Hairy riff

Hi,

Definite signs of spring out there, a bit grey weather wise, but the plants are not hanging around to wait. Snowdrops are out, the Scilla showing distinctive colour and fresh growth is popping out all over the place. We've had a good few hard frosts now which was a relief in a way and I'm sure there will be a few more coming up although the forecast isn't for much overnight cold down here at the moment.

The idea of getting the pre-season hassles out of the way before we get too busy has continued, with the van in for reversing camera and indicator repair and a replacement drive chain needed for the potting machine that died within a few hours of starting up. To be fair it happens fairly regularly after a long period laying idle, any parts that were 'on the verge' of misbehaving, stiffen up ready for disruption. Luckily we had just finished the first potting session of the year, having potted some fab strawberry plants and a raspberry variety we are trying out. There are a couple of new strawberry varieties in there too so watch out for those making an appearance latter in the season. One of them is supposed to be particularly good according to our plant health inspector, who spotted them on last week's visit.

I suppose that is another big hassle more or less sorted, we got the thumbs up from our APHA inspector for all our plant passport changes, which was a relief, and we have finished over-sticking the 160,000 perennial colour labels. Perfect timing for the new wooden label storage boxes to be installed, ready for the next delivery of our waterproofed card colour labels which are due any minute. The FSC wood arrived for the boxes on Thursday, so construction will begin over the weekend. Sadly I'm not sure that will be long enough to finish the job, with 4,000 bits to pin together I have a feeling I may have underestimated the timing of this job, which will be a surprise to no-one other than me. At least it should be a one off job and a bit different to the usual stuff, so it's a bit like a holiday really, a change is as good as a rest!

Big night out last weekend with Otway and Barrett playing King Somborne village hall. We first saw them on one of our first dates at Chelmsford Odeon supporting Squeeze back in 81 and have followed Otway (and sometimes Wild Willy) since. Very entertaining evening, haven't laughed so much for ages. Came away with a nice souvenir, which is now hanging on the wall, Willy's guitar for the last song, scarred with the damage from his entertaining percussive efforts (saw cuts and hammer holes). There's nothing quite like live music.

Price changes for 2020

Don't forget the new prices for the new season. A very modest rise for the year of an average of less than 2% can be seen on the prices page of the 2020 flipbook catalogue which came into force on January 1st (link attached to this email). If we pre- price your deliveries, you might want to review your prices for the year and let us know of any changes so that we can adjust your records and make sure we have the printing plates and labels ready to roll for your first delivery.

Availability lists

Plants are definitely waking up. A flush of tight fresh green growth is showing through on many, the buds are swelling and the odd flash of colour showing. The snowdrops (Galanthus) are thrusting through nicely, with the flashes of white flower and plenty of bud in evidence. We have a few new small Narcissus to look forward to this spring and they are looking strong. Crocus Remembrance are well up and their little fat flower buds are there. The dark blue flowers of Scilla sibirica are breaking the surface of the pot, such a strong colour so early in the year. It's sister plant S. mischtshenkoana has pretty paler two tone flowers which are showing really well. There is the odd flower opening on our home sown wild primroses (P. vulgaris) above tight little plants. The plants will expand and more flowers appear as the temperatures and light levels improve. The earliest Erysimums are budding up too, it might be a little while before colour appears but they are there. Primula denticulata Rubra is showing colour now with the lilac/purple form close behind. We still have a few Cyclamen coum in bud and flower to see us through the couple of weeks and buds are showing while the weather is favourable (Armeria, Scabiosa, Dianthus).

There are also quite a few evergreen plants looking happy enough over the winter period, so we can make a nice display up of stock with the promise of the good times ahead. Spring flowering Euphorbia, Bergenia and Doronicum are good and Leucanthemum, Papaver, Stachys and Digitalis are all looking smart. Polemonium Heaven Scent always puts on a great early show and they are currently sprouting attractive chunky bronze foliaged rosettes, before the buds appear in a few weeks.

Best wishes for a great season, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy 10

Hi,
Sunshine at last and a frost or two to match. Looks like a drier week coming up which is a relief after last week's wind and rain. There were a few trees down locally but thankfully no damage on the nursery as far as we have seen so far. The plants on the nursery seem to think it's ok to get going despite it being only January, colour is making an appearance and fresh growth on quite a few lines is very evident. Spring is in the air already!
This does initiate mild panic as I realise once again that winter is very short, and many of those jobs we had been saving up as 'winter work' need to be hit hard or else the season will be upon us and there will be no time. We had been doing so well in getting ahead, before the extra plant passport labelling work materialised. However the end is in sight, we are up to S on the over-sticking front and with a fair wind, we might finish them this week. The new herb wooden label printing plates are all made, now I just need to get the labels printed to revive the stock levels ready for the coming season, which is a job I would be planning to do anyway.
I'm hoping that we are going to get all the hassles out of the way early this year. We have already had to replace two van tyres and this weekend I'm replacing, under warranty, all the new LED units in our weaning tunnel which had a manufacturing fault. The computers are being surveyed to check how best to upgrade them to Windows 10 (that's bound to go smoothly!) and one is in for repair, having died on Friday. Don't forget to do regular back-ups out there. I suspect a couple of units will need replacing due to being too old to upgrade, and I know several of our ancient programmes will not work on W10, so we have to buy new and worst of all, relearn how to use them, to achieve what we already did. Looking forward to that.
I'm not going to talk about individual bits of environmental news at the moment, I am struggling to pick a positive angle, with the feeling that we could be too late with our half hearted efforts to change. Although it is our governments that we expect to lead us, they are influenced so much by commerce, that anything that damages the economy is pushed to one side. Perhaps the power is with us after all, make bold practical consumer decisions, based on common sense not advertising, and commerce has to take a new direction. There is always resistance and casualties during change, but there will be winners too, how about doing some bold stuff and make changes, It is up to us in the end.
Plant passport changes have arrived ready or not!
We have tried to keep our implementation as seamless as we can, with the following changes taking place;.
- 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, and an image of the EU flag).
- All delivery notes and invoices have been redesigned to include the same info.
The changes to the delivery note and invoice are so that you can easily comply with the latest regulations and conveniently keep the PP records for the required three years.

Availability lists
Plants are definitely waking up. A flush of tight fresh green growth is showing through on many, the buds are swelling and the odd flash of colour showing. The snowdrops (Galanthus) are thrusting through nicely, with the odd flash of white flower and plenty of bud in evidence. We have a few new small Narcissus to look forward to this spring and they are looking strong. Crocus Remembrance are well up and their little fat flower buds are there.
The dark blue flowers of Scilla sibirica are breaking the surface of the pot, such a strong colour so early in the year. It's sister plant S. mischtshenkoana has pretty paler flowers which are showing too.
There is the odd flower opening on our home sown wild primroses (P. vulgaris) above tight little plants. The plants will expand and more flowers appear as the temperatures and light levels improve.
The earliest Erysimums are budding up too, it might be a little while before colour appears but they are there. Primula denticulata Rubra is showing colour now with the lilac/purple form close behind.
We still have a few Cyclamen coum in bud and flower to see us through the couple of weeks and buds are showing while the weather is favourable (Armeria, Scabiosa, Dianthus).
There are also quite a few evergreen plants looking happy enough over the winter period, so we can make a nice display up of stock with the promise of the good times ahead. Spring flowering Euphorbia, Bergenia and Doronicum are looking good and Leucanthemum, Papaver, Stachys and Digitalis are all looking smart. Polemonium Heaven Scent always puts on a great early show and they are currently sprouting attractive chunky bronze foliaged rosettes, before the buds appear in a few weeks.
Best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy Pins

Hairy Pins

A bit wild and windy today but not too cold. The week ahead looks like more of the same down here, with another depression sweeping in. If we are going to have some non-gardening weather I suppose this is the better time to have it, we certainly needed a top up on the water front by the end of the late summer but I suspect levels have recovered by now. The wind is great for generating through the turbines, although at the moment it's not very consistent with lulls between the storms, rather than a nice steady blow. December and January are supposed to be our peak output months and I can never quite believe we will generate as much as predicted but most years it comes true with double the output of midsummer. Last year's overall output was the lowest of all 8 years so far, not by much , but luckily it was balanced out by our second lowest consumption.
We would have had our lowest usage ever if we hadn't had the extra temporary office in use while we built the replacement. Since moving into the new office and also replacing the last of our HP sodium lights with LED things have improved further so it will be interesting to see if we can dip below the 60,000 units a year. Not bad when I think of all the extra electric equipment we are now using since 2008, when we started monitoring usage. Back then we were using just under 120,000 so that's getting close to a 50% reduction, thanks mostly to careful management and investment in new technology.
Don't forget that the new year sees our new prices coming into operation. This modest rise, to try and compensate for increasing prices, has already just about been used up by the extra expenses involved with implementing the plant passport rules, even before we have to cover the 6.5% wages rise coming in April. We will have to increase efficiency and production rates again to balance the books, but I'm sure we will manage. We are looking forward to the coming season with lots of the usual attractive stock as well as a few new additions to boost those impulse sales.
Lashed out this week on some FSC plywood pieces to knock up replacement boxes to hold our label stock in despatch. At the moment it is all kept in small plastic baskets which are not quite the right size and have reach the age at which every time you touch them a bit falls off (sounds familiar!). The company that cuts and supplies our plywood POS boards is doing the job at a very competitive price, which just leaves us to pin together nearly 4,000 pieces (each bit is quite small). Shouldn't take too long. We've got a nice air powered little pin gun which should make light work of the job, fingers crossed (and kept out of the firing line). Slightly more expensive than the plastic alternative, but made to measure, more efficient and versatile in use, longer lasting and better looking too.
Plant passport changes have arrived ready or not!
We have tried to keep our implementation as seamless as we can, with the following changes taking place;.
- 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, and an image of the EU flag).
- All delivery notes and invoices have been redesigned to include the same info.
The changes to the delivery note and invoice are so that you can easily comply with the latest regulations and conveniently keep the PP records for the required three years.

Availability lists
Quite a short list at the moment as we are supposed to be in the depths of winter and we don't expect a huge rush on the sales front just yet. Signs of spring are already there with the spring bulbs shooting well and the odd tight bud threatening an appearance. The earliest snowdrops (Galanthus) are thrusting, with the odd flash of white poking out, not quite enough to say they are in full bud but given the mild temperatures at the moment they won't take long. We have a few new small Narcissus
to look forward to this spring and they are looking strong. Crocus Remembrance are well up and I think showing signs of budding up, although that maybe wishful thinking on my part.
There is the odd flower opening on our home sown wild primroses (P. vulgaris) above tight little plants. The plants will expand as the temperatures and light levels improve.
We still have a few Cyclamen coum in bud and flower to see us through the next few weeks and other buds are showing while the weather is favourable (Armeria, Scabiosa, Dianthus, Primula).
There are also quite a few evergreen plants looking happy enough over the winter period, so we can make a nice display up of stock with the promise of the good times ahead. Spring flowering Euphorbia, Bergenia and Doronicum are looking good and Leucanthemum, Papaver, Stachys and Digitalis are all looking smart. Polemonium Heaven Scent always puts on a great early show and they are currently sprouting attractive chunky bronze foliaged rosettes, before the buds appear in a few weeks.

Best wishes for a great New Year from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy New Year

Hi,
Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you all had a fun break and are as delighted as I am, to be back behind the grindstone. Crash diet on the cards after the calorie excesses of those few days off. When added to the gains achieved on holiday in November, it seems to add up to quite a bit. Good job I had my MOT before we went away!
I have just about had enough of dealing with our plant passport labels, it seems to be an endless job. Over-sticking of the perennial labels has progressed now to the letter L, so not too far to go, perhaps another couple of weeks. The herb printing plates are all replaced and old stock overprinted, so I can at last start printing the stock for the coming season. All the updated paperwork seems to be printing ok so far, although we won't know for sure until we get stuck into the new sales season.
Don't forget that the new year sees our new prices coming into operation. This modest rise, to try and compensate for increasing prices, has already just about been used up by the extra expenses involved with implementing the plant passport rules, even before we have to cover the 6.5% wages rise coming in April. We will have to increase efficiency and production rates again to balance the books, but I'm sure we will manage. At least we are involved in an expanding and exciting market at the moment, so hopefully this will all help. We are looking forward to the coming season with lots of the usual attractive stock as well as a few new additions to boost those impulse sales.
We are managing to fit in a few positive winter jobs between label sticking and plant tidying. The gates have had a fresh coat of paint in preparation for hanging a new nursery entrance sign. The old sign had just about faded away with delivery drivers forever missing us as a result. We have lashed out on a new wooden affair with raised wooden lettering, which might even give visitors the impression they are entering a professional nursery. It's a start anyway.
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 but 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, with the following changes taking place;.
- 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, and an image of the EU flag).
- All delivery notes have been redesigned to include the same info.
- All invoices have been redesigned to also include the same info.
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, have had 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 latest regulations and conveniently
keep the PP records for the required three years.

Availability lists
Quite a short list at the moment as we are supposed to be in the depths of winter and we don't expect a huge rush on the sales front just yet. Signs of spring are already there with the spring bulbs shooting well and the odd tight bud threatening an appearance. The earliest snowdrops (Galanthus) are thrusting, with the odd flash of white poking out, not quite enough to say they are in full bud but given the mild temperatures at the moment they won't take long. We have a few more small Narcissus to look forward to this spring and they are looking strong. Crocus Remembrance are well up and I think showing signs of budding up, although that maybe wishful thinking on my part.
There is the odd flower opening on our home sown wild primroses (P. vulgaris) above tight little plants. The plants will expand as the temperatures and light levels improve.
We still have a few Cyclamen coum in bud and flower to see us through the next few weeks and other buds are showing while the weather is favourable (Armeria, Scabiosa, Dianthus, Primula).
There are quite a few evergreen plants looking happy enough over the winter period, so we can make a nice display up of stock with the promise of the good times ahead. Spring flowering Euphorbia, Bergenia and Doronicum are looking good and Leucanthemum, Papaver, Stachys and Digitalis are all looking smart. Polemonium Heaven Scent always puts on a great early show and they are currently sprouting attractive chunky bronze foliaged rosettes, before the buds appear in a few weeks.
Best wishes for a great New Year from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

We Three Hairies

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.

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.