Morning all,
A good week past for getting things done. Feeling quite virtuous after taking on a few of those odd jobs that have been waiting for months to get done. We have only a few weeks before the next season kicks off again and it always catches me out as to how quickly that time arrives. By the time Christmas has interrupted the proceedings a lot of well meaning plans get pushed on another year as the plant preparation demands increase as the season rushes ever closer. Despite the windy feel to the week we actually found a couple of windows in the weather to get the three most heavily lacerated tunnel sheets off and replaced. The old covers are folded up on a pallet in the barn all ready to take to our recycling man just down the road in Romsey and the new covers on nice and securely. We might have to re-tension them a bit in the summer when it warms up to keep them taught, they last much longer if stretched well over the hoops.
We are well on the way to completing repairs to our collection of damaged wooden display boxes, which is great, we had accumulated several pallets of them over the last year or two, never quite finding the time to get them all done. I have now sourced the narrow replacement timber slats to repair the inner lattices too so not long before that big job is done and we are back to full box capacity ready for all those mega spring sales.
A rehash of the outdoor lighting has brightened up the end of the day activities, no more stumbling about in the dark trying to find our way back to base. The old PIR spotlights had past their sell-by date a while ago with most no longer doing their thing and to mount and plug in some far more efficient LED replacements was a joy. I did a bit of research on the lights and ended up at Screwfix who were supplying several makes but I plumped for a LAP range which seemed to have good reviews. With differing areas to light I went for a 10W, a couple of 20W and a 30W. They are all just right for what we were after, not really good enough for working under for long but perfect for seeing where you are going. The 10W is tiny but does a great job for lighting the area we were after, it keeps it safe and uses only a tiny bit of electric. Also got the electricians in to quote for fitting some LED replacement strip-lights I bought for the lab work cabinets and the office. They are nice and bright, great for the close up intricate work we do in the lab but without the irritating flicker of the old fluorescent tubes and reduce electric use by about 65%. The old lights desperately needed replacing anyway so not feeling too guilty about recycling those. I located an insulated tea urn too to replace our limping old one. Less heat loss and quicker heating should pay for itself within 18 months.
Need to find some hope in humanity after Paris, check out this touching moment featured in episode 5 of Russell Howard's TV show. Go to the last item which starts 26 mins and 10 seconds in. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06q9zv3/russell-howards-good-news-series-10-episode-5
In the words of the infamous John Otway song ‘Beware of the Flowers (because I’m sure they’re going to get you, Yeah)’
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter.
As the winter approaches our range falls away with the many deciduous varieties withdrawing into the relative warmth of the compost, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield. Drop us a line and we will try and put together a few orders to make it work for everyone.
Availability highlights
Dainty flowered but hardy Cyclamen coum are showing bud now in all three separate colours and now the silvered leaved form too, They should flower from now until April. You don’t get the face full of flower of the pot plant types but a continuous classy steady show of hardy blooms.
The slightly showier hardy Cyclamen hederifolium types are also now in bloom. Bolder colours and more floriferous. Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display. H. Niger, the classic Christmas Rose and its slightly earlier flowering cousin H niger Praecox are already producing some buds and very occasional open flower.
Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. We have some nice looking Heuchera too in a range of foliage colours.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday 30 November 2015
Monday 23 November 2015
Home and Hairy
Morning all,
It’s been a while since my last splurge of news simply because Caroline and I have been on our annual break to sunny St Ives. The world seems to have been in turmoil in the past few weeks which casts a menacing shadow over a lot of stuff, but we press on, what else can we do?
The unseasonably warm weather has kept plants growing longer than usual, we have a few spring crops trying to flower already which is a bit of a worry but a good cold snap over the weekend should slow that up a bit and also knock back those pests that are still active. The recent winds have taken off a couple of tunnel covers which was to be expected at some point really. We still have 9 covers to replace so in reality we could have lost more but we are still waiting for a quiet spell to get them done. We have a few empty tunnels so we can shuffle any over exposed crops around to keep them happy, a good job to keep us warm and it gives us a chance to tidy them up ready for the spring. Every cloud and all that. St Ives in November lived up to expectations yet again, we’ve been going there a bonkers number of years and already looking forward to next year! Nothing sad about us! Found yet more great places to maintain nutrient levels and extended the lunch stops to very relaxed levels. There was a time when we walked well over ten miles a day with just a warm pasty and sip of water to keep us going but as the years slip by and we carefully select older walking partners the midday recovery break has stretched to 2-3 hours with a little more than a pasty snack to keep up the strength. That’s more like a holiday! Now I know the expectation from a holiday these days is somewhat higher than the old times but how about this for a big day; Short drive to Marazion for a beach and cliff top walk to Perranuthnoe and a fantastic very long lunch at The Victoria pub (reported in The Times a few weeks ago as possibly the best pub food in the UK), walking back we spot a Hudsonian Whimbrel (only the 12th seen in the UK since 1950), it had been in the area for a week or so but we spotted it on a remote bit of beach with no pointers other than the larger Curlew that was chasing it. It landed a little away from us then moved twice getting closer each time showing off all its identifying features, a great spot and six of us to witness it. Then Brian picks up a flint tool from a ploughed field next to the path and identifies it as a likely Paeliolithic (early) stone age by the way in which flint has been prepared and struck. It turns out when we got back that this could be only the 31st Paeliolithic tool found in Cornwall (book was a bit old) so it’s location was accurately recorded and it’s on its way to the Truro Museum. A fabulous murmuration of starlings over Marazion Marsh topped off the day, one to remember.
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter. As the winter approaches our range falls away with the many deciduous varieties withdrawing into the relative warmth of the compost, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield. Drop us a line and we will try and put together a few orders to make it work for everyone.
Availability highlights
Dainty flowered but hardy Cyclamen coum are showing bud now in all three separate colours and now the silvered leaved form too, They should flower from now until April. You don’t get the face full of flower of the pot plant types but a continuous classy steady show of hardy blooms.
The slightly showier hardy Cyclamen hederifolium types are also now in bloom. Bolder colours and more floriferous and classic display of cyclamen.
Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display. H. Niger, the classic Christmas Rose and its slightly earlier flowering cousin H niger Praecox are already producing some buds and very occasional open flower.
Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. We have some nice looking Heuchera too in a range of foliage colours.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
It’s been a while since my last splurge of news simply because Caroline and I have been on our annual break to sunny St Ives. The world seems to have been in turmoil in the past few weeks which casts a menacing shadow over a lot of stuff, but we press on, what else can we do?
The unseasonably warm weather has kept plants growing longer than usual, we have a few spring crops trying to flower already which is a bit of a worry but a good cold snap over the weekend should slow that up a bit and also knock back those pests that are still active. The recent winds have taken off a couple of tunnel covers which was to be expected at some point really. We still have 9 covers to replace so in reality we could have lost more but we are still waiting for a quiet spell to get them done. We have a few empty tunnels so we can shuffle any over exposed crops around to keep them happy, a good job to keep us warm and it gives us a chance to tidy them up ready for the spring. Every cloud and all that. St Ives in November lived up to expectations yet again, we’ve been going there a bonkers number of years and already looking forward to next year! Nothing sad about us! Found yet more great places to maintain nutrient levels and extended the lunch stops to very relaxed levels. There was a time when we walked well over ten miles a day with just a warm pasty and sip of water to keep us going but as the years slip by and we carefully select older walking partners the midday recovery break has stretched to 2-3 hours with a little more than a pasty snack to keep up the strength. That’s more like a holiday! Now I know the expectation from a holiday these days is somewhat higher than the old times but how about this for a big day; Short drive to Marazion for a beach and cliff top walk to Perranuthnoe and a fantastic very long lunch at The Victoria pub (reported in The Times a few weeks ago as possibly the best pub food in the UK), walking back we spot a Hudsonian Whimbrel (only the 12th seen in the UK since 1950), it had been in the area for a week or so but we spotted it on a remote bit of beach with no pointers other than the larger Curlew that was chasing it. It landed a little away from us then moved twice getting closer each time showing off all its identifying features, a great spot and six of us to witness it. Then Brian picks up a flint tool from a ploughed field next to the path and identifies it as a likely Paeliolithic (early) stone age by the way in which flint has been prepared and struck. It turns out when we got back that this could be only the 31st Paeliolithic tool found in Cornwall (book was a bit old) so it’s location was accurately recorded and it’s on its way to the Truro Museum. A fabulous murmuration of starlings over Marazion Marsh topped off the day, one to remember.
Minimum delivery reduction for the winter. As the winter approaches our range falls away with the many deciduous varieties withdrawing into the relative warmth of the compost, but we still have a few evergreen hardy sorts doing their thing. I know it can be tricky putting together a minimum order of a full trolley (21 trays) at this time of year so if you fancy a few trays but can’t get to 21 we are happy to reduce the minimum to 12 trays for local drops and 15 trays for a bit further afield. Drop us a line and we will try and put together a few orders to make it work for everyone.
Availability highlights
Dainty flowered but hardy Cyclamen coum are showing bud now in all three separate colours and now the silvered leaved form too, They should flower from now until April. You don’t get the face full of flower of the pot plant types but a continuous classy steady show of hardy blooms.
The slightly showier hardy Cyclamen hederifolium types are also now in bloom. Bolder colours and more floriferous and classic display of cyclamen.
Helleborus are coming back on stream now as they gather their strength for their great winter display. H. Niger, the classic Christmas Rose and its slightly earlier flowering cousin H niger Praecox are already producing some buds and very occasional open flower.
Absolutely stonking Ajugas in different foliage colours and forms. Fantastic ground cover and bursting with vigour. We have some nice looking Heuchera too in a range of foliage colours.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)