Morning all,
Another bright weekend, joyously autumnal feel to it, pretty nippy early on but the sun makes up for that.
We had a great week ploughing through the last batch of potting compost and getting several tunnels cleared of the end of season debris. I am hoping for another good splurge on the potting this week keeping back just enough compost to pot the spring flowering bulbs and last Erysimum batches both due in over the next couple of weeks. Might be a bit tougher this week I reckon we are 7 people down on Monday compared to last week, a combination of holidays and the last of the uni students getting back to their ‘studies’.
Great game of rugby last night, very entertaining, certainly more competitive than our 9-2 defeat on the hockey pitch. Our first competitive game was doomed from the start. Away against one of the best teams in our league, only 10 men to start with, down to 9 within 2 minutes with an injury, he limped back on later, just before another one went off after being hit on the eyebrow defending a shot on goal. In the end we did pretty well keeping it to 9, I did my bit saving at least three off the line. Main bonus was getting off still upright, stiff today and resolved to get fitter for next time. Like that is going to happen! Had a very productive box collecting session over the last couple of weeks so thanks for putting those all together. We are well underway repairing and drying them all out ready for the winter. If anyone still has any boxes to collect please do drop us a line, we lose Phil our driver after this week for a while so it might take a little while to get to you but we can add you on the list.
Bought our first mince pies yesterday, just for a laugh. Shocking really how much retail commitment there is towards that one day. Still need to get the log cutting started. Used up a few of last year’s this week as it got a bit cool in the house, just took the edge off nicely and sent me to sleep. Hopefully all that house insulation and the wood-burner we put in will pay dividends again this winter and we can keep the central heating off again, bar a few of the coldest days.
Disappointing VW revelations this week, once again big business lets us all down and it turns out we diesel drivers are polluting more than we were told, all in the name of making a fast buck. It makes a mockery of anyone trying to do the right thing, why bother if no one else cares. Maybe because more and more do care. Let’s hope so. There wasn’t much sign of balanced discussion at Sparsholt college last week where they put on an open evening to show their plans for a green gas plant. Basically a modest bio-digester producing gas from fermenting grass to pump straight into the mains gas pipe. A relatively simple scheme, well hidden on the edge of the campus using grass and rye grown as part of a cereal crop rotation and supplied from local farms. The main impact would be the extra tractor journeys to bring the crop into the site of a maximum of 21 tractor return trips a day during the 5 month harvesting period. It would not only produce almost carbon neutral gas but be used as part of the development of renewable energy training and education courses for the engineers of the future. No extra traffic in the village and virtually no impact, but to stand in the middle of the room and listen you would think they had announced the building of a nuclear waste dump. All the queries of the local parish council were nicely answered on a sheet of A4 but any thought of reasoned discussion seemed to pass the majority of the visitors by. Come on boys and girls let’s put some thought into the legacy we are leaving the following generations and make a bit of a difference by promoting and changing to a better way. Our postcode is one of the highest carbon producing in the land and it shows little sign of wanting to change. Come on we can’t do it alone.
Availability highlights
The ever popular dwarf violet/red Aster Jenny looks very neat now with the odd bud showing colour. Starlight is slightly more purple in tone but a really strong bright colour and neat habit. Lady in Blue budding nicely, nice and short with very pretty pale blue flowers about to do their thing.
A few more Anemones coming back on the list again as we catch up again after a very busy summer.
Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display.
Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. Just around the corner are the late flowering Hesperantha (Schizostylus) in a range of 4 varieties and autumn/winter flowering hardy Cyclamen.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 28 September 2015
Monday, 21 September 2015
Hairy Drips
Morning all,
Lovely day today, bright sunshine and a light breeze, great day to be out in the garden. We certainly got a good drenching during the week but with the forecast looking on the damp side we had taken the precaution of clearing out a few blocked drains in advance which paid dividends in the following deluge. Some planning works. Better than the rather disappointing summer for which I blame myself, sorry. The hot weather came to an instant stop the moment I cut big holes in the roof of despatch to keep temperatures down. The cooling result was more effective than I could have imagined.
Potting is flying now as the orders slow up and we find a bit more time, last load of compost comes in on Monday so just 60,000 pots or so to go. Might take a weekend off then in celebration of getting to the end of another season, perhaps a visit to the pub, we’ll see. I think this is the last week for most of our summer casuals, university beckons, I’m sure they won’t miss us as much as we will miss them!
Dressing up tonight for a 1940’s ball at the Guildhall, no food just dancing and liquid refreshment. Not really quite fit enough for this after a week carrying a bit of a sniff (worst cold anyone ever had) but I can’t let my dance partners down so will keep taking the pills and soldier on. Live big band apparently, so could be good.
We are well underway picking up our empty wooden box stock from everyone, we are planning a trip up north next week so let me know if you need us to call in. I have a few destinations listed already so should be able to fill the van nicely. That’s it for today, my brain is a bit fuzzy for clear thinking or getting anywhere near entertaining, so I’m quitting in favour of a lie down for an hour or two before the night time heroics.
Only one swallow left in the shed now, all the others have gone, house martins as usual are the last to go but their trip south must be imminent. Another summer slips by. Must get on with the log cutting, that was another job I was going to get done before the summer ended.
Availability highlights
The traditional autumn flowering Asters now coming back on stream, the ever popular dwarf violet/red Jenny looks very neat now with the odd bud showing colour. Starlight is slightly more purple in tone but a really strong bright colour and neat habit. Lady in Blue budding nicely, nice and short with very pretty pale blue flowers about to do their thing.
A few more Anemones coming back on the list again as we catch up again after a very busy summer.
The very popular straight form of Verbena bonariensis is just unmanageable when it gets towards flowering in our smaller pots so we keep them short and bushy, losing out on the colour in the pot but producing wonderfully strong plants ready to plant out.
Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display.
Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. Just around the corner are the late flowering Hesperantha (Schizostylus) in a range of 4 varieties and autumn/winter flowering hardy Cyclamen.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Lovely day today, bright sunshine and a light breeze, great day to be out in the garden. We certainly got a good drenching during the week but with the forecast looking on the damp side we had taken the precaution of clearing out a few blocked drains in advance which paid dividends in the following deluge. Some planning works. Better than the rather disappointing summer for which I blame myself, sorry. The hot weather came to an instant stop the moment I cut big holes in the roof of despatch to keep temperatures down. The cooling result was more effective than I could have imagined.
Potting is flying now as the orders slow up and we find a bit more time, last load of compost comes in on Monday so just 60,000 pots or so to go. Might take a weekend off then in celebration of getting to the end of another season, perhaps a visit to the pub, we’ll see. I think this is the last week for most of our summer casuals, university beckons, I’m sure they won’t miss us as much as we will miss them!
Dressing up tonight for a 1940’s ball at the Guildhall, no food just dancing and liquid refreshment. Not really quite fit enough for this after a week carrying a bit of a sniff (worst cold anyone ever had) but I can’t let my dance partners down so will keep taking the pills and soldier on. Live big band apparently, so could be good.
We are well underway picking up our empty wooden box stock from everyone, we are planning a trip up north next week so let me know if you need us to call in. I have a few destinations listed already so should be able to fill the van nicely. That’s it for today, my brain is a bit fuzzy for clear thinking or getting anywhere near entertaining, so I’m quitting in favour of a lie down for an hour or two before the night time heroics.
Only one swallow left in the shed now, all the others have gone, house martins as usual are the last to go but their trip south must be imminent. Another summer slips by. Must get on with the log cutting, that was another job I was going to get done before the summer ended.
Availability highlights
The traditional autumn flowering Asters now coming back on stream, the ever popular dwarf violet/red Jenny looks very neat now with the odd bud showing colour. Starlight is slightly more purple in tone but a really strong bright colour and neat habit. Lady in Blue budding nicely, nice and short with very pretty pale blue flowers about to do their thing.
A few more Anemones coming back on the list again as we catch up again after a very busy summer.
The very popular straight form of Verbena bonariensis is just unmanageable when it gets towards flowering in our smaller pots so we keep them short and bushy, losing out on the colour in the pot but producing wonderfully strong plants ready to plant out.
Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display.
Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. Just around the corner are the late flowering Hesperantha (Schizostylus) in a range of 4 varieties and autumn/winter flowering hardy Cyclamen.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Tuesday, 15 September 2015
Hairy Head
Morning all,
Still busy trying to get through the late summer/autumn clean up and potting, there are never enough hours in the day. It doesn’t seem possible that in a very few weeks we will be all done and ready to batten down the hatches for the winter, awaiting the arrival of a hopefully early spring! Plant growth is still strong and it is always a relief to see the plants get away so fast after potting, producing such a strong framework for those stonking spring plants again. We have a huge crop of Pulmonaria varieties this year looking like they are going to make a fantastic spring show of colour. Marginal panic setting in that I might have got carried away on the numbers but they did so well last spring and with a few extra varieties adding to the appeal I hope with a nice run of favourable weather during the sales period they should fly out. Before the Pulmonaria make their mark we should have a great crop of hardy cyclamen to give us a bit of colour right through the autumn, winter and early spring. Again we have extended the range to add C. hederifolium colours to the lovely C. coum varieties we tried out last year.
Monster amount of work going on this last week on analysing the production output of the microprop lab to try and identify how we can keep the operation viable with the impending ‘living wage’ rises due to take effect over the next five years. We had considered stepping away from it when we considered the increasing global competition in this market where wages are at a fraction of our own, transport of such compact stock is so easy and price pressures continue to reign supreme. However the potential loss of one of the last plant labs in the UK seems to have galvanised more support than we had hoped for and there does look like there could still be a future in it even if not quite using the same model as we currently have. Quality product and local supply does have its supporters so although we may have to lose quite a few plant varieties in the lab, where the market won’t pay the extra few pence needed to make it viable here, we should be able to carve out some future in there. Frustration doesn’t really cover the position on some plants. We grow a great range of Hostas including many new varieties picked out for us by a specialist in the field. He acknowledges that we have the best, strongest, healthiest young plants he gets, foreign labs and open ground nurseries suffering from mixed and virus ridden stock but we recently lost a big customer attracted by the cheap prices from abroad and unfortunately our fab stock will not be there when someone decides price isn’t the be all and end all in producing quality plants. Still that’s how the cookie crumbles sometimes, we just need to bit the bullet and make some tough choices.
Struggling to find mirth this morning, suffering the after effects of a big wedding yesterday, head, legs and feet sore after over indulgent dad dancing. Good band, nice beer and energetic happy company, well worth the pain of the next day. Glad not to have too much to do today, just a little bit of gentle production bed preparation for Mondays potting while The Strypes thrash away through the headphones. Caroline drew the short straw on the driving front yesterday, so I need to at least look busy while she prepares her 4,000 microprop modules for delivery first thing on Monday. Oh the joys of the idyllic rural life.
Availability highlights
The traditional autumn flowering Asters now coming back on stream, the ever popular dwarf violet/red Jenny looks very neat now with the odd bud showing colour. Starlight is slightly more purple in tone but a really strong bright colour and neat habit. Lady in Blue budding nicely, nice and short with very pretty pale blue flowers about to do their thing.
A few more Anemones coming back on the list again as we catch up again after a very busy summer.
The very popular straight form of Verbena bonariensis is just unmanageable when it gets towards flowering in our smaller pots so we keep them short and bushy, losing out on the colour in the pot but producing wonderfully strong plants ready to plant out.
Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display.
Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. The short neat Geum Koi is still going strong with bud and colour. Just around the corner are the late flowering Hesperantha (Schizostylus) in a range of 4 varieties and autumn/winter flowering hardy Cyclamen.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Still busy trying to get through the late summer/autumn clean up and potting, there are never enough hours in the day. It doesn’t seem possible that in a very few weeks we will be all done and ready to batten down the hatches for the winter, awaiting the arrival of a hopefully early spring! Plant growth is still strong and it is always a relief to see the plants get away so fast after potting, producing such a strong framework for those stonking spring plants again. We have a huge crop of Pulmonaria varieties this year looking like they are going to make a fantastic spring show of colour. Marginal panic setting in that I might have got carried away on the numbers but they did so well last spring and with a few extra varieties adding to the appeal I hope with a nice run of favourable weather during the sales period they should fly out. Before the Pulmonaria make their mark we should have a great crop of hardy cyclamen to give us a bit of colour right through the autumn, winter and early spring. Again we have extended the range to add C. hederifolium colours to the lovely C. coum varieties we tried out last year.
Monster amount of work going on this last week on analysing the production output of the microprop lab to try and identify how we can keep the operation viable with the impending ‘living wage’ rises due to take effect over the next five years. We had considered stepping away from it when we considered the increasing global competition in this market where wages are at a fraction of our own, transport of such compact stock is so easy and price pressures continue to reign supreme. However the potential loss of one of the last plant labs in the UK seems to have galvanised more support than we had hoped for and there does look like there could still be a future in it even if not quite using the same model as we currently have. Quality product and local supply does have its supporters so although we may have to lose quite a few plant varieties in the lab, where the market won’t pay the extra few pence needed to make it viable here, we should be able to carve out some future in there. Frustration doesn’t really cover the position on some plants. We grow a great range of Hostas including many new varieties picked out for us by a specialist in the field. He acknowledges that we have the best, strongest, healthiest young plants he gets, foreign labs and open ground nurseries suffering from mixed and virus ridden stock but we recently lost a big customer attracted by the cheap prices from abroad and unfortunately our fab stock will not be there when someone decides price isn’t the be all and end all in producing quality plants. Still that’s how the cookie crumbles sometimes, we just need to bit the bullet and make some tough choices.
Struggling to find mirth this morning, suffering the after effects of a big wedding yesterday, head, legs and feet sore after over indulgent dad dancing. Good band, nice beer and energetic happy company, well worth the pain of the next day. Glad not to have too much to do today, just a little bit of gentle production bed preparation for Mondays potting while The Strypes thrash away through the headphones. Caroline drew the short straw on the driving front yesterday, so I need to at least look busy while she prepares her 4,000 microprop modules for delivery first thing on Monday. Oh the joys of the idyllic rural life.
Availability highlights
The traditional autumn flowering Asters now coming back on stream, the ever popular dwarf violet/red Jenny looks very neat now with the odd bud showing colour. Starlight is slightly more purple in tone but a really strong bright colour and neat habit. Lady in Blue budding nicely, nice and short with very pretty pale blue flowers about to do their thing.
A few more Anemones coming back on the list again as we catch up again after a very busy summer.
The very popular straight form of Verbena bonariensis is just unmanageable when it gets towards flowering in our smaller pots so we keep them short and bushy, losing out on the colour in the pot but producing wonderfully strong plants ready to plant out.
Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display.
Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. The short neat Geum Koi is still going strong with bud and colour. Just around the corner are the late flowering Hesperantha (Schizostylus) in a range of 4 varieties and autumn/winter flowering hardy Cyclamen.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 7 September 2015
Uplifting and Hairy
Morning all
Great result on Sunday for Saints got us off to a good start, followed by a relaxing Bank Holiday Monday. Started well with the cat letting go a lively young rat in the bedroom at 6.00am! Managed to catch it by 10.30 and eject it well away from the house so it hopefully won’t come back. It was all a bit much but it did get us to move all the furniture and have a bit of a clean up afterwards so not all bad. Popped down to Ikea with the rest of the population of Southampton for a few picture frames and I did a rehanging in the ‘dining room/dump’. Our collection of gig posters previously littered around the floor now make a patchwork on the biggest wall and it all looks pretty good even if I say so myself. The inherited cocktail cabinet looks majestic if underused on the other side, now just need to sort out the rest of the room to make it presentable, maybe a party room, I think that will have to wait for another year. One thing at a time.
Nursery staffing dwindled this week with some of the young seasonal staff disappearing back to school/college but still got lots to do. It will be flat out getting the tunnels cleared, autumn potting completed and ripped tunnel covers replaced before it gets too cold. We’ll get there, despite an annual panic we always get to the other side, then the quieter winter period allows us a breather to gather our thoughts.
The microprop lab’s future is looking slightly more promising after a big meeting with one of our biggest customers last week. It appears we are loved and needed by someone on the propagation front and there may be a way forward through the impeding big pay hikes of the next 5 years, it might mean a redirection of production to higher value lines and eliminate the waste and low value stuff where the foreign competition is too strong or the market won’t pay any extra. A shame for some of those markets where quality and virus free stock don’t stack up against saving a few pennies for each plant. Mind you the donning of my rose tinted specs after the meeting might have been down to all the right buttons being well pressed, we all want to be loved!
After a run of recent funerals including a special one last week, we are looking forward to a couple of nice celebrations next week, not only has Queeny reached her longest reign but Elaine on the nursery has reached 30 years service, she obviously started as child labour all those years ago and we can’t believe it has been so long since she pitched up in white jeans and heels! Also got a young person’s wedding to go to next weekend so looking forward to embarrassing all with some serious dad dancing. Hopefully my back will have recovered from yesterdays first hockey game, might be time to retire.
Availability highlights
Aster frikartii Flora’s Delight, mildew resistant and slightly more purple than the ever popular blue Aster Monch and looking good. More traditional Asters now coming back on stream too, the ever popular dwarf violet/red Jenny looks very neat now with the odd bud showing colour. Starlight is slightly more purple in tone but a really strong bright colour and neat habit. A few more Anemones coming back on the list again as we catch up again after a very busy summer.
There is a new flush of Oxalis triangularis growth and flower, looking neat and cheerful but only a few left now. The very popular straight form of Verbena bonariensis is just unmanageable when it gets towards flowering in our smaller pots so we keep them short and bushy, losing out on the colour in the pot but producing wonderfully strong plants ready to plant out. Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display. Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. Lovely fresh growth on the Lamium Beacon Silver, more really attractive and effective ground cover.The short neat Geum Koi is still going strong with bud and colour.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Great result on Sunday for Saints got us off to a good start, followed by a relaxing Bank Holiday Monday. Started well with the cat letting go a lively young rat in the bedroom at 6.00am! Managed to catch it by 10.30 and eject it well away from the house so it hopefully won’t come back. It was all a bit much but it did get us to move all the furniture and have a bit of a clean up afterwards so not all bad. Popped down to Ikea with the rest of the population of Southampton for a few picture frames and I did a rehanging in the ‘dining room/dump’. Our collection of gig posters previously littered around the floor now make a patchwork on the biggest wall and it all looks pretty good even if I say so myself. The inherited cocktail cabinet looks majestic if underused on the other side, now just need to sort out the rest of the room to make it presentable, maybe a party room, I think that will have to wait for another year. One thing at a time.
Nursery staffing dwindled this week with some of the young seasonal staff disappearing back to school/college but still got lots to do. It will be flat out getting the tunnels cleared, autumn potting completed and ripped tunnel covers replaced before it gets too cold. We’ll get there, despite an annual panic we always get to the other side, then the quieter winter period allows us a breather to gather our thoughts.
The microprop lab’s future is looking slightly more promising after a big meeting with one of our biggest customers last week. It appears we are loved and needed by someone on the propagation front and there may be a way forward through the impeding big pay hikes of the next 5 years, it might mean a redirection of production to higher value lines and eliminate the waste and low value stuff where the foreign competition is too strong or the market won’t pay any extra. A shame for some of those markets where quality and virus free stock don’t stack up against saving a few pennies for each plant. Mind you the donning of my rose tinted specs after the meeting might have been down to all the right buttons being well pressed, we all want to be loved!
After a run of recent funerals including a special one last week, we are looking forward to a couple of nice celebrations next week, not only has Queeny reached her longest reign but Elaine on the nursery has reached 30 years service, she obviously started as child labour all those years ago and we can’t believe it has been so long since she pitched up in white jeans and heels! Also got a young person’s wedding to go to next weekend so looking forward to embarrassing all with some serious dad dancing. Hopefully my back will have recovered from yesterdays first hockey game, might be time to retire.
Availability highlights
Aster frikartii Flora’s Delight, mildew resistant and slightly more purple than the ever popular blue Aster Monch and looking good. More traditional Asters now coming back on stream too, the ever popular dwarf violet/red Jenny looks very neat now with the odd bud showing colour. Starlight is slightly more purple in tone but a really strong bright colour and neat habit. A few more Anemones coming back on the list again as we catch up again after a very busy summer.
There is a new flush of Oxalis triangularis growth and flower, looking neat and cheerful but only a few left now. The very popular straight form of Verbena bonariensis is just unmanageable when it gets towards flowering in our smaller pots so we keep them short and bushy, losing out on the colour in the pot but producing wonderfully strong plants ready to plant out. Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display. Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. Lovely fresh growth on the Lamium Beacon Silver, more really attractive and effective ground cover.The short neat Geum Koi is still going strong with bud and colour.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Tuesday, 1 September 2015
Hairy Strypes
Morning all
Not the best of summer weather, bit damp and a distinct lack of the yellow stuff. We have a slight lull between flowering crops at the moment after record summer sales and some slow growth in the following crops. Still at least we are not as affected by the dull August as the local arable farmers. After a good start to the harvest it has all come to a grinding halt in the damp and crops are now being lost or at best downgraded as the grain begins to germinate in the ears. On top of a big drop in the prices as the world grain markets falter it looks like becoming a tricky year. Sods law always seems to make an appearance at times like this and sure enough late on Friday, just before the bank holiday weekend, a crucial part breaks and with Saturday being the first day for cutting for ages and no carriers available to get the part to the farm before Wednesday, the call goes out for an emergency driver. So that was my Saturday sorted, a 10hr round trip to the East Coast, perfect timing as I had planned most of the day off anyway.
That rounded off a week stuffed with exciting stuff. Last Sunday we had a great day at Avebury, a bit longer in the tea rooms and pub than planned but who’s complaining about that? Got soaked within 2 minutes at The Sanctuary our first stop and things looked dodgy but after a restorative tea and cake the rain slowed and we got round everything in reasonable comfort suitably educated, entertained and watered. Back in the same direction to Marlborough on Tuesday evening to a tiny independent record store who had The Strypes performing a short set to promote their new CD (Little Victories) in the coffee shop next door. Just brilliant, refreshing, vibrant, noisy and youthful. Got a copy signed and excitedly told them that we both thought they were as exciting live as the Police we had seen back in 79 before they became superstars. Only then realising their parents might not have even been born then! New cd on here all the time, getting better and better with each listen.
Big step this week with successful application for a new fuel card. Doesn’t sound much but it is quite difficult to get a new account in an industry that has struggled financially over the last few years. Our existing supplier had been taking advantage of this situation by adding more and more extra charges to our account so it was nice to land ourselves a much better deal. Should help contain costs a bit next season as the living wage kicks in. Having said that we had to replace the card reader this week as the model we had became ‘noncompliant’. A suspicion of clever in-built obsolescence in these expensive bits of kit? Very handy I know but we don’t really use it enough to not notice the monthly bill!
Must go, holiday treat today with a ticket to see Southampton play Norwich this afternoon. Well it seems like a treat at the moment, fingers crossed.
Availability highlights
The small yellow Kniphofia Little Maid looks very chunky and strong with buds now shooting through.
Aster frikartii Flora’s Delight, mildew resistant and slightly more purple than the ever popular blue Aster Monch and looking good. There is a new flush of Oxalis triangularis growth and flower, looking neat and cheerful but only a few left now The very popular straight form of Verbena bonariensis is just unmanageable when it gets towards flowering in our smaller pots so we keep them short and bushy, losing out on the colour in the pot but producing wonderfully strong plants ready to plant out.
Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display.
Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. Lovely fresh growth on the Lamium Beacon Silver, more really attractive and effective ground cover. The short neat Geum Koi is still going strong with bud and colour.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Not the best of summer weather, bit damp and a distinct lack of the yellow stuff. We have a slight lull between flowering crops at the moment after record summer sales and some slow growth in the following crops. Still at least we are not as affected by the dull August as the local arable farmers. After a good start to the harvest it has all come to a grinding halt in the damp and crops are now being lost or at best downgraded as the grain begins to germinate in the ears. On top of a big drop in the prices as the world grain markets falter it looks like becoming a tricky year. Sods law always seems to make an appearance at times like this and sure enough late on Friday, just before the bank holiday weekend, a crucial part breaks and with Saturday being the first day for cutting for ages and no carriers available to get the part to the farm before Wednesday, the call goes out for an emergency driver. So that was my Saturday sorted, a 10hr round trip to the East Coast, perfect timing as I had planned most of the day off anyway.
That rounded off a week stuffed with exciting stuff. Last Sunday we had a great day at Avebury, a bit longer in the tea rooms and pub than planned but who’s complaining about that? Got soaked within 2 minutes at The Sanctuary our first stop and things looked dodgy but after a restorative tea and cake the rain slowed and we got round everything in reasonable comfort suitably educated, entertained and watered. Back in the same direction to Marlborough on Tuesday evening to a tiny independent record store who had The Strypes performing a short set to promote their new CD (Little Victories) in the coffee shop next door. Just brilliant, refreshing, vibrant, noisy and youthful. Got a copy signed and excitedly told them that we both thought they were as exciting live as the Police we had seen back in 79 before they became superstars. Only then realising their parents might not have even been born then! New cd on here all the time, getting better and better with each listen.
Big step this week with successful application for a new fuel card. Doesn’t sound much but it is quite difficult to get a new account in an industry that has struggled financially over the last few years. Our existing supplier had been taking advantage of this situation by adding more and more extra charges to our account so it was nice to land ourselves a much better deal. Should help contain costs a bit next season as the living wage kicks in. Having said that we had to replace the card reader this week as the model we had became ‘noncompliant’. A suspicion of clever in-built obsolescence in these expensive bits of kit? Very handy I know but we don’t really use it enough to not notice the monthly bill!
Must go, holiday treat today with a ticket to see Southampton play Norwich this afternoon. Well it seems like a treat at the moment, fingers crossed.
Availability highlights
The small yellow Kniphofia Little Maid looks very chunky and strong with buds now shooting through.
Aster frikartii Flora’s Delight, mildew resistant and slightly more purple than the ever popular blue Aster Monch and looking good. There is a new flush of Oxalis triangularis growth and flower, looking neat and cheerful but only a few left now The very popular straight form of Verbena bonariensis is just unmanageable when it gets towards flowering in our smaller pots so we keep them short and bushy, losing out on the colour in the pot but producing wonderfully strong plants ready to plant out.
Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display.
Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. Lovely fresh growth on the Lamium Beacon Silver, more really attractive and effective ground cover. The short neat Geum Koi is still going strong with bud and colour.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Tuesday, 25 August 2015
Hairy and Ancient
Morning all,
Potting for next spring now well underway with a good run at it last week. We have cleared another couple of tunnels ready for next week and assuming the next load of compost doesn’t get held up at the port this time we should get another good batch done next week. Time seems to be flying by, another delivery of predators released and another 1,000 million nematodes in the fridge ready to apply through the irrigation when the weather is right. The nematode multi application strategy appears to be doing a good job on knocking back any vine weevil population, we usually see a few adults as we are clearing or moving stock about in the summer skulking about under the pots but this year we haven’t seen any even under the favourites like strawberry and astilbe. We use a mix of 3 nematode species which is supposed to give us some control of a few other compost dwelling pests like sclarid fly, leather jackets and others so we hope to gain there too. It’s not a complete cure-all as we definitely still have leather jackets and crane fly adults about although that may be partly down to us only applying the nematodes 3 times in the spring and 3 times in the late summer/autumn when they are most effective against the vine weevil. Nice to feel we are getting back on top of this pest after the disappointing results from previously incorporating a bio-control fungus into the compost. Live and learn.
Spirits lightened this week after seeing on TV the brilliant pier conversion in Weston-Super-Mare into ‘Dismaland’ by Banksy. I had felt slightly alone in my dismay at the theme park holiday industry over the years but at least it now looks like I’m not alone! I love the fact that tickets are really difficult to get hold of, just adding to the overall experience.
As it happens I’m off tomorrow for our summer holiday, a day trip to Avebury on a guided walk from The Sanctuary along West Kennet Avenue to Avebury henge/village. It’s a monster of a site, dwarfing Stonehenge, just not quite as ‘constructed’ at its centre. Our tame archaeologist Brian is leading and I’m sure will entertain us with his usual enthusiasm and in-depth analysis. Surprisingly we could only muster a handful of participants for a potentially wet six mile wander through time despite the lure of a pub for lunch. Particularly looking forward to handling again the flints he found created using discoidal technology. After submitting his findings, the British Museum have summoned him and the flints for a closer look into what could be an important new Neanderthal site. He has been advised to write it all up for ‘Lithics Monthly’ magazine, as read by thousands of flint fanatics, to make it official. Fame at last. Must get a signed copy.
‘Horizon’ on the BBC iplayer to check out this week, all about the earliest Britons including stuff on the meseiolithic Blick Mead Spring site I rabbited on about last year. I thought no-one was going to get to grips with this one as, for a while, my blog about it appeared on page one of Google there was so little coverage. Let’s see what they have to say.
The Stypes new cd is out this coming week, got my copy already, it’s great if you like energetic noisy music, might get to see them in Marlborough this week as they perform a short session at a record store signing. They might like to visit Avebury, just down the road, I’ll drop them an email. Lithic’s are just so hip. Why am I so lonely?!
Availability highlights
The small yellow Kniphofia Little Maid looks very chunky and strong with buds now shooting through.
We have a last small strong batch of Lobelia Fan Blue just starting to produce its flower shoots for a late summer display. The mildew resistant Aster ageratiodes varieties run a fantastically long flowering period from late July right through to November, forming neat mounds of dainty flowers. The slight downside is the restricted colour palette which currently falls in a white, pale blue, pale mauve range, but they are all real charmers. The first buds have appeared with the occasional open flower. There is also Aster frikartii Flora’s Delight, mildew resistant again, slightly more purple than the ever popular blue Aster Monch and looking great.
Verbena Lollipop is still producing its compact flowers and looking good but only a few left. The very popular straight form of Verbena bonariensis is just unmanageable when it gets towards flowering in our smaller pots so we keep them short and bushy, losing out on the colour in the pot but producing wonderfully strong plants ready to plant out. Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display. Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. There is a new flush of Oxalis triangularis growth and flower, looking neat and cheerful. The short neat Geum Koi is still going strong.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Potting for next spring now well underway with a good run at it last week. We have cleared another couple of tunnels ready for next week and assuming the next load of compost doesn’t get held up at the port this time we should get another good batch done next week. Time seems to be flying by, another delivery of predators released and another 1,000 million nematodes in the fridge ready to apply through the irrigation when the weather is right. The nematode multi application strategy appears to be doing a good job on knocking back any vine weevil population, we usually see a few adults as we are clearing or moving stock about in the summer skulking about under the pots but this year we haven’t seen any even under the favourites like strawberry and astilbe. We use a mix of 3 nematode species which is supposed to give us some control of a few other compost dwelling pests like sclarid fly, leather jackets and others so we hope to gain there too. It’s not a complete cure-all as we definitely still have leather jackets and crane fly adults about although that may be partly down to us only applying the nematodes 3 times in the spring and 3 times in the late summer/autumn when they are most effective against the vine weevil. Nice to feel we are getting back on top of this pest after the disappointing results from previously incorporating a bio-control fungus into the compost. Live and learn.
Spirits lightened this week after seeing on TV the brilliant pier conversion in Weston-Super-Mare into ‘Dismaland’ by Banksy. I had felt slightly alone in my dismay at the theme park holiday industry over the years but at least it now looks like I’m not alone! I love the fact that tickets are really difficult to get hold of, just adding to the overall experience.
As it happens I’m off tomorrow for our summer holiday, a day trip to Avebury on a guided walk from The Sanctuary along West Kennet Avenue to Avebury henge/village. It’s a monster of a site, dwarfing Stonehenge, just not quite as ‘constructed’ at its centre. Our tame archaeologist Brian is leading and I’m sure will entertain us with his usual enthusiasm and in-depth analysis. Surprisingly we could only muster a handful of participants for a potentially wet six mile wander through time despite the lure of a pub for lunch. Particularly looking forward to handling again the flints he found created using discoidal technology. After submitting his findings, the British Museum have summoned him and the flints for a closer look into what could be an important new Neanderthal site. He has been advised to write it all up for ‘Lithics Monthly’ magazine, as read by thousands of flint fanatics, to make it official. Fame at last. Must get a signed copy.
‘Horizon’ on the BBC iplayer to check out this week, all about the earliest Britons including stuff on the meseiolithic Blick Mead Spring site I rabbited on about last year. I thought no-one was going to get to grips with this one as, for a while, my blog about it appeared on page one of Google there was so little coverage. Let’s see what they have to say.
The Stypes new cd is out this coming week, got my copy already, it’s great if you like energetic noisy music, might get to see them in Marlborough this week as they perform a short session at a record store signing. They might like to visit Avebury, just down the road, I’ll drop them an email. Lithic’s are just so hip. Why am I so lonely?!
Availability highlights
The small yellow Kniphofia Little Maid looks very chunky and strong with buds now shooting through.
We have a last small strong batch of Lobelia Fan Blue just starting to produce its flower shoots for a late summer display. The mildew resistant Aster ageratiodes varieties run a fantastically long flowering period from late July right through to November, forming neat mounds of dainty flowers. The slight downside is the restricted colour palette which currently falls in a white, pale blue, pale mauve range, but they are all real charmers. The first buds have appeared with the occasional open flower. There is also Aster frikartii Flora’s Delight, mildew resistant again, slightly more purple than the ever popular blue Aster Monch and looking great.
Verbena Lollipop is still producing its compact flowers and looking good but only a few left. The very popular straight form of Verbena bonariensis is just unmanageable when it gets towards flowering in our smaller pots so we keep them short and bushy, losing out on the colour in the pot but producing wonderfully strong plants ready to plant out. Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display. Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. There is a new flush of Oxalis triangularis growth and flower, looking neat and cheerful. The short neat Geum Koi is still going strong.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 17 August 2015
Hairy Stars
Morning all,
I hope you didn’t get too wet last week. We got a good drenching although luckily most of it was overnight so didn’t interfere too much on daytime fun on the nursery. Usual stuff, orders out, plants into pots or big modules, tunnels being cleared, it’s all go. When we get asked how things are going on the nursery the question is usually loaded towards ‘are you selling lots of stuff?’ and as sales start to slow it is assumed we can then take a well earned holiday in all that newly found spare time. Unfortunately there is almost more pressure at this time as we try and make the most of every day's warmth and day-length to get next year’s crops even more mega than the last years. At the same time we juggle sales, other holidays, summer casuals, and adjust everything to the weather of the day, what fun. Must admit we are both feeling a bit tired but not long now until November hols. A great motivator is when things go to plan and this week’s highlight was the successful release of our first batch of 1,000 million nematodes for the late summer/autumn bio pest control. Perfect weather, damp and cool over two evenings and the night’s drawing in meant they went on more or less in the dark, just what they like. My homemade nematode bubble-drum worked perfectly, aerating and stirring with compressed air the nematodes in the stock solution, before being sucked into the irrigation system and spread evenly over the nursery. A follow-up gentle rinse washes them off the foliage and onto the compost before they dry out.
Another late night on Wednesday when we got a surprise break in the weather and popped out into the field to watch the meteor shower. I must have seen over 15 over about an hour but with my head permanently looking up and some of them being very fleeting I may well have had a degree of blood supply curtailment adding to the overall visual effects. There were one or two monster ones which was all very exciting.
I must admit to a degree of simple naivety in my business acumen, I just want to do as good a job as we can manage and try and charge a fair price to keep the whole thing moving forwards. It still comes as a bit of a shock when I hear about businesses operating more ‘cunningly’. The milk price would be an obvious target but this time it’s nothing to do with growing stuff, its car parts. There is, I’m told, a company supplying many standard car parts to lots of manufacturers, franchisers and garages. They all apparently use the same parts for lots of vehicles and the supplier will have a single design of that part and a series of different boxes to pop the part into depending on which make of car it is required for. So those ‘genuine parts’ might not be as unique as you would think. It’s definitely an efficient system which I applaud but will those parts going to the more prestigious brands will be the same price is those going to the others? I wonder. How easily we can be deceived.
Availability highlights
The small yellow Kniphofia Little Maid looks very chunky and strong with buds now shooting through.
We have a last small strong batch of Lobelia Fan Blue just starting to produce i'ts flower shoots for a late summer display. Only one variety (delightful mini yellow spidery flowers) left this week of our new range of compact hardy Chrysanthemums. Great little plants with masses of bud already appearing, naturally branching with no need for pinching. As well as the new Chrysanthemums we have also introduced some new mildew resistant Asters. The Aster ageratiodes varieties run a fantastically long flowering period from late July right through to November, forming neat mounds of dainty flowers. The slight downside is the restricted colour palette which currently falls in a white, pale blue, pale mauve range, but they are all real charmers. The first buds have appeared with the occasional open flower. There is also Flora’s Delight, another frikartii variety, slightly more purple than the ever popular Monch.
Verbena Lollipop is still producing its compact flowers and looking good. The very popular straight form of Verbena bonariensis is just unmanageable when it gets towards flowering in our smaller pots so we keep them short and bushy, losing out on the colour in the pot but producing wonderfully strong plants to plant out.
Achillea Moonshine is back in bud and flower and we have nice chunky Red Velvet showing bud again too.
Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for a great winter display
Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. There is a fresh flush of Delphinium growth with buds appearing on many. There is a new flush of Oxalis growth and flower, looking neat and cheerful. The short neat Geum Koi is still going strong.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
I hope you didn’t get too wet last week. We got a good drenching although luckily most of it was overnight so didn’t interfere too much on daytime fun on the nursery. Usual stuff, orders out, plants into pots or big modules, tunnels being cleared, it’s all go. When we get asked how things are going on the nursery the question is usually loaded towards ‘are you selling lots of stuff?’ and as sales start to slow it is assumed we can then take a well earned holiday in all that newly found spare time. Unfortunately there is almost more pressure at this time as we try and make the most of every day's warmth and day-length to get next year’s crops even more mega than the last years. At the same time we juggle sales, other holidays, summer casuals, and adjust everything to the weather of the day, what fun. Must admit we are both feeling a bit tired but not long now until November hols. A great motivator is when things go to plan and this week’s highlight was the successful release of our first batch of 1,000 million nematodes for the late summer/autumn bio pest control. Perfect weather, damp and cool over two evenings and the night’s drawing in meant they went on more or less in the dark, just what they like. My homemade nematode bubble-drum worked perfectly, aerating and stirring with compressed air the nematodes in the stock solution, before being sucked into the irrigation system and spread evenly over the nursery. A follow-up gentle rinse washes them off the foliage and onto the compost before they dry out.
Another late night on Wednesday when we got a surprise break in the weather and popped out into the field to watch the meteor shower. I must have seen over 15 over about an hour but with my head permanently looking up and some of them being very fleeting I may well have had a degree of blood supply curtailment adding to the overall visual effects. There were one or two monster ones which was all very exciting.
I must admit to a degree of simple naivety in my business acumen, I just want to do as good a job as we can manage and try and charge a fair price to keep the whole thing moving forwards. It still comes as a bit of a shock when I hear about businesses operating more ‘cunningly’. The milk price would be an obvious target but this time it’s nothing to do with growing stuff, its car parts. There is, I’m told, a company supplying many standard car parts to lots of manufacturers, franchisers and garages. They all apparently use the same parts for lots of vehicles and the supplier will have a single design of that part and a series of different boxes to pop the part into depending on which make of car it is required for. So those ‘genuine parts’ might not be as unique as you would think. It’s definitely an efficient system which I applaud but will those parts going to the more prestigious brands will be the same price is those going to the others? I wonder. How easily we can be deceived.
Availability highlights
The small yellow Kniphofia Little Maid looks very chunky and strong with buds now shooting through.
We have a last small strong batch of Lobelia Fan Blue just starting to produce i'ts flower shoots for a late summer display. Only one variety (delightful mini yellow spidery flowers) left this week of our new range of compact hardy Chrysanthemums. Great little plants with masses of bud already appearing, naturally branching with no need for pinching. As well as the new Chrysanthemums we have also introduced some new mildew resistant Asters. The Aster ageratiodes varieties run a fantastically long flowering period from late July right through to November, forming neat mounds of dainty flowers. The slight downside is the restricted colour palette which currently falls in a white, pale blue, pale mauve range, but they are all real charmers. The first buds have appeared with the occasional open flower. There is also Flora’s Delight, another frikartii variety, slightly more purple than the ever popular Monch.
Verbena Lollipop is still producing its compact flowers and looking good. The very popular straight form of Verbena bonariensis is just unmanageable when it gets towards flowering in our smaller pots so we keep them short and bushy, losing out on the colour in the pot but producing wonderfully strong plants to plant out.
Achillea Moonshine is back in bud and flower and we have nice chunky Red Velvet showing bud again too.
Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for a great winter display
Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. There is a fresh flush of Delphinium growth with buds appearing on many. There is a new flush of Oxalis growth and flower, looking neat and cheerful. The short neat Geum Koi is still going strong.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
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