Another mad week getting shed loads of stock out to everyone, well done on the sales front everyone. It’s nice to see so many gaps on the nursery in some ways, as we are supposed in the business of selling lots of stuff, but on the other hand it is frustrating that we can’t refill those gaps instantly to keep stock levels up. It is often like this when things go potty, life would be so much easier if we had a nice steady flow of sales all year round, I’m sure it must be just as frustrating at your end in the sales areas!
My big adventure this week was to be interviewed for a podcast promoting the Plato Sustain business improvement group I am in. The first challenge was to get off the nursery (Friday not as whizzy as other days), in clean clothes (last job before leaving was moving a few cut back Brunnera plants which turn out to have very sticky sap, now all over hands and trousers), next was to find the venue in sunny Basingstoke (never been into the middle before, so got lost and ended up back out on the M3 roundabout), then find a car park (on top of the whole town centre it seems, with most ticket machines out of order), locate the venue from the car park (completely disorientated by now) and finally negotiate with security/reception to let me through the front doors. So I arrive all cool and relaxed for my bit of the filming, go straight in and record. It was all very pleasant and easy going and after a bit of powder I was ready to go. Having been given the questions in advanced I had some idea what was going on and it all went reasonably well I think, they got rid of me quite quickly anyway! How much of it hits the cutting room floor is anyone’s guess but the results on UTube (or something like that) are out in a couple of weeks. Got home to change and found I had my flies open so maybe more will hit the floor than expected. In fact the combination of dried Brunnera sap and the wayward apparel might end up with more hits than planned, thank goodness I was wearing my own underwear!

It’s not surprising I’m not let out much.

Eco Update

Wind turbine planning application is in, hurrah. Bit disappointed that there has been no official planning response yet and we are not on the planning website at the moment. Hopefully it won’t take too long to get it all processed and the public get their chance to have a final say. We’ve have still had no further responses or visits following my light poaching at the Crawley Parish Council meeting, I suspect I may have bored them into submission! Either that or they are keeping their powder dry for when the application becomes officially public. Overall the responses so far have been very positive which is heartening in itself.

Nature notes

Tadpoles are now getting more active and seem to have stopped trying to hurl themselves down the pond overflow. Adult newts are now in the pond too, so they should get breeding soon, and several damsel fly/ dragonfly larvae have been spotted tucking into the odd tadpole.

It always happens, half an hour after writing last week’s report the first swallow did arrive. It was all on its own until yesterday when a second appeared. The house martins usually are a couple or three weeks later here, so that’s the next spotting target.

Have a good week!

What a week, fantastic weather and everyone and their granny have gone down to the planteria to buy up all the stock. Well done everyone for selling all that stock, spring had to arrive eventually, let’s hope it gets a good steady run for the rest of the season. From ticking over at busy but modest levels for a few weeks it’s gone bananas here. We sent out about three times the quantity of stock this week which was a challenge on all fronts, lots of hours and a lot of transport juggling. A few of our longer distance customers we supplied via a carrier to cope, so those folk will have to hang on to their return boxes at little longer until we can get to you ourselves.
Phil has come across a small problem with the new comedy van, it’s a bit of a tight squeeze for Fredrick the Alsatian. We think this is down to the fact that it was originally designed for Postman Pat’s small black & white cat! Don’t forget although it can be a challenge when it goes this manic, it is good for us in the long run, we are certainly looking forward to getting off our overdraft limit!

Anyway, after a long stint of 7 day weeks and 14-16 hour days this week, we did the sensible thing last night finished early (6.30) and went out to a concert. Although it seemed a bit daft, it was well worth it. We saw a three piece band, Sleeping Dogz, whose front man is Willy Barrett (formerly Wild Willy Barrett of Otway & Barrett fame, or not. They recorded the classics, ‘Cor Baby thats Really Free’ and ‘Beware of the Flowers Because I’m Sure They’re Going to Get You (Yeah)’), who are a bit folky for my normal taste but were brilliant. It’s always amazing to see really good musicians do their stuff live. They played a vast array of instruments including a form of bagpies where he had a bellows pumping under one arm and a bag being squeezed under the other while playing the pipe bit with both hands. I still struggle after all these years keeping control of my knife and fork.

I’m always one to try and take something from songs and stuff, last night was no exception. One particular line that hit home was something from a song about a betting shop, which went something like;

‘Don’t take a tip from old Joe

He’ll poke you in your eye,

Blows his nose on cornbread slice

And calls it pumpkin pie’

I never got the hang of pumpkin pie.

Eco Update

Wind turbine planning application is in, hurrah. Now let’s see what the reaction is.

Nature notes

Big excitement this week with a long low slow passing flight of a big Red Kite right over the nursery. Not sure how it was spotted as it was supposed to be heads down this week with so much to do. It’s the first one we’ve seen for a while. We had a second sighting the next day too.

Tadpoles are now getting more active and seem to have stopped trying to hurl themselves down the pond overflow.

Don't forget to do your bit. Have a good week.

At last some real spring sunshine and warmth, hopefully this will kick start things in a big way this week. The forecast for the next few days looks good and it certainly makes the working day a lot more comfortable. The less clothes worn, the easier the movements and higher the efficiency. Up to a point. Nowadays that point for me, remains full coverage of virtually all the body surface to prevent staff and customers losing focus on the task in hand!


I managed to watch the Grand National this year, perfectly timed with my tea break. It looked like a great day, sun shining lots of excited people and everyone got round safely in the big race. We had a sweepstake which adds a bit of interest to the events as they unfold. I thought I had won the wooden spoon this year when my horse took off in the lead and then promptly fell at the first fence, but I have now noticed that one refused to leave the start, and I can’t remember if that counts as the first out (wooden spoon) or as a non-starter (money back). I suspect that the monetary return from either won’t cover the cost of a celebratory packet of Rich Tea biscuits.

Watched one of the Harry Potter films earlier in the week and heard a lovely line which I’m sure must have been used a million times before and just passed me by. It was about the choices we make, ‘You can take the right way or the easy way’. It caught me out slightly as I was expecting ‘wrong’ to go with ‘right’. But it does seem to be true in so many areas that to choose the right way is a lot tougher, demanding more effort and commitment, but ultimately rewarding you with more satisfaction in the end. Even if it doesn’t always work out at least you have had a go. Sometimes when you do it, you stand out and get shot at, but unless we make some less comfortable choices, things won’t get better on their own. It’s always refreshing that however ancient I get, there are still lots of life’s little nuggets still for me to stumble across.

Eco Update

Wind turbine planning application is in, hurrah. Now let’s see what the reaction is. We’ve had no further responses or visits following my light poaching at the Crawley Parish Council meeting, I suspect I may have bored them into submission! Either that or they are keeping their powder dry for when the application becomes officially public. Overall the responses so far have been very positive which is heartening in itself.

Nature notes

Lots of bird song and activity. The ravens are now a regular spot and one was watched over the nursery this week soaring on a thermal with a buzzard. Luckily they didn’t distract us all too long away from all those urgent nursery tasks. This morning we had a pair of yellowhammers feeding under one of the feeders and skylarks singing in the sun. Last night the lapwings were still flying and calling a it approached dark, at the same time as I spotted my first bat of the spring on its feeding run alongside one of our hedges. Most summer evenings I can stand by the gate and wait as one patrols up and down a couple of hedge runs, flying straight over my head. Spring is really springing, although we haven’t seen our first swallow or heard a cuckoo yet.

Just a quickie this week, as I have an urgent appointment with a roasting lamb in a few minutes! It’s been a hectic week as expected, as we fit in all the pre Easter deliveries in the rubbish weather. It is always quite a relief to get to Good Friday having completed all the order collations and just got left with a couple of orders to deliver on the Friday. The new comedy van got a good airing, whizzing about on a load of local runs, attracting admiring glances and comments wherever it went which was fun.
The exciting day ended up being Wednesday when the number of deliveries to do out-numbered the vans, so we called into action the old farm van again. I shot out in it on a local drop, got as far as King Somborne and something went bang, followed by clunking and big vibrations. I pulled off the road and called up the farm to rescue me. On arrival the farm mechanical marvel got in it, started it up, pulled forwards and backwards with no exciting noises. It was suggested that perhaps I had picked up something off the road, but we would take it back to the farm for a check over. I followed in the farm pickup and caught the van up a mile or two down the road stopped with hazards on. So it wasn’t my imagination, phew, there was a problem. Luckily we were now on a quieter road but we were now very stuck, the brakes were completely seized on (brake shoe had shed its lining and jammed the other shoe on). Luckily the local bus could squeeze through, so we put some cones out and left it for the garage to sort out. It completely messed up my day with all the waiting around, but in the end I think if we were going to breakdown we couldn’t have done it much more conveniently! The van is back on Tuesday with a complete set of new shoes on all wheels (not worn, but all a bit old and apparently the glue goes in the end) and I met three very nice understanding ladies in the houses nearest to the breakdown sites, who where most helpful despite my slightly grubby, unshaven, hoody wearing appearance!

Had a great day out last Sunday going to see Southampton play Carlisle in the final of the League Trophy final at Wembley Stadium. We won 4-1 which made it easy to enjoy, but the whole day was great, even the trip in & out was pain free. It was the first time I had been to the new stadium and it was very impressive, great atmosphere and we had a great view. I know it’s not quite the FA Cup but all 44,000 Saints tickets were sold which created a real buzz and a very friendly vibe between both sets of supporters. Now it we need a miraculous run to get to the play off’s to go again at the end of the season!

Eco Update

Wind turbine planning application was due to go in at the end of last week, I haven’t had confirmation yet so it may be this week instead, but it’s all getting close, and we will see if there is more reaction than there was to our initial announcement.

Nature notes

Tadpoles swimming about already, although the excess of rainfall has washed a few out of the overflow channel which is just the spot where they seem to congregate! I saved a few and put a bit of debris in the channel mouth to try and filter them out but I’m sure we have lost a few. Good job there are so many this year.

Another month gone, and it’s Easter already. It’s great being this busy, lots of things to do and challenges to meet. Most of the time getting on top of those challenges can be very rewarding but I must admit it can get a bit much sometimes, especially when you can’t find enough hours in the day.
This week’s challenge was with the wooden label printer, all week it kept printing a black line where it shouldn’t and despite learning a lot about the little habits and tricks of this printer over the last two years, this one stumped us and we got quite worked up! After a lot of huffing and puffing, head and bottom scratching we did solve it on Friday. It turned out to be a bizarre combination of events involving the magnets in the ink cup picking up some metal bits into the ink which caused some damage and a slightly dislodged magnet position in the cup itself, caused in the same incident. Phew, what a relief and such a joy using the printer again without the frustration element.

When we get a bit pressed it can be quite easy to slip over the edge into doom and gloom, but a few years ago we did a bit of ‘happiness training’ involving identifying how the brain works and how you can influence moods. One of the key bits was recognising triggers which make you feel different things and using them when you need to. A trigger could be a smell, an object , a memory, a song, anything that provokes a mental response. You can use it to get your mood right for any occasion although I tend to use it to make me feel better if things are getting tricky. If I am in the right frame of mind it does make life easier for all around me. Anyway, I got a surprise on Friday with the arrival of a new and very expensive trigger. The new 3.5 tonne van arrived causing quite a stir. We bought it in a bit of a rush after being unable to get a suitable second-hand one having just worked out the minimum dimensions needed to get the trolleys on and minimise the weight. The resulting vehicle is great, quite different and has made several initial observers laugh out loud. It’s like a cartoon van in its proportions, but it goes really well, is super clean and efficient and we will get noticed! We haven’t done the sign writing yet but I’m sure we can come up with something appropriate when we do get round to it. We have parked it up in the yard and it is making a great impact, you just can’t help smiling everytime you look at it!

Currently we are saving about 17% on our electricity use, compared with last year despite the extra heating costs of the prolonged cold weather and the installation of sodium grow-lights in the microprop weening tunnel. The consumption in the office and print room has dropped 75% since the warmer weather arrived, which just goes to illustrate how much of our energy goes on heating. We will have a look before next winter to see if we can improve the heating efficiency and save in the long term. Maybe we can tap in to some of the grants and loans being used to promote better systems. I did get a call from the local Business Link office to say that they have up to £500 per business to give away on any energy efficiency project which can show savings, so there is help out there encouraging us to do more.

Nature notes

Mad excitement in the pond last Sunday and Monday, with loads of frantic amphibious activity creating loads of frogspawn. I had almost given up waiting for some action but they got there in the end. Because we had to line the pond (on chalk) I was wondering if it was too slippery /tricky for them to get in and out despite the overhanging foliage. I had laid a strip of carpet over the edge to help and it was at this end that all the activity was occurring. I expect it was the combination of an increase in temperature, a lazy Sunday morning, running their toes through the shag-pile and Spring in the air that did the trick.
Don't forget to do your bit. Have a good week,

Check out our mention in Julie Stringer's column in the Dailty Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1259742/GREEN-QUEEN-Hairy-plant-pots-return-Earth-Hour.html

What a jolly busy week, hurrah. Spring at last, well for a few glorious days anyway. I had a list of all sorts of jobs we were going to get done this week, but spent the whole week zipping about delivering plants, even on Friday which is usually our odd job day. At least the extra activity will help the cash-flow in a few weeks time. It’s always a tricky period as sales kick off and we start spending again (mostly bodies to get through the extra workload) After a long autumn and winter with little dosh coming in, we reach our bank limit in Feb/March and spend a few weeks juggling everything. It all adds to the fun!

The most impressive & inspirational thing I saw this week was the conclusion of Eddie Izzard’s amazing marathon running in aid of Sport Relief. A relatively unfit non-runner, he ran 43 marathons in 51 days, followed by a rickshaw (with camera crew), a minibus with support crew and an ice cream van giving away ice creams and collecting donations. It was a relatively low key but awe-inspiring effort, often running alone in appalling weather on roads with no pavements and in heavy traffic. The physical achievement itself was unbelievable but the way he did it was delightful. I am a great admirer of Eddie anyway, he has such a great relaxed style and honest approach to life, even if his dress sense isn’t quite my cup of tea, he carried his style into his marathon running, often ignoring expert advice and doing it his way. The diet of Calipos and 99 ice creams, diverting through a McDonalds drive-thru for a burger and fries and stopping at the pub for a quick pint, did him no favours nutritionally, but did demonstrate a freedom of thought and incredible determination to complete his task. He would regularly get distracted by things that caught his eye, a stately home, an array of dead moles hanging on a fence and the troubled districts in Northern Ireland to mention a few. He also passed through several places holding a lot of childhood memories which obviously brought back mixed emotions and added another dimension to the run. Well done Eddie, I wish I had more money sloshing about to donate, but it would never be enough to right all the wrongs or fully recognise his effort and achievement. It is one of those things that makes you realise just what you can achieve if you really want to.

Eco Update

Wind turbine planning still not gone in, but it is very close. These things always seem to take longer than expected. I attended the local village Parish Council meeting on Monday evening expecting a bit of a grilling. But to be fair it more like being lightly poached! I arrived as arranged part-way through the meeting making a rather laboured entrance by having to rattle, push and pull on three doors before I could actually get into the room (I couldn’t help picturing myself making a dramatic exit at the end by entering the cleaning cupboard!). After making a very brief pitch I was questioned for nearly one hour on all aspects of the turbine plans and efficiencies, alternative energy generation options and political and economic pros and cons. Generally it was a very jolly meeting with everyone able to speak openly and frankly but in a nut shell, there are several villagers unhappy about the visual impact of the turbines so are likely to be objecting. One of the villagers came up to the nursery on Friday and we spent a further hour and a half looking at the nursery and turbine site as well as discussing further some of the points raised at the meeting. It all comes down to how they look, and people’s perception of the visual issue. Those that don’t like them certainly struggle with the concept that others might like them. There were a couple of interesting views, one was that if they looked like the old big chunky wooden traditional windmills that would be ok, and another was a question asking me if I had been to Cornwall and seen the large farms there. I said I had, and every time I see them my pulse quickens and heart soars because I see so much good stuff happening and I also love the look. One interesting question that did come up was about how quickly the turbine repays itself in energy terms. I have now found out that it should be about 14 months of operation to cover the energy used to manufacture and install it.

Don't forget to do your bit. Have a good week.