. Not much fun but still a relief to all in the end! So much for the fab lifestyle of running you own nursery.
It's our financial year end, so the rest of the week has been spent doing a lot of counting, not one of my favourite jobs as it all seems so unproductive. One of those things that just has to be done. At least after 35 years of doing it we have lots of useful spreadsheets and systems to make it as easy as possible. Although much of the stock is listed on the nursery computer programme, it still needs double checking and adjusting to get it accurate. Just a few more tunnels to go, so I should be finished on Sunday before the real work gets going again on Monday.
The last of the summer predators arrived this week. It's getting a bit cool in most tunnels for most to be active enough, so we restrict them to the warmer micro prop weaning tunnels, especially the main heated and lit one, where the pests tend to keep growing all year as well as the plants. The only 'whole nursery' release will be the three nematode species which should go out on Sunday evening. It will be the last of our vine weevil control applications for this year and will hopefully knock out any
late weevil hatches before the winter sets in. Our small monthly applications, applied throughout the growing season, certainly seem to do the trick in keeping this nasty pest under control. With the range application hiccups that can occur, especially when it's me in charge, the multiple applications spread the risk, providing a constant background population of weevil eaters.
Wooden box collections
Thanks for all the box collection responses, we have made a great start on our late summer/autumn box retrievals and will be trying to get round everyone to collect up all the empty wooden boxes we can over the next few weeks. The barn is filling up rapidly with cleaned, dried and mended boxes which is great to see. All that reuse/recycling does work, well done to all.
To keep it efficient we will try and tie in trips with other deliveries we may be doing in the area, so there is no obvious master plan. but the more trays we know about the better.
Availability highlights
Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme among the remaining stock in flower, We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with a few Hellebores in stock and the Bergenia's coming back on line. Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is in bud, it just goes on and on.
The next batches of our mini Chrysanthemum (Garden Mums) are growing away well. Lovely bushy plants with lots of flower and bud and more to come. A good range of colours, showing off nicely.
Autumn must be on its way with a Sedum Autumn Joy in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still making a great show. The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. We have another flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue. It just keeps on going. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are now showing great colour. Cyclamen coum varieties are now beginning to bud up and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush.
Have a good from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
It's looking pretty autumnal out there, as the wind blows and rain patters on the roof of the shed, sorry I mean office. The forecast for next week doesn't look much different either, so we are gathering ourselves for a last potting push in the wet and cool conditions. Still have my fingers crossed for a few warm still days at some point, so we can get the replacement tunnel covers on before the winter sets in. It all seems to have changed so quickly.
It's been a week of all action jobs, on top of the potting and box collecting. We had two turbines throw out their centrifugal pinned blade tips on Sunday afternoon, that's the first time they have done that for nearly four years. It is one of the safety measures to avoid over-speeding blades if the power cuts out and the brakes don't come on in time. Unfortunately it was too wild on Sunday to send Caroline up the mast, but first thing Monday it was harnesses and hard hats on for a quick clamber.
All went smoothly, once I remembered how to park the blades in the right position for Caroline to knock back into position. I've got a nice little video clip of her in action, but I don't have a young person here at the moment to get it off my phone and onto the computer so that will have to wait.
Then we had a double whammy in the loos, with a water pipe coming adrift and the outflow getting blocked on the same day. The water pipe was ok but the other was a bit more of a challenge. Pipes were disconnected and a variety of poking rods, hoses and sticks deployed, but in the end we had to get the pit pumped out to reduce resistance to the flow and then it all cleared. Not much fun but still a relief to all in the end! So much for the fab lifestyle of running you own nursery.
It's our financial year end, so the rest of the week has been spent doing a lot of counting, not one of my favourite jobs as it all seems so unproductive. One of those things that just has to be done. At least after 35 years of doing it we have lots of useful spreadsheets and systems to make it as easy as possible. Although much of the stock is listed on the nursery computer programme, it still needs double checking and adjusting to get it accurate. Just a few more tunnels to go, so I should be finished on Sunday before the real work gets going again on Monday.
The last of the summer predators arrived this week. It's getting a bit cool in most tunnels for most to be active enough, so we restrict them to the warmer micro prop weaning tunnels, especially the main heated and lit one, where the pests tend to keep growing all year as well as the plants. The only 'whole nursery' release will be the three nematode species which should go out on Sunday evening. It will be the last of our vine weevil control applications for this year and will hopefully knock out any
late weevil hatches before the winter sets in. Our small monthly applications, applied throughout the growing season, certainly seem to do the trick in keeping this nasty pest under control. With the range application hiccups that can occur, especially when it's me in charge, the multiple applications spread the risk, providing a constant background population of weevil eaters.
Wooden box collections
Thanks for all the box collection responses, we have made a great start on our late summer/autumn box retrievals and will be trying to get round everyone to collect up all the empty wooden boxes we can over the next few weeks. The barn is filling up rapidly with cleaned, dried and mended boxes which is great to see. All that reuse/recycling does work, well done to all.
To keep it efficient we will try and tie in trips with other deliveries we may be doing in the area, so there is no obvious master plan. but the more trays we know about the better.
Availability highlights
Autumn evergreen coloured foliage seems to be a popular theme among the remaining stock in flower, We have fab looking Ajuga in an attractive range along with the lovely Euphorbia's. Winter interest lines in evergreens bowls along too, with a few Hellebores in stock and the Bergenia's coming back on line. Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is in bud, it just goes on and on.
The next batches of our mini Chrysanthemum (Garden Mums) are growing away well. Lovely bushy plants with lots of flower and bud and more to come. A good range of colours, showing off nicely.
Autumn must be on its way with a Sedum Autumn Joy in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still making a great show. The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. We have another flower flush on the ever popular Scabiosa Butterfly Blue. It just keeps on going. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are now showing great colour. Cyclamen coum varieties are now beginning to bud up and flower. These hardy stars will flower from now until mid Spring. Nicely subtle bloomers with a constant feed of new flower rather than one huge flush.
Have a good from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
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