Short and Hairy

Morning all,

A very quick one today as I am out of time and wanted to get this out a bit earlier bearing in mind the odd bank holiday week coming up. In theory we are on a three day week but in reality, assuming a reasonable level of despatching, we are unlikely to get round everyone in three days. We will definitely be working and delivering on Thursday and possibly delivering Friday too if we can't clear the decks before then. We will only have the odd driver (not saying which) on Friday as we are hoping to give everyone a break on at least one of the days.

We will do our best to get everything out as early as we can and the earlier orders are in the easier it will be to plan or panic! Bear with us we will be doing our best as always.

Availability list highlights

As sales step back from manic levels and spring really gets warmed up we are gaining ground on having a bit more in bud and flower, plus the herbs are becoming more available too. It will be another week before we see any Basils on the list but it shouldn't be long. We don't have the heated facilities to risk growing them any earlier.

Lovely crop of Aquilegia's at the moment in 4 colours. Flower stems and buds are now on show so don't miss out. Fresh batches of the Dreameria series of Armeria are on stream now. Selected for their very long flowering period and large flower size they promise to be a great new garden addition.

Feathery foliage of Coreopsis Zagreb is supporting plenty of tight bud, Nice and short. Most of the Echinacea are running up their first flower stems with the odd bud showing. Only a little way off showing colour but definite signs of action.

Fresh crops of Dianthus in a good range of colours, bushy, in bud and well scented when the flowers open. Not a huge number left but the Liatris spicata are showing bud now if you are quick. We have fresh crops of Digitalis, Lupins and Delphiniums on the list this week. Limited numbers of these popular and fast growing lines so don't hang back.

Summer must be on its way with the appearance of the Oxalis. Both forms are now in bud and showing the odd flash of colour. Summer favourite the hardy Osteospermum Tresco Purple looks strong and bushy and tight bud visible if you look hard, Penstemons are coming online too although flower may be a little way off yet. We have nice fresh batches of the metallic sheen of Irish Molly flowers which are looking good. The very summery sunshine yellow Viola Etain is in flower now too.

Have fun, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hairy Jive

Morning all, 

Despite a slightly quieter week on the sales front we still seem to be struggling to get through a mountain of jobs. There is just never enough time in the growing season. We managed to catch up on our wooden marketing box repairs, which had been piling up over the last few weeks. I always start off with good intentions to keep up with that sort of job as we go along, but time is so precious it easily gets put on the back burner. We were going to do heaps of potting but struggled to clear enough space and came close to running out of potting compost, so had to scale back a bit. Not the end of the world and it did mean we got some other stuff done instead. Compost delivery arrived late today so all ready for the Saturday crew to get stuck into and maybe next week we will get a good run at it.

At one point this week I did wonder if I had done something to offend the transport gods. Firstly the garage phoned about the electric car we have had on order since last summer, to let us know that the deferred delivery time of May, was to be moved again to late August or early September. What is going on out there? At the end of last week we had the windscreen replaced on one of the vans which had been cracked in one corner for a little while. Did a great job but all to no avail as on the first trip out it got walloped by a big stone and we are back to square one. Monday saw another van in for a service and check over, it passed with flying colours only to burst a tyre on the next day. Hopefully that's our three.

It's quite tough at this time of year, when you get a bit over tired, not to just see the mistakes and missed opportunities that litter the nursery after such a hugely busy spring. The crops that didn't quite sell through, or didn't get cut back or spaced at the right time, the odd corner where the weed has got on top of us and those modules that never got potted. I have to be careful to try and remember that it's all the things that aren't there and I can't see, that will make the year a success. All those sales and deliveries rushed out at short notice which make the numbers add up so we can try and do it even better next time! I've already got a few little ideas for improvements to our overwintering jobs to speed things up and make us that little bit more efficient and properly ready for this spring madness. I like to think that one day we would get it all right, but I'm running out of years now and I suspect just doing it better will have to do.

I usually put my weekly Jive dance evenings on hold at this time of year due to obvious time pressures, but I fear I will now have to give up completely. My best (only) work trousers have been getting very thin and last weekend I managed to put my toe through the front of them, ripping the one leg wide open, making them un-wearable. That means my best trousers are now relegated to work-wear which means nothing to go out in unless I resort to black-tie or similar. Generally that would be considered over-kill on the dress front, although I suppose I could give it a go. Nothing wrong with raising the standards! 

Availability list highlights

As sales step back from manic levels and spring really gets warmed up we are gaining ground on having a bit more in bud and flower, plus the herbs are becoming more available too. It will be another week before we see any Basils on the list but it shouldn't be long. We don't have the heated facilities to risk growing them any earlier.

Lovely crop of Aquilegia's at the moment in 5 colours. Flower stems and buds are now on show so don't miss out. Fresh batches of the Dreameria series of Armeria are coming on stream now. Selected for their very long flowering period and large flower size they promise to be a great new garden addition.

Feathery foliage of Coreopsis Zagreb is supporting plenty of tight bud, Nice and short. Most of the Echinacea are running up their first flower stems with the odd bud showing. A little way off showing colour but definite signs of action. Fresh crops of Dianthus in a good range of colours, bushy, in bud and well scented when the flowers open. Not many left but the Liatris spicata are showing bud now if you are quick.

We have fresh crops of Digitalis, Lupins and Delphiniums on the list this week. Limited numbers of these popular and fast growing lines so don't hang back. Summer must be on its way with the appearance of the Oxalis. Both forms are now in bud and showing the odd flash of colour. Summer favourite the hardy Osteospermum Tresco Purple looks strong and bushy,

Salvia Hot Lips and Cherry Lips are romping away with the buds appearing already. Penstemons are coming online too although flower may be a little way off yet. We have nice fresh batches of the black flowered Viola Molly Sanderson in flower and the metallic sheen from Irish Molly flowers are looking good too. The very summery sunshine yellow Viola Etain is in flower now too. 

Have fun, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries 

Hairy Hedgehog

Morning all,

Nice drop of steady rain on Wednesday, not enough but a start and quite a relief. Might get some heavy showers on Saturday night to add to the tally, so hoping that the very dry spell we have had down here may have come to an end. Just wondering how frustrated we would have been if we had managed to get our rain water harvesting system up and running before now? Perhaps not as frustrated as not being able to get the job underway in the first place due to groundwork delays. Just paid the invoices for the water storage tank, the pump and control gear which was quite a lump, and they are currently sitting on pallets locked away in the barn rather than potentially earning their keep. Worse things happen, so not too cross really and too busy to focus on it at this moment.

Despatch and production is all we can do at this time and cope with all the extra challenges that pop up along the way. Took delivery of another very expensive container of pots this week so we are nicely stocked up ready for a summer of potting, the barn is full and the bank balance empty, but they are 'mission critical' to the entire business so a nice banker to have in stock. With the unrest around the world and in Sri Lanka itself, we hope that our village pot production team are all safe and well. Back in the autumn we asked them to increase the pot price for this year, before we realised the massive increase in container costs, a decision I was kicking myself for, but on reflection it was definitely the right thing to do. The higher fuel and food prices we are all paying affect disadvantaged communities the hardest so we have to support them where we can. Just hoping that their production costs aren't going to soar and instantly wipe out the rise we agreed. We will have to wait and see what happens, like with a lot of things at the moment.

Lots of nature activity with a pair of swallows inspecting the barn over the last couple of days, skylarks singing away over the field and one of our tawny owls still calling in the middle of the day. Good weather most evenings to take a moment and drink it all in on my stagger back up to the house. Hedgehogs have started their nightly visits to Caroline's feeding site (for feeding hedgehogs, not Caroline, she is allowed in the house to eat!) in the back garden, spotted on the very useful infrared CCTV cameras. Caroline got taken out tonight to go and see Downton Abbey at the local flicks, not my cup of tea, it would just be like watching life at home.

Recruited a new member of the team last week to help cover the couple of losses we have had over the last few weeks and cope with the ever expanding demand for plants. With several years nursery experience we should get off to a flying start once he arrives in a few weeks. Probably still need another, but you never know what will land in your inbox, so we will see what happens.

Availability list highlights

After record sales again this spring stock is flying although the overall stock levels for the perennials is changing but still ok, just a bit short on flower action. Herb stocks are recovering despite huge demand this year.

Fresh batches of the Dreameria series of Armeria are coming on stream now. Selected for their very long flowering period and large flower size they promise to be a great new garden addition. Some of the Echinacea are running up their first flower stems with the odd bud showing. A little way off showing colour but definite signs of action.

Lovely crop of Aquilegia's at the moment in 5 colours. It won't be long before the flower stems appear. We have fresh crops of Digitalis, Lupins and Delphiniums on the list this week. Limited numbers of these popular and fast growing lines so don't hang back. Summer must be on its way with the appearance of the Oxalis. The purple leaved O. triangularis is up and running with bud already on show and the bicolour leaved Iron Cross is just a week or two behind.

Summer favourites are making a show now too and bud can't be far away for many. the hardy Osteospermum Tresco Purple looks strong and bushy, Salvia Hot Lips and Cherry Lips are romping away with the odd bud appearing already. Penstemons are coming online too although flower may be a little way off yet.

We have a nice fresh batch of the black flowered Viola Molly Sanderson ready to go and the metallic sheen of Irish Molly is looking good too. We don't have many in the first batches, but the compact Achillea Milly Rock series are mostly in bud now. More to come. Nice range of Hosta's this year, propagated in our own little microprop lab, they won't hang around long.

Have fun, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hairy discovery

Morning!

Coming now into a run of  5 day weeks which will be a relief. I quite like the odd quiet day without the hassle of dealing with the challenges of a full on working day, but despite putting in the hours I can't get through the workload so a full working week will hopefully reduce some of the work backlog. I daren't list the things that need to be done, but we are certainly making more plans again for improvements for next season to try and reduce the peak workload.

I am going to keep this brief this week as I am already late for my dinner and it's pitch black out the office window so it must be getting on. Brief summary of the news. Found my keys after 4 or 5 days, I had dropped them in a tunnel pathway and despite walking up and down it several times I failed to spot them. Someone else kicked them which alerted them to their whereabouts as they must have been fairly well hidden. After a clean up to remove the rust already accumulating, I am mighty relieved to have them hanging on my belt again. The deer got a reprieve this week when our stalker failed to find them on site, which probably means they are just regular visitors rather than resident. They may escape punishment!

Next container of pots arrives next week, sadly the transport costs are still crazy although not quite at their earlier peak. Have a good week out there and please send us some rain.

Availability list highlights

After a long and hectic run we are quite short of stock in bud at the moment. Overall stock levels for the perennials are still ok, just short on flower action. The herb stock is still low for the coming week and is likely to be so for 2 or 3 more weeks as we end the overwintered batches of some stock and await the readiness of the new stock

Fresh batches of the Dreameria series of Armeria are coming on stream now. Selected for their very long flowering period and large flower size they promise to be a great new garden addition.

Some of the Echinacea are running up their first flower stems with the odd bud showing. A little way off showing colour but definite signs of action. Lovely crop of Aquilegia's at the moment in 5 colours. It won't be long before the flower stems appear.

We have fresh crops of Digitalis and Delphiniums on the list this week. Limited numbers of these popular and fast growing lines so don't hang back. Our annual crop of Hollyhocks (Alcea) are just about ready to go. Again a fast growing crop, so we limit numbers to prevent too much waste if the weather is against us, but always a popular line.

Summer must be on its way with the appearance of the first Oxalis. The purple leaved O. triangularis is up and running with even the odd bud already on show and the bicolour leaved Iron Cross will only be a week or two behind.

Have fun, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hairy nature

Morning all,

Another week goes by and it's a bank holiday again. This one crept up on me, I didn't realise until mid-week that we had an extra day off again. The 'sort of good' weather has kept us so busy I'm not really quite sure what's going on, we just try to get from one end of the week to the other without too much going twang. The drought is getting a bit much now, we really could do with some refreshing rainfall, not too much and preferable at night please.

My general mental vagueness continues to do me no favours, I lost my main set of keys yesterday with no idea what can have happened to them. We have narrowed the time period of the loss down to a few hours and even checked the CCTV recordings to see if there are any clues. Nothing. Now we are sharing the remaining set which is causing a little tension at least I think that's the problem. I'm sure it was nothing to do with missing yesterdays wedding anniversary. Only remembered thanks to family cards and messages, it's not something we have ever really gone to town on, I think the highlight over 38 anniversaries was a surprise bag of fresh organic spinach I produced on returning from a late delivery. We are always just so busy at this time of year to take much time out, besides every day is a celebration of our matrimonial union anyway, we are after all, still talking after all this time!

Rather than ramble on again about the endless joys of running our own nursery, I thought I should have a look at all the natural stuff happening on and around the nursery. Always a good idea to take a step back sometimes and take in the bigger picture of what is happening around us. Caroline saw our first swallow of the summer this week, a fleeting visit but very welcome none the less. There was a bigger exciting flier passing last week, I very nearly tempted a Red Kite to feed in the yard. The cat had been working hard and bagged a young rabbit earlier in the day consuming just the tastiest bit, leaving the rest on the office mat to illustrate his conquest. As I stepped out of the office I spotted the Red Kite gliding over and threw the carcass into the yard. The Kite spotted it and did several fly-overs and swoops before coming down within feet of the target, whereupon the cat decided it was his kill and he wasn't up for sharing, so dashed out, grabbed the remains and disappeared under a bench. Deer issues on site have deepened after a night patrol this week spotted three Muntjac deer with thermal imaging spotters. Not a sustainable residence I'm afraid on our relatively small site, so they will have to find new homes. We have a selection of other residents most of which we can live with reasonably easily. There is now a moorhen over by the back pond and a pair of partridges patrolling the tunnels, clucking away, and generally fussing about. They seem fairly comfortable with all the human activity and I'm sure that we will soon find the usual hopeful nesting site in among the plants. We usually get a few chicks but their numbers sadly dwindle very quickly. Masses of frogs, newts and toads continue to thrive on the production beds, regularly uncovered when moving pots and trays, then disappearing again as soon as you look away. At the moment we have a couple of Tawny Owls calling on the site, one of them calling at all times of the day which seems odd for a largely nocturnal bird. One of my evening treats on a still night is to pause at the gate on the track and wait to see the pipistrelle bats on their regular feeding run up and down the hedge lines. Some nights they get so close you can feel the flutter as they pass by, ace.

Availability list highlights

After a long and hectic run we are quite short of stock in bud at the moment. Overall stock levels for the perennials are still ok, just short on flower action. The herb stock is still low for the coming week and is likely to be so for 2 or 3 more weeks as we end the overwintered batches of some stock and await the readiness of the new stock

We have one last Camassia showing bud, the excellent blue Maybelle. Saving the best till last. Erigeron Sea Breeze Mauve is in bud, with the Pink form not far behind. Low growing with loads of flower to come. Fresh batches of the Dreameria series of Armeria are coming on stream now. Two this week and another couple following close behind. Selected for their very long flowering period and large flower size they promise to be a great new garden addition.

Achillea Paprika is now producing flower shoots and tight bud. Always a popular variety and very attractive to the garden pollinators. Spring favourite the Erysimum's are now in bud. A spring flush of healthy shoot growth on our overwintered Phlox range, all looking very strong. Best crop ever as we have managed to keep the pigeons of them.

Have fun, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hectic and hairy

Morning all,

Need some rain please, not just to wet the soil in the gardens but to slow up demand a bit. We are struggling to find any time to do anything but despatch. The consecutive 4 day weeks don't help, and ongoing absences have taken their toll, the frustration of not getting jobs done tends to mask the rejoicing at selling so many plants. The rejoicing bit is definitely well masked this week and I wonder if we have the work/life balance quite mastered yet as I notice Caroline nodding off while over-sticking barcodes for a customer late one night. We will save the celebrations for when things quieten down a bit.

So what went well this week? I suppose getting all the orders out before the weekend was a great result and special thanks must go to the skeleton crew who came in on Monday to get the deliveries off to a flying start early on Tuesday. We sent out a huge amount of microprop modules to growers this week, on top of everything else, something like 20% of the entire years microprop output in one week. We squeezed in a short potting thrash on Friday afternoon and will have another go tomorrow, but did manage to stop the machine three times in as many hours. Luckily it didn't actually break it just stopped. It is much cleverer that the old one and it trips out the motor if it detects a jam somewhere. Having used the new machine several weeks now, we hadn't seen this issue before but three times today the odd escapee pot jammed in the compost lifting mechanism. In the old days this would mean digging out all the compost by hand to get to the problem which was a huge pain, but the new machine not only stops early, it has a switch to reverse the compost delivery belt which takes the pressure off the lifter. Then there is a release mechanism that drops away part of the floor of the machine under the lifter, to allow easy and safe access to clear any blockages. A very well thought out solution enabling us to get up and running again in minutes rather than hours. Valuable lessons learnt today.

With the (organised) despatch chaos this week I completely forgot about the first pot delivery of the year which came in early on Thursday. One of several containers we take in each season, it had been delayed from last autumn in the hope that container delivery prices would fall back. Sadly the plan failed and we ended up paying over $10,000 rather than the usual $1,200. To help mitigate the higher prices our very enthusiastic pot makers in Sri Lanka, went to great lengths to fit more pots into every available space. They squeezed the pot stacks in each box a little tighter so increasing the amount in a box and used all sorts of different sized boxes to loose-fill any spare gaps in the container. In the end it will result in one less container being used this year, which could save a lot if prices don't fall back and will help in the long run whatever happens. There are a few down sides, the container took slightly longer to unload and the tighter packed pot stacks in the boxes will mean extra manual pot wrestling when loading the potting machine. We've had a quick practice with one of the new boxes and it doesn't seem too bad so fingers crossed it all works out ok.

Wooden box returns appeal

We are eating our way through our new stock of wooden boxes scarily quickly, I can't believe how all that winter work has now nearly all gone. Can I make an appeal to anyone using our empty boxes as part of their display constructions, to try and find some alternative materials to use. Each box costs us £10 to replace and it doesn't take many to disappear into such a display for large amounts of valuable box stock to be left unused by us. Those empty boxes sitting there are not earning their keep with us, which increases our costs and consequently our prices to you.

Availability list highlights

After a long and hectic run we are quite short of stock in bud at the moment. Overall stock levels for the perennials are still ok, just short on flower action. The herb stock is definitely low for the coming week and is likely to be so for 2 or 3 more weeks as we end the overwintered batches of some stock and await the readiness of the new stock. Demand for herbs has taken us by surprise after a quieter year in 2021 when I got carried away and over produced in the summer, after such a busy 2020 (once it started).

We have a couple of Camassia showing bud, the lovely white form the excellent blue Maybelle. Very late flowering Narcisuss Sun Disc are now in bud. A small flowered beauty it is worth the wait. So late it is almost a novelty! First flowers are opening and not many left so don't hang about.

Low growing Erodiums in both colours are budding now, ready to flower all summer long. Spring favourite the Erysimum's are now in bud. We have some lovely batches of Salvia nemerosa varieties bulking up well with several varieties already in bud.

A spring flush of healthy shoot growth on our overwintered Phlox range, all looking very strong. Best crop ever as we have managed to keep the pigeons off them.

Have fun, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Hairy measurements

Morning all,

Well we made it, It's Easter time and everyone seems to be talking about holidays and days off, as usual. Naturally in our trade we all are making hay while the sun shines, in today's case literally! It sure is a busy old time for all of us and I hope Joe Gardener out there isn't making your weekend too difficult and is still opening their wallets wide. We certainly had a challenging week mainly due to the workload, but also those extra challenges that pop up from time to time, or in our case on a seemingly weekly basis.

Last Saturday we had a mega potting day planned which went swimmingly well until the new van arrived, after being picked up a year after being ordered. Just in time for the busiest week of the year, it drove into the yard every inch bright and shiny. However it very soon became apparent that we had a bit of an issue. They had made the box 8cm too narrow and the trolleys don't fit! They have made a box for us before, and for other nurseries, so they knew all the dimensions, but someone somewhere made an error and here we are. I spent the rest of the weekend building bits of frame to securely hold a different pattern of trolleys, which means we can squeeze on 14 rather than the 17 on the original design. It will have to go back in the winter for a rebuild, but we can't afford to be without it now as the old one has gone and demand is so high. Phil our driver may well be huffing and puffing a bit more than usual when unloading in the next week or two, as the new loading pattern isn't as easy to operate, so please bear with him. I suspect he will get the hang of it in a bit. Now I understand what I have heard before, a tiny difference in size can make all the difference to your level of happiness. One day something will go right and we can all get excited again!

New potting machine is settling in nicely after a few KFN tweaks and alterations and we have just had a very productive Good Friday which is great. Just need to go and finish the watering in before it gets dark and we can get ready for a mega weekend. Potting again tomorrow morning and then preparation and packing begins for our biggest micro-propagation module sales week of the year. Not great timing but can't do much about it. We have a team in on Monday morning to get despatch off to a quick start next week and the vans full from day one (Tuesday) as well as delivering the microprop packed up over the weekend by Caroline, with some minor assistance from yours truly. Even had to turn down Easter Sunday lunch this year which is a shame as we all missed it for the last couple of covid affected years. Hoping to get a quick visit in for tea on Sunday just to show our faces and gather in a share of Easter goodies.

Hope your Easter is equally relaxing and you are able to fit in a bit of post-restriction socialising, it will help take our minds off all the other stuff in the news. One nursery in our business group has just been quoted 50p per kWhr, up 300%, that was a shock!

Wooden box returns appeal

We are eating our way through our new stock of wooden boxes scarily quickly, I can't believe how all that winter work has started to disappear so fast out of the barn. Can I make an appeal to anyone using our empty boxes as part of their display constructions, to try and find some alternative materials to use. Each box costs us £10 to replace and it doesn't take many to disappear into such a display for large amounts of valuable box stock to be left unused by us. Not only do we have to buy and construct more boxes to cover our needs, but those empty boxes sitting there are not earning their keep with us, which increases our costs and consequently our prices to you.

Availability list highlights

After a hectic run we are quite short of stock in bud at the moment. Overall stock levels for the perennials are still ok, just short on flower action. The herb stock is definitely low for the coming week and is likely to be so for 2 or 3 more weeks as we end the overwintered batches of some stock and await the arrival of the new stock. Demand for herbs has taken us by surprise again after a quieter year in 2021 when I got carried away and over produced in the summer after such a busy 2020 (once it started).

We have a couple of Camassia showing bud, with the excellent blue Maybelle a week or two behind. Very late flowering Narcisuss Sun Disc are now in bud. A small flowered beauty it is worth the wait. So late it is almost a novelty!

Low growing Erodiums in both colours are budding now, ready to flower all summer long. Spring favourite the Erysimum's are now in bud. We have some lovely batches of Salvia nemerosa varieties bulking up well with several varieties already in bud. A spring flush of healthy shoot growth on our overwintered Phlox range, all looking very strong. Best crop ever. Fresh crops of Lupin just starting again this week.

Happy Easter, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries