Hectic and Hairy

Morning all,

I knew it was going to be a hectic week, with a pleasant previous weekend, the sun out and very warm temperatures, plus the complications of me trying to isolate but still keep things going, but it surpassed all expectations and went nuts. Our second busiest week ever, just falling behind the reopening mayhem after the first lockdown in 2020. I have been set up in a plastic bubble in the print room with my computer and label printer trying to make a positive contribution to the weeks efforts and we have managed to get all the orders out before the weekend, so we must have got something right. 

Needless to say there are always a few extra challenges thrown in to keep us on our toes, a couple of our part timers are moving on to other pursuits, the new potting machine arrived in the middle of all the despatch excitement, the acid delivery came in on Tuesday after asking for it to come at the end of the week when we were less busy, we had a driver off for three days and to top it all off the big van got in a tangle in London, losing a couple of lights and mashing up the front corner. Classic timing, we have had that van over 12 years and never had to make a claim on it, then the week before it is traded in for a new one this happens. Luckily our garage was able to patch it up to see us through its last week (I hope), but with the other vehicle being a hire van I suspect the claims on their side might be a bit chunky. At least no one was hurt which is the most important thing and we didn't dent the new one! One more week to go and the shiny new on arrives. Wey-hey.

Going to try and fit up the new potting machine tomorrow after detaching the old one and dragging it out of the way. In theory the new one is basically the same despite it looking quite different. Things have apparently moved on since 1999, now we have way more switches and controls to adjust stuff, might be a bit technical for me. There also don't appear to be any instructions, not a problem, we probably wouldn't have read them anyway. It would be good to get it all set up before next week so that potting plans aren't as disrupted as they were this week.

The worst bit of my covid adventure hasn't been the symptoms (pretty mild), it has been the isolation from everyone. There's lots of shouting through windows and masks, but over a week of eating and sleeping on my own, with food being left on the threshold, does make me feel very solitary. It was ok for a few days but now I am really missing just the presence of someone else close by. Still, it has been worth it, I don't seem to have spread it any further (touch wood) and fingers crossed I will be testing negative before the weekend is out.

In a moment of weakness I agreed (before we got so manically busy) to address the village Hort Society after their AGM (next week) on how we recovered after the first lockdown. They were all beneficiaries of our big plant giveaway at the time, and we received some fantastic support in return, but they would like to hear how it all panned out. Me and my big mouth. 

Availability list highlights

Please do bear in mind that it is still early in the season so our unheated plant growth, although healthy, is likely to be 'tight' in habit and not big, soft and lush. There isn't a lot of colour yet and where there is some, the plants are disappearing fast.

The first of the Camassia varieties (C. Carulea) are now showing fat buds. They fly once at this stage so don't hold back Anemone blanda herald the spring with their pretty displays of scrambling flowers. We have plenty of Blue Shades and White Splendour ready to go both with bud and flower, and promise of lots more to come.

The warm temperatures and sunshine have brought on several of the Geum varieties with a flush of new growth and some buds. Lemon Drops is a new one for this year, very dainty. Brunnera macrophylla (perennial forget-me-not) looking good with blue spring flowers on show. The variegated form is looking smart too but it flowers a week or two later.

All the Ajuga varieties have suddenly shot up their low flower shoots. The odd violet-blue bloom opening in the warmth. Robust and bushy overwintered Lupins looking great. The first of several batches, but these are always the best. Not many left. Dicentra spectabilis and spectabilis Alba are shooting and showing bud already. They are very tight short plants at the moment but will very quickly gain size and volume. Easy to handle at this stage, less easy the bigger they get, due to their fleshy nature.

Fritillaria (Snakes Head Lilly) have emerged and have their first buds showing. Very popular but only a few left. Pulmonaria Mageste in bud and coming into colour now, last variety left so don't hang about. Not in flower but always very popular, the Alliums are shooting nicely. It's a shame the foliage goes a bit tatty by the time they flower, as they are both such great garden plants. Good ones for the pollinators.

Spring favourite the Erysimum's are now in bud. We have some lovely batches of Salvia nemerosa varieties bulking up well with the occasional variety already in bud. A spring flush of healthy shoot growth on our overwintered Phlox range, all looking very strong. Best crop ever.

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hairy isolation

Morning all,

Looks like spring is upon us, so brace yourselves. Last week was much busier for us, but with sunshine and warmer temperatures on the horizon I suspect next week could be frantic. Probably not the best moment to catch covid but hey-ho I’m sure we’ll manage. I timed it quite well for the end of the week, which gives us today and the weekend to set up an isolated office and print room so I can still make a contribution and add an extra element to the chaos. I’m currently isolating upstairs but linked to the office, so I can still do something. Fingers crossed my mild symptoms clear off quickly so I can regain my usual levels of mental fogginess. Apologies in advance if we are slightly less organised next week, although I’m sure it will all be fine.

After waiting so long for big stuff to happen, naturally it’s all suddenly about to hit the fan, in our busiest week with covid complications in the mix, ace. Looks like the new van will be ready in the next few days, the irrigation pump fitter has just arrived to replace the pump motors and control system, the new potting machine is suddenly imminent and the balance of our wooden box components arrived yesterday. The main worry is getting the irrigation up and running again after he takes off the old motors today. I’m hoping that getting a specialist man in to do it for us, all will go smoothly, fingers crossed. It will certainly be a relief to get the pumps working as they should, before it gets too warm, we have spent months turning them on and off manually which has been a pain and a waste of power too.

The current peat-free debates are still hitting the headlines and we are constantly being bombarded with requests to put our views into the mix, but to be honest we would rather keep a low profile. No single solution to this sort of problem is ever going to be perfect and the positive benefits of peat use to some specialist growers is difficult to argue against. The reaction generally to losing peat, I suspect, is overplayed by many and it is the fear and risk of change that holds many decision makers back. We have been potting in peat-free composts for many years and most of the time we get very good results, often better than we used to get from our peat reduced mixes, but it does go wrong from time to time, if we risk more change. This time last year I was looking at two entire tunnels of stock lost to a large peat-free trial which scorched off the plant roots, whereas this year the same crops in our usual mix, are fab. However, without the risk taking we wouldn’t be where we are today, with a standalone successful product in a buoyant market, hence the aim to keep a fairly low profile. I have no desire to take over the world of plant production, I would just like to slip into my later years without the pressures of everyone trying to make our market more difficult, flattering though that might be! Unfortunately I did reply to one email, addressed specifically to me, asking for my thoughts, only to find out later that the request was meant for a different ‘Derek’. Too late, I’ve now opened a new can of worms. I just can’t keep a lid on it!

Availability list highlights

Please do bear in mind that it is still early in the season so our unheated plant growth, although healthy, is likely to be 'tight' in habit and not big, soft and lush. There isn't a lot of colour yet and where there is some, the plants are disappearing fast. Anemone blanda herald the spring with their pretty displays of scrambling flowers. We have plenty of Blue Shades and White Splendour ready to go both with bud and flower, and promise of lots more to come.

Robust and bushy overwintered Lupins looking great. The first of several batches, but these are always the best. Aubretia in blue and red shades are looking fantastic with bushy, tight growth and masses of bud with colour showing, in both colours. Spring First is a great new early and long flowering strain. At their peak now and not many left.

Primula veris (Cowslip) have bud flashes of sunshine yellow. Last few left, don't miss out. Ever popular Erythronium Pagoda is up and showing early buds. It has a short selling window, so don't wait too long. Dicentra spectabilis and spectabilis Alba are shooting and showing bud already. They are very tight short plants at the moment but will very quickly gain size and volume. Easy to handle at this stage, less easy the bigger they get, due to their fleshy nature. Fritillaria (Snakes Head Lilly) have emerged and have their first buds showing. Very popular.

Distinctly unsubtle are the Doronicum which have the odd eye popping yellow flower already open. Pulmonaria Mageste in bud and coming into colour now, last variety left so don't hang about. Not in flower but always very popular, the Alliums and Camassia bulbs are shooting nicely. It's a shame the foliage goes a bit tatty by the time they flower, as they are both such great garden plants. Good ones for the pollinators.

Muscari latifolium showing tight violet blue bud on compact neat plants. Spring favourite the Erysimum's are already in tight bud. A spring flush of healthy shoot growth on our overwintered Phlox range, all looking very strong. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hairy prices

Morning all,

Looks like next week will see a better run of weather, after a slightly unsettled and breezy weekend. Perhaps not quite full blown spring madness yet but I'm not complaining as we are still trying to get our winter chores completed. We are gathering ourselves for an interesting season and hoping that world events don't deal us all too many more bad hands. We seem to be being hit by more and more price rises, each one nibbling away at the margins or even taking big bites out of it. The diesel increase over the last couple of weeks are raising eyebrows not only on fuelling our own vans but also adding to input costs where extra delivery charges are beginning to mount. 

We use a small amount of nitric acid to correct the Ph in our irrigation water and I ordered some more this week as the tank is getting low. We only get a couple of loads in each year and the cost was pretty insignificant at about £370/load but not so now. I have been guided towards a figure well over £1,500, but we can't even fix that, it will be charged at the going rate on the day of delivery because prices are so volatile. Scary times, I've never seen it like this before, even when mortgage rates went up to 15% I don't remember it being this nuts. Thankfully we don't use huge amounts of fuel and generate much of our own electricity which will help. Then having reusable wooden trays and low plastic purchasing volumes (mostly long-lasting tunnel covers) means we are not constantly buying new stuff for all our production and marketing needs. If we can improve efficiencies and reduce waste again we should be ok in not getting out of our depth and fingers crossed things will calm down again at some point.

Another year has passed as I pass another annual marker. A wild and decadent time was had, with gifts of delicious beer and chocolate and a pair of second-hand laces for my work boots! Cake all round on the nursery went down well and a quiet night in (Caroline went to the football) with pie and carrots, We know how to live it up!

It's nice to see social activities beginning to get back in line. Our skittles and jive dancing have started up again and I can see some more relaxation coming back into many people's lives. We are off to see a young Dorset guitarist on Saturday at the local village hall, it's his first ticketed gig which must be so exciting for him after two years of very restricted activity for so many musicians. Hopefully world events won't conspire to cock it all up, we could all do with a little light relief after what seems like years of anxiety and stress.

Availability list highlights

Please do bear in mind that it is still wintertime so our unheated plant growth, although healthy, is likely to be winter 'tight' in habit and not big, soft and lush. There isn't a lot of colour yet and where there is some, the plants are disappearing fast. A bit more warmth and we'll get another flush of varieties, I can see the signs of action, some just not quite enough on some to send out just yet.

Anemone blanda herald the spring with their pretty displays of scrambling flowers. We have plenty of Blue Shades and White Splendour ready to go both with bud and flower, and promise of lots more to come. Aubretia in blue and red shades are looking fantastic with bushy, tight growth and masses of bud with colour showing, in both colours. Spring First is a great new early and long flowering strain.

Primula veris (Cowslip) have bud and the odd flash of very early sunshine yellow. Last few left, don't miss out. Spring flowering Symphytum Wisley Blue just starting to show bud and flashes of colour. It's a bit subtle, but we like it. Ever popular Erythronium Pagoda is up and showing early buds. It has a short selling window, so don't wait too long.

Dicentra spectabilis and spectabilis Alba are shooting and showing bud already. They are very tight short plants at the moment but will very quickly gain size and volume. Easy to handle at this stage, less easy the bigger they get, due to their fleshy nature. Fritillaria (Snakes Head Lilly) have emerged and have their first buds showing. Very popular.

Distinctly unsubtle are the Doronicum which have the odd eye popping yellow flower already open. Pretty dark leaved Viola labridorica are shooting nicely, carrying a few blue/purple flowers and buds. Pulmonaria Mageste in bud and coming into colour now, last variety left so don't hang about.

Not in flower but always very popular at this time of year, the Alliums and Camassia bulbs are shooting nicely. It's a shame the foliage goes a bit tatty and they are impossible to handle in a pot by the time they flower, as they are both such great garden plants. Good ones for the pollinators.

Muscari latifolium showing tight violet blue bud on compact neat plants. Muscari Album also showing tight bud. Spring favourite the Erysimum's are already in tight bud. A spring flush of healthy shoot growth on our overwintered Phlox range, all looking very strong. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hairy Hats!

Morning all,

Perhaps not the perfect run of weather over the last couple of weeks, but best to get it out of the way early so we can make the most of the warming spring madness weeks to come. It was busier again this week but perhaps not quite up to expectations for the first week of March, but we are already ahead on the sales front so I'm not worried about it, in fact it has been a handy couple of weeks to do a bit of catching up after the storm. On Thursday morning we had a short calm window of opportunity to whip over the second tunnel cover and get it fastened down before the breeze picked up, which was a huge relief. It feels like we are back to maximum capacity ready for another busy season. We also finished rebuilding the door frames, doors and vents of the other casualty of the storm, so other than the odd stray broken branch we are just about back to normal. We slotted in some more winter cutting back, potting and wooden label printing although probably not enough. There always seems to be more work to do than time available!

Managed to squeeze in a little 'me time' this week, when I had the last of my wisdom extracted. It was pretty painless at the time although the credit card took a bit of a beating. They were so nice about it although slightly alarmist with their warnings of what could go wrong in the next couple of weeks. Apparently blowing my nose too hard or sneezing and holding it in, might blow a hole into my sinus from the tooth socket, leading to any drinks consumed ending up coming back through my nose! Sounds like an evening's entertainment in itself, but perhaps not very dignified. Best to give me some space just in case I have to go for a covid unfriendly blast. At the rate I'm going I'm going to be on a soup only diet in a few years, but hey-ho at least we are still on our feet in most ways.

Lots more kit modelling this week with the arrival of our second batch of logoed clothing. There seems to be a long term shortage of stock of some items but the majority seems to be here now. The beanies are the favourite this time, smart and cosy plus all made of recycled stuff. Still can't shift any more aprons, just too cissy for most. I love mine.

Still looking forward to the delivery of our new big van, but can't get a delivery date yet. Only been on order since last April! Finished the stewed fruit last night, this time disguised as very large trifle (2015 sponges found in larder). Phew.

Availability list highlights

Please do bear in mind that it is still wintertime so our unheated plant growth, although healthy, is likely to be winter 'tight' in habit and not big, soft and lush. There isn't a lot of colour yet and where there is some, the plants are disappearing fast. A bit more warmth and we'll get another flush of varieties, I can see the signs of action, some just not quite enough on some to send out just yet.

Anemone blanda herald the spring with their pretty displays of scrambling flowers. We have Blue Shades and White Splendour ready to go both with bud and flower, and promise of more to come. An eye catching burst of violent pink flowers now showing on the Primula grandiflora Rosea.

Aubretia in blue and red shades are looking bushy, nice and tight in growth habit with some occasional flower colour showing, in both colours and carrying lots of tight bud. Spring First is an early and long flowering strain.

I don't have a lot of stock of Primula denticulata this year, but they are now just coming into bud. Primula veris (Cowslip) have bud and the odd flash of very early sunshine yellow.

Spring flowering Symphytum Wisley Blue just starting to show bud. It's a bit subtle for some, but we like it. Distinctly unsubtle are the Doronicum which have the odd eye popping yellow flower already open.

Pretty dark leaved Viola labridorica are shooting nicely, carrying a few blue/purple flowers and buds. A nice range of Pulmonaria in bud now, running a bit short on some varieties so don't hang about.

Not in flower but always very popular at this time of year, the Alliums and Camassia bulbs are shooting nicely. It's a shame the foliage goes a bit tatty and they are impossible to handle in a pot by the time they flower, as they are both such great garden plants. Good ones for the pollinators. Blue Muscari showing tight bud on compact neat plants.

Scilla sibirica have royal blue colour peaking through. An early spring stunner and selling through quickly. Our dwarf Narcissus varieties are starting to bud up now and look springy. They won't hang around long, as I try not to overdo volumes of this sort of plant, just in case the weather turns on me!

Spring favourite the Erysimum's are already in tight bud. A spring flush of healthy shoot growth on our overwintered Phlox range, all looking very strong. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hairy consequences

Morning all, 

Looks like we are settling into some more benign conditions this weekend after the wild time we had a week ago. Hopefully it will see a return of some plant sales which fell off a cliff for us last week. I suspect the fencing trade was busy instead, it's an ill wind and all that. Having said last week that we got off lightly, we have still spent a good proportion of the week clearing up and repairing stuff, which did detract again from the plant work to some degree. One of the tunnels that lost its cover needed a bit more structural rebuilding which wasn't planned, but unsurprising given its age. Just about got that done in time to recover it this morning. It wasn't perfect, just on the edge of too windy , but we were in a sheltered spot and used a few extra hands to hold the sheet in place while we fixed it. The sun was out which helped give the sheet a bit of stretch which is always a help in getting some tension into it, and the odd disturbing wind gusts were contained before any rips appeared. All done and it looks ok, quite a relief, especially as we had lifted the entire stock (trays of modules) in the tunnel onto trolleys to help protect it from the elements. We can now get that back down and growing again. It wasn't all doom and gloom as we managed to make a few improvements to the doors and vents in the rebuilding process, which should make life easier in future. An easy spring clean of the entire tunnel was another bonus so it now looks really smart, well, for a
poly-tunnel anyway.

We had a couple more power cuts on the nursery, one of which tripped and broke a circuit trip switch running the 128 LED lights in the lab growth room, which meant an emergency call to the electricians. I was sure we would need a new consumer unit because the other was so old. I suspected that they wouldn't be able to get parts, which is the usual excuse for regular major refits, but luckily they still had some older stock in store and they replaced the trip switch with ease. The house supply didn't come back on until Wednesday morning, by which time all the lager was definitely warm. 5 days without power makes you appreciate the supply when it's there that's for sure. No major disasters, we only have a small freezer, some of which was transferred into the even smaller one on the nursery. No room for the summer fruits picked over the last couple of years which all got tipped into a pot and stewed, or the breadcrumbs saved up for nut roast construction. So we've had a week of stewed fruits and nut roast, up to 3 times a day, successfully keeping everyone at a distance, especially as we had no hot water either! We have the wood burner and oil Aga for basic heat and cooking, so it could have been worse.

Another bonus of the lack of orders this week, was finding the time to fill the 7.5T van with our accumulated card boxes from the coir pot packaging. They don't fit in our normal recycling, but stack nicely on a pallet in large volumes so ECoGen our local recycler is happy to deal with them. That cleared out a nice area in the barn which will help as we get busier. 

Availability list highlights

Please do bear in mind that it is still wintertime so our unheated plant growth, although healthy, is likely to be winter 'tight' in habit and not big, soft and lush. There isn't a lot of colour yet and where there is some, the plants are disappearing fast. A bit more warmth and we'll get another flush of varieties, I can see the signs of action, some just not quite enough to send just yet.

An eye catching burst of violent pink flowers now showing on the Primula grandiflora Rosea. I don't have a lot of stock of Primula denticulata this year, but they are now in bud.

Primula veris (Cowslip) have bud and the odd flash of very early sunshine yellow.

Pretty dark leaved Viola labridorica are shooting nicely, carrying a few blue/purple flowers and buds. A nice range of Pulmonaria in bud now, running a bit short on some varieties so don't hang about.

Not in flower but always very popular at this time of year, the Alliums and Camassia bulbs are shooting nicely. It's a shame the foliage goes a bit tatty and they are impossible to handle in a pot by the time they flower, as they are both such great garden plants. Good ones for the pollinators.

Blue Muscari showing tight bud on compact neat plants. Scilla sibirica have royal blue colour peaking through. An early spring stunner and selling through quickly.

Our dwarf Narcissus varieties are starting to bud up now and look springy. They won't hang around long, as I try not to overdo volumes of this sort of plant, just in case the weather turns on me!

Aubretia in blue and red shades are looking bushy, nice and tight in growth habit with some occasional flower colour showing, in both colours and carrying lots of tight bud. Spring favourite the Erysimum's are already in tight bud.

A spring flush of healthy shoot growth on our overwintered Phlox range, all looking very strong. Scaboius Butterfly Blue, Mariposa and Pink Mist think it's spring, with bud on show. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hairy Eunice

Morning all, 

Hope you are all ok after the Big Wind of Friday. Sitting on the side of a hill in a valley facing southwest we feared we were going to be a bit vulnerable, but despite some horrendous conditions, I think we have got away with it reasonably lightly. As the crow flies, if he could get off the floor, we are not that far from The Needles on the Isle of Wight (122 mph) so we definitely faced a good blow, but with a bit of planning and a good dose of luck we are still standing.

I'm touch late with this list, because we did lose power on the nursery for 24 hours, in fact the house is still off. It's only when you are without it that you realise how much depends on that power coming down the line. Even the oil fired kit won't go without the electric controller, so no hot water, central heating, phones (now we are internet run), the list goes on. On the nursery we do have a generator to keep the essential heating systems going but other than that it's a complete shutdown. Luckily we decided not to have anyone in on Friday, so that kept the tension a bit lower considering the conditions. It did get a bit exciting when two of the tunnel covers let go, but a bit of sensible cutting and dragging meant I was able to get the wildly flapping sheets off the tunnels and into some shelter. Then a small tree by our entrance fell across the road which disrupted the traffic, but we quickly cleared that with the help of a neighbours chainsaw skills and the forklift. There is a lot of stuff blown about and a few bits of other relatively minor damage to still sort out but, fingers crossed, that is the worst done and dusted.

Sadly we didn't even benefit from any extra turbine output, the wind speeds were forecast to be so strong that our maintenance company advised us to park the blades, just in case. Then with no power on the grid we couldn't restart them until this morning (they are understandably not keen on us putting power into the cables when someone might be up the pole doing repairs!). They are bowling along again now, so hopefully they will help pay for some new covers.

We whizzed out a few orders early in the week so we could avoid deliveries on Friday and I had in the back of my mind that we could have a thrash at cutting back a big dollop of the last of the crops that are still waiting for their winter trim. Events got the better of us which is a real pain, I just hope we aren't too busy this week and we get time for another go before the spring madness sets in. The forecast looks to be quite breezy and wet at times, which might hold sales back a bit and there will be quite a bit of tidying up for everyone to do after Friday, so maybe we will get that chance.

I should be printing labels now the power is back on but I'm just beginning to wonder if we are going to have to do some emergency decanting of the fridge and freezer this afternoon. There is a tiny freezer on the nursery we can use and the rest we might have to de-thaw and eat. I have already started clearing the fridge where there was a large collection of bottled larger getting too warm, although I didn't get very far through it last night before I fell asleep in front of the wood burner. Too old to cope these days.

Availability list highlights

Please do bear in mind that it is still mid-winter so our unheated plant growth, although healthy, is likely to be winter 'tight' in habit and not big, soft and lush. There isn't a lot of colour yet and where there is some, the plants are disappearing fast. A bit more warmth and we'll get another flush of varieties, I can see the signs of action, just not quite enough to send just yet.

Not in flower but always very popular at this time of year, the Alliums and Camassia bulbs are shooting nicely. It's a shame the foliage goes a bit tatty and they are impossible to handle in a pot by the time they flower, as they are both such great garden plants. Good ones for the pollinators.

Scilla sibirica have royal blue colour peaking through. An early spring stunner.

Our dwarf Narcissus varieties are starting to bud up now and look springy. They won't hang around long, as I try not to overdo volumes of this sort of plant, just in case the weather turns on me!

Aubretia in blue and red shades are looking bushy, nice and tight in growth habit with some occasional flower colour showing, especially in the red, but both now carrying lots of tight bud.

Another spring favourite are the Erysimum's which are coming on line now. The Red Jep and Pastel Patchwork have tight bud lurking among the foliage at the moment.The all time favourite Bowles Mauve are there too but not quite as advanced as the others.

Scaboius Butterfly Blue and Pink Mist think it's spring, with bud on show.

Primula veris (Cowslip) have bud and the odd flash of very early sunshine yellow. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hairy and bare root!

Morning all,

What is going on? Sales are through the roof at the moment, this week we reached levels not usually seen until early March. Maybe the wind and rain forecast over the weekend might slow things up a bit, although having said that we already have a few orders already lined up for despatch. I suppose we have been pretty lucky with the weather, considering the time of year, so I'm not banking on this excitement to be unrelenting until the end of the summer, I'm sure there will be some hiccups along the way.

We did manage to get some other work done too, with another little dabble into some bare-root potting and a bit of a tidy up in despatch were some of the winter projects had been based. With the box making finished and all the new POS boards and pot labels filed away, the debris created could be re-homed until next winter, creating a nice big open space for the orders again. You forget how big these areas are when they get cluttered up.

The high early sales levels have caught us out a bit, because despatch should have been sorted out before we needed the space, but we got there in the end. Now there are just the rest of the overwintered plants to finish tidying up, out in the tunnels. Things were progressing as planned a month ago, but with so much time spent despatching over the last 3 weeks we have fallen behind, so time to add a few more hours to the week in order to catch up.

The irrigation treatment device is settling in nicely, as we get used to how it works and adjusting the settings etc. I still have one annoying leak, but to fix it I have needed to change about 6 parts and I never have the right combination of bits to fit. Pipestock.com must think I'm trying to buy up all their stock, as I'm ordering every other day. Glad to say that in the end the set up will be simpler and easier to maintain in the long run and in theory less likely to leak when we mess around with it. The rainfall water collection project is continuing to gather an expensive collection of parts, but has halted in actual physical progress for a few weeks. One additional feature added was that we picked up a mystery fog horn drifting across the site, which we just couldn't pin down. After blaming the local farmers for running noisy fans or similar, it turned out to be the large drain pipes we had parked under the hedge. On breezy days they act like blowing across multiple bottle tops, producing quite a deep eerie sound.

More delays on delivery of our new big truck meant we have had to have the old one serviced again and the tacho calibrated, as well as pressing it back into service in London, to cope with the delivery volumes. At £100 a day inside the M25, it's not a cheap option and one we had hoped would be well behind us by now. It must be a year since we ordered it, with the initial delivery estimate in October, which was bad enough, but multiple delays later we still don't have a date other than sometime in March. Lack of parts are taking the blame, very frustrating for all concerned.

Availability list highlights

Please do bear in mind that it is still mid-winter so our unheated plant growth, although healthy, is likely to be winter 'tight' in habit and not big, soft and lush. There isn't a lot of colour yet and where there is some, the plants are disappearing fast. A bit more warmth and we'll get another flush of varieties, I can see the signs of action, just not quite enough to send just yet.

Not in flower but always very popular at this time of year, the Alliums and Camassia bulbs are shooting nicely. It's a shame the foliage goes a bit tatty and they are impossible to handle in a pot by the time they flower, as they are both such great garden plants. Good ones for the pollinators.

Scilla sibirica have royal blue colour peaking through. An early spring stunner..

Our dwarf Narcissus varieties are starting to bud up now and look springy. They won't hang around long, as I try not to overdo volumes of this sort of plant, just in case the weather turns on me!

Pulmonaria varieties are shooting nicely after their winter trim. Trevi Fountain, Shrimps and Opal are showing tight buds. Aubretia in blue and red shades are looking bushy, nice and tight in growth habit with some occasional flower colour showing, especially in the red, but both now carrying lots of tight bud.

Another spring favourite are the Erysimum's which are coming on line now. The Red Jep and Pastel Patchwork have tight bud lurking among the foliage at the moment and the Apricot Twist are looking strong and bushy too. The all time favourite Bowles Mauve are there too but not quite as advanced as the others.

Scaboius Butterfly Blue and Pink Mist think it's spring, with bud on show.

Primula veris (Cowslip) have bud and the odd flash of very early sunshine yellow. 

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries