Morning all,
Well that’s the annual hols out of the way for another year, St Ives lived up to all expectations again, great seas, plenty of fresh air and few light meals. Set a few new records, Caroline found her first Mesolithic flint on the coast path, spotted the first Dalmation Pelican seen in the UK (been here since May and has an 11ft wingspan so difficult to miss if you are in the right place!) and managed 2 weeks with only breakfast eaten in. Now carrying a substantial energy store for the winter ready to fuel all those winter projects. Hoping that the scales read just now I have trimmed my nails.
Back on the nursery we are catching up with all the progress made during our absence, lots of construction/maintenance jobs have been done or started and things are looking good, we should go away more often. The replacement lab store has arrived and is nearly all treated in advance of its construction and the old cold store is stripped out ready for demolition. Hoping to salvage a bit of timber for the wood burner and bag up some of the fibreglass insulation to reuse around the new cold room as we progress, to reuse some of the waste. Looking forward to getting this one up, the excellent insulation levels and small internal cold room should be way more efficient than the old one and the extra storage space in the other end will give more production space in the growth room which will be a huge help in the peak season. We only use the cold-store in the colder 6 months, which might sound daft but that’s how it works in the microprop lab production cycle, so we are attempting to make it convertible to use as an extra growth/rooting room for the rest of the year which again will be a useful change and more efficient use of the facilities.
While we were away an interesting and potentially devastating change to business rating policy came to light. A change in interpretation of some very old definitions of what qualifies as an agricultural business/building means that anyone producing young plants for sale before ‘maturity’ or not in a finished state, could be subject to rates on their whole covered production area. That applies to glasshouses and similar buildings, so for young plant producers in the UK that could make them instantly uncompetitive with most imports in a major way. We had a NBIS meeting last week (in Cornwall luckily) where it became very apparent how serious this was in a business where margins are already being squeezed very tight. The loss of young plant producers is the last thing we should be contemplating as the risk of importing foreign pest and diseases is ever increasing already and we should be encouraging more uk production not less. Horticulture has always been classed as part of agriculture in the past and the development of more efficient specialist young plant producers has benefited the whole industry immensely with introductions of new lines and keeping production costs down. We will be supporting the NFU in their efforts to get this new threat to UK production sorted, if you get the chance please do voice your support to keep us UK growers going.
Availability highlights
We have a few winter performers still on offer and if anyone would like to make up a smaller order we will do our best to get it to you asap. Ideally a 15 tray minimum is best but we could stretch to 12 trays if you are fairly local or we are passing by. The Hellebores are coming on well and a few are ready to roll. We have a great new range of orientalis with several colours and forms (singles, doubles and spotted). They should be flowering from their first winter, in fact we have already spotted the occasional bud, so hopeful of some good sales there, They are certainly looking strong at the moment. Lamium and Ajuga are have attractive fairly evergreen foliage and can look good through the cooler months.
Wooden box collections
We have been collected up lots of wooden trays in recent weeks before things get too damp and cold, so if you have any needing collection just drop us an email and we will add you to the list of destinations.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Monday 21 November 2016
Tuesday 1 November 2016
Hairy Parking
Morning all,
The nice stretch of autumn weather has pushed along the nursery makeover nicely. The new roof over the lab is up and covered with just a few fiddly bits to finish off, enough is in place to stop the leaks which is quite a relief. We also stripped off five split tunnel sheets and got three recovered in good enough conditions to get some stretch into the covers ensuring minimum winter movement. The weather looks like holding long enough to get at least one more finished on Monday, maybe both. The trouble with the recovering job is that having tunnels from 20 to 30 years old you are never quite sure of the state of the timber side rails until the old sheet comes off and we have had to do quite a lot of wood replacement as we have gone along turning a two or three hour job into a 2 or three day job. Frustrating, but at least we can sleep soundly at night in the knowledge that it should all still be there in the morning so not a bad thing really.
I got the first batch of LEDs in the growth room going last weekend so now waiting for the next batch to arrive. I am meanwhile pressing on with some of the shelf alterations and coming up with more and more cunning plans to overcome my lack of arm length so getting quicker with less stress too. I’m glad I took this one on myself, getting someone in would have been a nightmare with the combination of plant relocation on the shelves, shelf reconstruction, light hanging and wiring, all done in small batches when potentially access is needed all the working week by others. My evenings are now booked up pretty solidly with this one but the job satisfaction is a good one. Electric use in there has only dipped a tiny bit so far but it won’t be until the job is complete that we can measure the true impact, can’t wait.
After a fantastic weekend on Tresco a couple of weeks ago we went to the opposite end of the scale yesterday with a visit to central London for a friend’s birthday lunch. We were picked up early by another couple to share the trip in, giving ourselves plenty of time to get there, or so we thought. From somewhere all these people pitched up, driving about and cluttering up the roads making us in the end, late. I was convinced that the car park we had picked would be full but luckily I was wrong and we found a space easily, just a 15 min walk from the venue. After a pleasant meal in great company and a bit of a walk about, we returned to the car park to find out why it wasn’t full, £26 fed into the machine to get out! Obliviously a lot of folk find this environment very exciting, all those people, all that concrete and glass but I’m afraid I just don’t get it, give me some green space please. It was a one day adventure I suppose, but you can stick the Shard in the London Eye for all I care, the main thing a day like that does for me is make me appreciate what we have out here in the sticks!
Availability highlights
We have a few winter performers still on offer and if anyone would like to make up a smaller order we will do our best to get it to you asap. Ideally a 15 tray minimum is best but we could stretch to 12 trays if you are fairly local or we are passing by. The little hardy Cyclamen coum are just getting started now, with a few flowers open and loads of bud to come. This range flowers from now until April, a real winter star.
The Hellebores are coming on well and a few are ready to roll. We have a great new range of orientalis with several colours and forms (singles, doubles and spotted). They should be flowering from their first winter, in fact we have already spotted the occasional bud, so hopeful of some good sales there, They are certainly looking strong at the moment.
We have a very few Schizostylus (Hesperatha) Fenland Daybreak in bud and flower this week and fresh batches of coccinea Red and Oregano Sunset both looking nice. Not quite sure if they will flower this autumn but strong bushy plants full of promise.
The very late flowering Kniphofia Limelight is in flower now, we don’t have many, but they are big bold flowers which are almost luminous in their intensity. Still a few flowers on the Erodium Bishops Form which has been in flower virtually non-stop since April. We have a very pretty crop of Tiarella in flower at the moment, should look good for a little bit longer yet. Lamium and Ajuga are have attractive fairly evergreen foliage and can look good through the cooler months.
Wooden box collections
We have been collected up lots of wooden trays in recent weeks before things get too damp and cold, so if you have any needing collection just drop us an email and we will add you to the list of destinations.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
The nice stretch of autumn weather has pushed along the nursery makeover nicely. The new roof over the lab is up and covered with just a few fiddly bits to finish off, enough is in place to stop the leaks which is quite a relief. We also stripped off five split tunnel sheets and got three recovered in good enough conditions to get some stretch into the covers ensuring minimum winter movement. The weather looks like holding long enough to get at least one more finished on Monday, maybe both. The trouble with the recovering job is that having tunnels from 20 to 30 years old you are never quite sure of the state of the timber side rails until the old sheet comes off and we have had to do quite a lot of wood replacement as we have gone along turning a two or three hour job into a 2 or three day job. Frustrating, but at least we can sleep soundly at night in the knowledge that it should all still be there in the morning so not a bad thing really.
I got the first batch of LEDs in the growth room going last weekend so now waiting for the next batch to arrive. I am meanwhile pressing on with some of the shelf alterations and coming up with more and more cunning plans to overcome my lack of arm length so getting quicker with less stress too. I’m glad I took this one on myself, getting someone in would have been a nightmare with the combination of plant relocation on the shelves, shelf reconstruction, light hanging and wiring, all done in small batches when potentially access is needed all the working week by others. My evenings are now booked up pretty solidly with this one but the job satisfaction is a good one. Electric use in there has only dipped a tiny bit so far but it won’t be until the job is complete that we can measure the true impact, can’t wait.
After a fantastic weekend on Tresco a couple of weeks ago we went to the opposite end of the scale yesterday with a visit to central London for a friend’s birthday lunch. We were picked up early by another couple to share the trip in, giving ourselves plenty of time to get there, or so we thought. From somewhere all these people pitched up, driving about and cluttering up the roads making us in the end, late. I was convinced that the car park we had picked would be full but luckily I was wrong and we found a space easily, just a 15 min walk from the venue. After a pleasant meal in great company and a bit of a walk about, we returned to the car park to find out why it wasn’t full, £26 fed into the machine to get out! Obliviously a lot of folk find this environment very exciting, all those people, all that concrete and glass but I’m afraid I just don’t get it, give me some green space please. It was a one day adventure I suppose, but you can stick the Shard in the London Eye for all I care, the main thing a day like that does for me is make me appreciate what we have out here in the sticks!
Availability highlights
We have a few winter performers still on offer and if anyone would like to make up a smaller order we will do our best to get it to you asap. Ideally a 15 tray minimum is best but we could stretch to 12 trays if you are fairly local or we are passing by. The little hardy Cyclamen coum are just getting started now, with a few flowers open and loads of bud to come. This range flowers from now until April, a real winter star.
The Hellebores are coming on well and a few are ready to roll. We have a great new range of orientalis with several colours and forms (singles, doubles and spotted). They should be flowering from their first winter, in fact we have already spotted the occasional bud, so hopeful of some good sales there, They are certainly looking strong at the moment.
We have a very few Schizostylus (Hesperatha) Fenland Daybreak in bud and flower this week and fresh batches of coccinea Red and Oregano Sunset both looking nice. Not quite sure if they will flower this autumn but strong bushy plants full of promise.
The very late flowering Kniphofia Limelight is in flower now, we don’t have many, but they are big bold flowers which are almost luminous in their intensity. Still a few flowers on the Erodium Bishops Form which has been in flower virtually non-stop since April. We have a very pretty crop of Tiarella in flower at the moment, should look good for a little bit longer yet. Lamium and Ajuga are have attractive fairly evergreen foliage and can look good through the cooler months.
Wooden box collections
We have been collected up lots of wooden trays in recent weeks before things get too damp and cold, so if you have any needing collection just drop us an email and we will add you to the list of destinations.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
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