Hairy Lumberjacks

Morning all,
What a difference a week makes. The farm chainsaw gang, fresh from their weeks tree felling training, came up on Tuesday to make a start on cutting down our rather sad Leylandii hedge. It has been tidied up on several occasions over the years but ended up brown on the sides and overhanging our prop tunnels at some height. It was initially a daunting task and approached with some trepidation. Once started there would be no turning back and the felling of each plant needed to be pretty precise to fall on the track between the prop tunnel, which is full of young plants and heated, and the donkey paddock fence. For a change things actually went better than expected and we should have only one more day to go before the whole lot will be down and cleared away. We just had the one exciting close call, with one tree falling rather adjacent to the tunnel and brushing the cover a bit firmly, but it held out, so sighs of relief all round. The difference it has already made to the two closest prop tunnels is astonishing, we used to have to put on supplementary lighting in one for the winter mornings, when it would take until gone 12.00 before the sun shifted the dense shadow and now we can reduce that input. Next job will be to order the replacement mixed natural hedging we are planting in its place. Hopefully we can keep better control of this one and being mainly deciduous it will still let plenty of light though in the winter. Mondays forecast looks promising and the heroic farm team are due back then, so this will be a great job to get completed before the break.
It might make up for the disappointing progress on the nursery office rebuild. I have been really struggling to leave the old one, it just seems such an upheaval, all that history, all those wires connecting me to the rest of the nursery/world and all that accumulated stuff on the shelves, however I am feeling inspired by last week's hedge transformation and the thought of seeing this tired, freezing cold, old wreck of a portacabin gone, is suddenly quite exciting. Greg had a good go on Friday and removed a load of equipment, stores and dismantled a big shelving unit and worktop so it now looks like something might happen. Looking forward now to reassembling it all in the new version. Scary stuff.
If you can see past the current Brexit chaos, it's great to see there seems a bit more urgency coming into the latest world climate change talks. Hopefully some meaningful actions will come together that are more than token gestures. I know not everyone is joining in, but that is no excuse not to do your best. Don't forget we can all help as individuals to do our bit, we can't leave it all up to the big boys to sort it out for us, let's rejoice in taking some responsibility for ourselves.
Christmas is nearly here so I'd better wish you 'all the best' for the festive period just in case you have already gone away by next week's update, or if I've decided started early on the celebrations and don't make it in that weekend. We are in a run of three 60th birthday parties over three weeks with the last one being a big barn dance next weekend. The timing is just a fluke coincidence really, it's something to do with the much older circle of friends we mix with and definitely nothing to do with my advancing years!

Availability highlights
Helleborus orientalis in a variety of colours are now well under way, for that winter interest and early exotic colour. Stonking bushy plants which are mostly from a strain (Crown series) that has a high percentage of first season flowering. I hardly dare mention it, but there are a few odd plants threatening to flower already. I haven't put them on the list as being in bud as there aren't that many yet. The winter and spring flowering Cyclamen coum varieties we grow are now showing colour. The strain we grow has an exceptionally long flowering season with colour usually showing from November through to March and even April. They rarely get swamped with masses of flower at any one time, they just keep going on, producing a pretty and dainty show for ages.
We still have a few of the hardy autumn flowering Cyclamen (hederifolium) left with attractive evergreen winter foliage. We have a load planted in the garden by a hedge and they make a lovely winter ground covering. There are a few purple flowers beginning to show among the Primula Wanda, there will be loads more next spring.
I'm not sure for how long they will continue flowering but we have late potted batches of Armeria maritima (both the pink and the white forms) which are in flower with more bud still coming.
Compact and chunky Leucathemums are generally pretty evergreen throughout the winter. There are several varieties looking very strong.
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is still sprouting a few flower buds. If the weather is not too harsh we have had these still flowering at Christmas before now and they could well do that again this year. Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Carex Evergold, Ajuga,Lamium and Euphorbia.

Have a great Christmas from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Seeing the hairy light

Morning all,
Apologies for the break in communications, I bet you'd not noticed I'd gone. We took a long break in sunny St Ives and it has taken a little while to get back on top of things. Now I feel like I need another holiday. Only another 11 months to go and we can go again, can't wait. We just rent a house above one of the beaches and have a few friends to stay, just perfect. We had a huge number of fabulous meals from simple grilled mackerel and chips to full blown mega fancy stuff, now I'm on a
starvation diet in preparation for the upcoming Christmas excesses. Lucky the current trend in waistbands is elasticated, or is that just the shops I go to?
I popped into the Winchester Guildhall a couple of weeks ago to pick up our Green Impact Gold award from the Mayor. Group picture in the Hampshire Chronicle, so now getting plenty of recognition in the streets and autographs needing to be signed. Very pleased with the award, it's great for the business to get recognition for all our sustainability efforts, but we are also ever hopeful that others are seeing what we are up to and think perhaps they could do more too. It's a great scheme, we particularly like the little nudges it gives us to change things in areas perhaps we hadn't look at before.
So much to fit in before Christmas and so little time. The new online catalogue will be out very soon, I just need to get the last few images and updates in there and I can publish it. We are going to splash out on a mobile/tablet version for 2019 as I know there are a few of you out there who have asked for this. Not quite sure how it will work but hopefully it will be useful.
This is the time of year when we try and have a think about what other improvements we can make to the nursery. The biggest new thing will be the non-plastic coloured pot labels we are introducing early next year, but there are plenty of other bits to play with and inevitably spend money on. The rain this week highlighted the next few tunnels that need drains installing and this is now already underway with a couple of new trenches dug and the pipe-work arriving today, The old office is getting leakier with each passing storm so the pressure is on to get on with demolishing it and erecting the new super insulated log cabin, the list goes on.
We saw some of our aging HPS propagation lights go out this week, so replacing those with LEDs has moved up the agenda after spending a fortune on electricians unsuccessfully trying to identify and rectify the fault. The lighting issue also highlighted our vulnerability to potential losses if the heating went off too. We have more micropropagated module stock in there than ever before and it is growing away really well, but if we got caught out on a cold night with a tripped out power supply in that
tunnel, the heating would go off and we wouldn't know. So it was onto the internet to find a plug-in power cut sensor (with a backup battery and sim card), which will phone your mobile to let you know when the power goes out and also when it comes back on again. Then we lashed out on a new generator battery and trickle charger to make sure that whatever time of night the power is lost it is easy to get the backup system going. Now I can sleep easy.
Just the leylandii hedge to remove and replace, the catalogue to finish, labels to print and a few orders to do. Plenty of time, it's ages until Christmas.

Availability highlights
Helleborus orientalis in a variety of colours are now well under way, for that winter interest and early exotic colour. Stonking bushy plants which are mostly from a strain (Crown series) that has a high percentage of first season flowering. I hardly dare mention it, but there are a few odd plants threatening to flower already. I haven't put them on the list as being in bud as there aren't that many yet.
The winter and spring flowering Cyclamen coum varieties we grow are now showing colour. The strain we grow has an exceptionally long flowering season with colour usually showing from November through to March and even April. They rarely get swamped with masses of flower at any one time, they just keep going on, producing a pretty and dainty show for ages. We still have a few of the hardy autumn flowering Cyclamen (hederifolium) left with attractive evergreen winter foliage. We have a load planted in the garden by a hedge and they make a lovely winter ground covering.
There are a few purple flowers beginning to show among the Primula Wanda, there will be loads more next spring.
I'm not sure for how long they will continue flowering but we have late potted batches of Armeria maritima (both the pink and the white forms) which are in flower with more bud still coming.
Compact and chunky Leucathemums are generally pretty evergreen throughout the winter. There are several varieties looking very strong.
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is still sprouting a few flower buds. If the weather is not too harsh we have had these still flowering at Christmas before now and they could well do that again this year. Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Lamium and Euphorbia.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Damp and Hairy again

Morning all,
Feeling the chill a bit now. We've had a few frosts over the last week or so and it's made quite a difference to the overall feel of the season. I know I'm a bit early on sending this list out but it now feels about right for a bracing British seaside holiday and that is what is about to happen as we slip away for a few days R & R with a few friends. House and nursery all set up with sitters and plenty of cover should anyone need an emergency order or two so I'm sure you won't miss me.
The build up to a few days off makes you feel even more like you need a break, and as happens every year something always breaks down just as you are getting set to go. It usually revolves around some sort of plumbing issue so adds that extra frisson of damp messiness to go with it. This time it was the downstairs loo which refused to flush properly. After initial investigation and some fiddling about with the ball-cock to increase the water level a bit, I discovered a stripped thread on the adjuster so left it bodged and still not flushing. Someone, who will remain nameless, then had a look at it and managed to break the whole thing off, so it was off to the shops for new bits all round. Bought a new main siphon and ball-cock both of which claimed to be a 15 minute fix, 5 hours later we had a working loo with only a small drip (not me). Another two days saw the drip eventually sealed to the relief of all involved. Now we can relax.
Anyway back to real life of sorts, on the nursery. I have been putting together a few plant orders for next season, looking for a few new lines to add onto our lists, hopefully boosting everyone's sales even further. I will put the finishing touches to the new catalogue on my return so you should get an idea of the new offerings then. There will also be a bit more info in there about the new non-plastic waterproofed colour pot labels. I have just placed the detailed order on those, so no stopping us now. I've a feeling there may be a bit of press coverage by Floramedia about the labels when they get delivered to us in the New Year as this is another first for outdoor plant promotion. Fame at last.
Talking of fame, I have to pop into Winchester Guildhall soon to meet the mayor and pick up our Green Impact award for 2018, which should be their Gold Award if my sums are correct. We ticked a lot of their sustainable boxes this year and the recent audit went really well, so fingers crossed for good news and a splash in the Hampshire Chronicle.
Must go, off in an hour or two and haven't actually packed yet, but how long does it take to pack shorts and tee shirt?
Have fun.

Availability highlights
Helleborus orientalis in a variety of colours are now well under way, for that winter interest and early exotic colour. Stonking bushy plants which are from a strain (Crown series) that has a high percentage of first season flowering. I hardly dare mention it, but there are a few odd plants threatening to flower already. I haven't put them on the list as being in bud as there aren't
that many yet.
Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the autumn too. Looking and smelling great. although they do need a little warmth in the air to get the scent going.
The late summer flowering Anemones are still looking good in many gardens if not too battered by the recent cold winds, and we have some looking strong.
Compact and chunky Leucathemum Banana Creme with lovely bud showing and the odd splash of delightful pale yellow. The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is still sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. If the weather is not too harsh we have had these still flowering at Christmas before now.
Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia.

WOODEN BOX RETURNS
We have visited most sites now and our van trips have dropped away, so we won't be coming by quite as often, however please do keep in touch and let us know if you have a batch to go and we will try and get round to you at some point.

Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Antiqued Hairyness

Morning all,
After another delightful week weather wise, today has come as a bit of a shock. A cold northerly makes it feel a tad wintery and the boilers are chugging away in the prop tunnel trying to keep those young plants growing. Unfortunately the new office is still on pallets in the barn, ideally I should be tucked up in a new highly insulated and cosy hideaway rather than freezing my extremities in a leaky and cold portacabin. Just too much to do at the moment to get started, so it will have to wait a few weeks until we are all caught up elsewhere.
A few more chores satisfyingly completed this week, the boilers all serviced and fine-tuned, just in time for the cold snap and the phone system mended at last. Slightly bizarre ending to the phone saga, we accidently mended it ourselves! The base stations for the cordless phones all pass through a small network switch which had its power cable accidentally removed, all the cordless phones went dead, but on plug re-insertion all returned to normal with the previous faults cured. If in doubt turn it off and on again! Just need to pick the right bit to turn off. What a relief.
Several new frost proof taps installed around the nursery to make the winter freeze ups a bit less damaging and watering-in the potting less stressful when the spring arrives. Three tunnels have been emptied out of stock for a good clean up with just a few more to go. Some of the evergreen stock is already tidied and bark topping applied, to help suppress the liverwort growth that can detract from the plant appeal and add costly time onto the springtime despatch work. We have added yet more insulation to the prop tunnel heating system in an effort to further pin back the oil consumption. I'm hoping the returns will be swift, although it may well be a couple of winters before the payback time is reached. Jam tomorrow, but a warm glow of smugness inside today.
The lab store got a well needed coat of wood preservative to keep the damp out and looks very smart, we went for a radical change to a dark colour and ended up with an unexpected distressed/antiqued effect which looks just fine. We'll give it another coat as soon as we get a run of a couple of dry days, to achieve the necessary coverage and that will be another job ticked off the list.
Can't hang about, got to get the dinner on before dashing out for a big night out at a quiz in the village hall. It's all go, or at least, it might be later.

WOODEN BOX RETURNS
Thanks to everyone who has rustled together their boxes ready for return. We have a really good number back here now, all cleaned and stacked to fully dry out, with loads of pallets already tucked away in the barn. We have visited most sites now and our van trips have dropped away, so we won't be coming by quite as often, however please do keep in touch and let us know if you have a batch to go and we will try and get round to you at some point.

Availability highlights
Helleborus orientalis in a variety of colours are now well under way, for that winter interest and early exotic colour. Stonking bushy plants which are from a strain (Crown series) that has a high percentage of first season flowering. I hardly dare mention it, but there are a few odd plants threatening to flower already. I haven't put them on the list as being in bud as there aren't
that many yet.
Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the autumn too. Looking and smelling great.
The late summer flowering Anemones are still looking good in many gardens if not too battered by the recent winds, and we have some looking strong.
Compact and chunky Leucathemum Banana Creme with lovely bud showing and the odd splash of delightful pale yellow. Many of the Asters are still in bud or flower. The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is still sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. If the weather is not too harsh we have had these still flowering at Christmas before now.
Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Riskily Hairy

Morning all,

What a great autumn we are having down here. Striking winter foliage colour and some glorious sunny days to appreciate all that splendour. Perhaps it's partly the release of pressure with more relaxed sales volumes and the end of potting nigh, but feeling pretty jolly. A few of those long standing maintenance tasks got completed last week with the prop house heating system all up and running again thanks to the help of an expert engineer from Tom Tech , the boiler chimney got refitted into the roof by us, so it doesn't leak water into and heat out of the tunnel anymore and a several old and poorly external taps were replaced with more frost resistant and less leaky versions in preparation for the coming cooler months. We loaded the big van to the roof with our waste plastic collected over the year to drop into Ecogen next week and the pallets of card are ready for a second follow-on trip. Just in time to make enough space in the barn for the next container of pots which arrived on Thursday, all ready for the early spring potting. All very satisfying to get completed, albeit a tad costly.
I had a slog at my huge and complex label and stock spreadsheets this week to try and pin down our label requirements for the coming season. Floramedia who make our colour pot labels, are keen to get stuck into our next project so that the stock can be ready for the start of next year. The colour pot labels are the last main component of our perennial plant sales package that uses plastic, but from next season we are going to start replacing these with a waterproofed card label, a material called B500. If the label was being inserted into the compost itself it would have a fairly short shelf life because water can ingress along the label edge when held in long term damp conditions, but by using our bamboo skewer mounted design the label is held just above the compost rather than in it, so the ingress is much slower. We are helping pay for a new label cutter, needed to subtly adjust the position of the slots in the new label, so that the label retains its integrity for as long as possible. You shouldn't notice any real difference with the new label, the overall look will be very similar, although if you are unlucky enough to hold a bit of stock for a very long time we may need to replace the odd label if there is too much deterioration. There is always an element of risk on being the first to do anything and it seems additional costs, but it feels like the right thing to do and without some element of risk life might get a bit dull!
Sorry to have to repeat this message but our cordless phones are still misbehaving so if you don't get through to us directly on the phone please do leave a message or drop us an email. We are ever hopeful of a solution as we await another phone engineer visit.

WOODEN BOX RETURNS
Thanks to everyone who has rustled together their boxes ready for return. We have a really good number back here now, all cleaned and stacked to fully dry out, with loads of pallets already tucked away in the barn. We have visited most sites now and our van trips have dropped away, so we won't be coming by quite as often, however please do keep in touch and let us know if you have a batch to go and we will try and get round to you at some point.

Availability highlights
Helleborus orientalis in a variety of colours are now well under way, for that winter interest and early exotic colour. Stonking bushy plants which are from a strain (Crown series) that has a high percentage of first season flowering. I hardly dare mention it, but there are a few odd plants threatening to flower already. I haven't put them on the list as being in bud as there aren't
that many yet.
Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the autumn too. Looking and smelling great.
The late summer flowering Anemones are still looking good in many gardens if not too battered by the recent winds, and we have some looking strong. Compact and chunky Leucathemum Banana Creme with lovely bud showing and the odd splash of delightful pale yellow. We have a fresh patch of Achillea Moonshine in bud on short stems with its attractive, silver leaves.
Many of the Asters are still in bud or flower. The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is still sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. If the weather is not too harsh we have had these still flowering at Christmas before now.
Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Brunnera variegata, Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Warm and Hairy

Morning all,
A feeling of control is beginning to come back onto the nursery as end of the mad potting season comes within sight. One more day of spring flowering bulbs to pot up, then the last batch of Erysimums to see off and we can nearly relax. We have even started to make a dent in the backlog of other jobs that have been hanging around for a while. The prop house is close to readiness to fulfil its valuable winter work, the inside of the cover is clean so that we can make the most of the available light, some of the grow-lights lights are programmed to add a few hours to the day-length and the heating system is halfway through its pre-winter servicing and repairs. We have been struggling with heaters in the cooler end of the prop tunnel for a while, the fans that move the warm air across the area have been misbehaving and the under-floor heating pipes have been working on a manual valve for ages. It adds up to both an embarrassingly inefficient use of the heating oil and a risky strategy for keeping the plants free from damage in the cold if we don't keep on top of things. It is usually in the worst of the weather that these issues come to a head and you wish you had sorted it all out beforehand but the cost of getting in the climate control experts from far afield tends to put you off if you think you can cope. Anyway this week we got them in and quickly sorted out the broken relays in the computer system to control the heater fans. They are back next week to fit a new computer controlled valve to accurately control the under-floor heating too. What a relief it is to have it being dealt with and feel the heating is running as efficiently as it can and the plants are safe too, let's hope the bill is not too scary!
I took the time on Friday to pop over to our local recycling company (Ecogen) who have been in the horticultural press recently as they are potentially looking to recycle some of the plastic pots and materials that could be collected by garden centres and nurseries. I stopped by to book in our own delivery of card and plastic waste that we have accumulated over the year and catch up on the different sorts of material that we could send in. I thought it was a handy moment to ask how the pot recycling idea was panning out and from the conversation I had I'm not sure quite how effective / practical smaller scale pot recycling from individual sites is going to be. The economics of recycling are so tight that they need to be dealing with very large volumes to make it pay, collecting by the lorry load rather than by the pallet load, otherwise it just turns into a huge transport/logistics exercise costing lots of money which the waste producers are not often prepared to pay. Bigger sites or chains may have the volume, infrastructure and storage space to make it work but for many looking to this sort of solution there are going to be some disappointments. All the issues are still there that have caused the breakdown of previous pot recycling schemes, the direct financial material values involved are very low but the handling, storage and transport costs are high. Maybe the motivation to do something is a higher than before, but as soon as the costs hit home the financiers are not going to be happy. Then we have the pots suitable for kerbside collections to think about, again the finances hit home with many local authorities doing less with plastics than before or even nothing at all, due to a lack of desire or simply a lack of funding. Life is complicated and I can't say I know the answers, but it's going to need a commitment above and beyond the 'norm' to make a real difference. We are having a go at it, but it will take us all to push for real change if things are to improve.
A fun Green Impact audit last week, two young students to show round and hopefully impress. We await a report, but ever hopeful of getting to the top of the class. Never happened at school, but better late than never!
WOODEN BOX RETURNS
Thanks to everyone who has rustled together their boxes ready for return. We have a good number back here now, all cleaned and stacked to fully dry out, with loads of pallets already put away in the barn. We have been round most sites now and our van trips have dropped away so we won't be coming by quite as often, however please do keep in touch and let us know if you have a batch to go and we will try and get round to you at some point.
Availability highlights
Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the autumn too. Looking and smelling great.
The late summer flowering Anemones are still looking good in many gardens if not too battered by the recent winds, and we have some looking strong.
Compact and chunky Leucathemum Banana Creme with lovely bud showing and the odd splash of delightful pale yellow. We have a fresh patch of Achillea Moonshine in bud on short stems with its attractive, silver leaves. Many of the Asters are still in bud or flower.
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is still sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. If the weather is not too harsh we have had these still flowering at Christmas before now. Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Brunnera variegata, Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia.

Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Fashionable Hairy

Morning all,

Another lovely week here, warm and sunny until this morning, now it's wet with a nippy wind which is a bit of a shock. Suddenly the need to get the new office put together seems a bit more urgent. Trouble is we can't find the time to get out of the old one and into the temporary one, let alone getting the demolishing and prep done for the new one. Any thoughts of opening up our growing log cabin village as a winter wonderland venue to catch the Christmas market are gone for another year!
This seasons potting is nearly done with crates of Spring bulbs arriving and the early Erysimum crops in quarantine ready to do their winter growing. We have tried in the past to grow English Bluebells and snowdrops from autumn plantings without very much success so last spring we tried buying some 'in the green' plants and dropped them into large modules to see if they would fair better. Disappointingly they went dormant fairly quickly and showed little sign of growing, to the point where I nearly chucked the lot away. They have sat inert all summer in damp compost among all the other vigorous green stock looking very sad. This week was stocktaking week for the end of year records, so I was forced to bite the bullet and tip a few out to see if there was anything to salvage and much to my surprise there are strong fresh roots on almost everything so there may be a crop in the end after all. We had a few Wood Anemones in there too which were just spindly bits of root and even they are looking promising. Not quite sure how they will all perform once potted but there is now hope which is all I need.
The potting pressure over the last couple of months has kept us from keeping the nursery quite as perfect looking as we would like, but the next month or so should see a major tidy up as we get the time to catch up on all the chores. We have a few tunnel covers that have split over the summer and need replacing before the winter gets too wet and cold and a few more drains to dig in to collect up the excess rainfall as well as all the pot topping to suppress the moss and liverwort growth, so no rest for us just yet.
How is it that in the UK each person is buying an average of 26.7kg of clothing every year? When I think of how little I get through, someone else is really going to town to make up this average. Caroline has to wrestle my favourite stuff off me before I am forced to replace it. There were people being interviewed on the telly who struggled to think of anything in their wardrobe older than 12 months and that was a coat. Other than 'wearing parts' (undergarment basics) most of my collection must class as vintage in comparison, but luckily I'm not too fussed. I like to think if you buy quality and class it rarely dates, rather than the reality of, I'm beyond all fashion help, if it's comfy it'll get worn to death. Bring on the elasticated waistbands! Just thinking on this, my own favourite winter coat is a Fatface number I got in France in about 1990, Ok there are a couple of bits missing but it still does it for me.
Luckily we are not too busy on the phones at this time of year, as the ongoing phone issues have returned. We have narrowed it down now to a faulty base station which was probably the issue all along. It works ok on occasions, but needs rebooting every few hours to keep it on line. So apologies if you struggle to get through, do leave us a message if you get the chance, Hoping to get it sorted soon.
WOODEN BOX RETURNS
Thanks to everyone who has rustled together their boxes ready for return. We have a good number back here already, all cleaned and stacked to fully dry out, with loads of pallets already put away in the barn all set for sales to take off again next spring. We have a couple more trips out next week to hoover up the last big stacks and after that we will pop in if we are about to mop up anything you may still have for return. So keep in touch and let us know if you have a batch to go and we will try
and get round to you at some point.
Availability highlights
Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the late summer too and sure enough that is what's occurring now. Looking and smelling great. The late summer flowering Anemones are still looking great in the gardens and we have some with bud coming.
We have a fresh batch of compact and chunky Leucathemum Banana Creme with strong bud showing. We have a fresh patch of Achillea Moonshine in bud on short stems with its attractive, silver leaves. Many of the Asters are in bud or flower. The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is still sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty
colours. If the weather is not too harsh we have had these still flowering at Christmas before now.
Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Brunnera variegata, Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Clean and Hairy

Morning all,
Another lovely weekend after a great week. Bit nippy at night but glorious sunshine most days and we've had some stunning sunsets along the way. Make the most of it, it'll be dark by just after lunch all too soon!
The microprop lab is still knocking out some great young plants to prick out, which unfortunately has meant putting on the LED growlights for a few hours in the early morning and a bit of overnight heat too, so that the shock of the outside world isn't too much for the tender little things. Thankfully the media issues we had in the lab back in the spring seem to be behind us and most stock has made a strong recovery and looks better than ever. We are hoping that with a fair wind we can make up for this seasons shortages over the next 12 months, we have plenty of demand so it's heads down for a busy winter bulking up the numbers again. It's another one of those occasions where 'it'll be really good next year, just you see'. We've had a lot of those over the years and one day it'll come true.
We had our copy of 'Commercial Greenhouse Grower' arrive today with a big article covering the summer visit of the Herbaceous growers technical group we hosted. A nice positive piece with a couple of dodgy images including one of your truly looking very slim, thanks in a large part to a computer squeeze on the image to fit it all in!
Still busy potting, not too many to go, hoping to finish within a couple of weeks and then we can get stuck into all those other jobs waiting in the wings. We had a few more staff available last week which bumped up productivity and did gave me the opportunity to get stuck into some pre-winter chores. The main propagation/weaning tunnel has, by design, a really warm humid atmosphere which means green algae and liverwort growth tends to take over all surfaces over the summer. This effect is quite handy in the summer to provide a bit of shade but in the autumn and winter when any extra light is a bonus, something has to be done about it. So with stock levels temporarily low in there this week I clad myself from head to toe in an old spray suit to wash off the inside of the tunnel sheet. A bit of cleaner and water in a bucket with a brush on a stick, over a couple of afternoons did the trick. It was steamy work under the sun but at least it made being soaked from head to foot a bit more comfortable and the results are satisfyingly dramatic. It took a good shower to get me back into a socially acceptable condition but worth it.

Phones are back up and running now so if we miss your call this week you have probably called while we are having our morning break, lunchtime snack or afternoon siesta! It's all go.

WOODEN BOX RETURNS
If anyone is ready to send back their collection of empty wooden boxes please do let us know. Over the next week or two we would like to collect as many as we can, so we can get them out of your way and cleaned, dried and mended before the cold damp winter arrives. Thanks.

Availability highlights
Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the late summer too and sure enough that is what's occurring now. Looking and smelling great. The late summer flowering Anemones are looking great in the gardens and we have some looking good now, some with bud coming. Anemones are always a tricky one as the natural tendency is for the plants to go tall. looks fab in the garden but not so easy in a pot. We have a fresh batch of compact and chunky Leucathemum Banana Creme with strong bud showing. We have a couple on fresh patches of Achillea in bud on short stems, the red Paprika and silver leaved Moonshine. Many of the Asters are in bud or flower.
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. If the weather is not too harsh we have had these still flowering at Christmas before now.
Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Brunnera variegata, Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Lonely and Hairy

Morning all,
We're looking for a late September thrust on the potting front to get everything ready for next spring. Orders are slowing up a bit now, so time should be on our side, although this week didn't quite deliver the desired output with 8 team members off all week, for various reasons, and a couple more on odd days. Out of just over 20 people that is a big hole. We should have quite a few back next week so hoping to thrash on and get it done. It didn't help having a couple of extra distractions through the week with the temporary office arriving on Monday and the new one in kit form, arriving on several pallets on Wednesday. Space had to be made in the barn to accommodate all the wooden components to keep them dry ready for pre-construction treatment, which meant a bit of a clearout and reorganisation of stores in there. A very satisfying result in the end but still a distraction. The majority of prep work for construction will now go on hold for a couple of weeks but I'm really looking forward to sitting in a super insulated wooden cabin this winter, rather than watching the world go by through the holes in the wall in the current model. In theory the old one is insulated but with only about two inches of rather sketchy fibreglass and single glazed windows it's not going to win any efficiency prizes. One feature that we will keep is the overhanging beach hedge which we planted over 30 years ago. The branches have spread over most of the roof area providing fantastic cooling shade in the summer and should reduce the use of any air con cooling to virtually zero. We haven't had air con in the office for probably 10 years after the last one died, but we have a newish spare unit that came out of the lab work room last year and it will provide a cheaper heating source than the usual electric heaters (as long as we just set it up just to heat and are not tempted to cool as well).
The one gripe I have with heat pumps and air con units is that the lowest temperature setting is too high, many will not go below 16C which is no good if you just want frost protection overnight. Why heat to 16C when no one is there? Turn it off and you are risking freezing up, so in go extra thermostatic heaters to give you that protection, running less efficiently, but less often.
Apologies if anyone is trying to contact us by phone and finding us hard to get hold of, we are still having issues with our cordless handsets which we use any time when we are not in the office. Please do leave a message or email us and we will get back to you as soon as we are back in the office. Unfortunately we are only a small business and despite the rumours, I don't sit in here drinking coffee playing Candy-Crush all day, I do try to contribute elsewhere. Hopefully we will get another engineer out this week to try again to contact us with the outside world.

WOODEN BOX RETURNS
If anyone is ready to send back their collection of empty wooden boxes please do let us know. Over the next two or three weeks we would like to collect as many as we can, so we can get them out of your way and cleaned, dried and mended before the cold damp winter arrives. Thanks.

Availability highlights
Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the late summer too and sure enough that is what's occurring now. Looking and smelling great. The late summer flowering Anemones are looking great in the gardens and we have some looking good now, some with bud coming. Anemones are always a tricky one as the natural tendency is for the plants to go tall. looks fab in the garden but not so easy in a pot. We have a fresh batch of compact and chunky Leucathemum Banana Creme with strong bud showing. Pretty little Tiarella are in bud and flower now. Fresh batches of Salvia Sensation blue are in bud and about to show colour.
We have a couple on fresh patches of Achillea in bud on short stems, the red Paprika and silver leaved Moonshine. Many of the Asters are in bud or flower. Fantastic plants of the mildew resistant Asmo are throwing up plenty of bud, compact and chunky, just beginning to open their pale lilac flowers. The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. If the weather is not too harsh we have had these still flowering at Christmas before now.
Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Brunnera variegata, Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy Tickle

Morning all,
Just seen the weather forecast for next week and Helen says "it's bonkers", so looking forward to that! Hopefully not too mad so we can keep up the nice run we have had, it's fantastic out there today.
Hope it's not too wild as we have a temporary office arriving on Monday and the new replacement on Wednesday. One is ready to go in a metal box, the other in over 500 wooden pieces on a pallet or two. I suspect one will be a bigger challenge than the other to move into.
Just hoping it all goes more smoothly than this week's potting which stalled on Thursday, just as we were looking to go full tilt before the weekend. The call over the walkie-talkie, "Derek the machine has stopped" is never a good sign, with an experienced team on the job they can sort out most issues that crop up and having to call me usually means trouble. At least the machine was nearly empty of compost so we didn't need to dig it out which is usually the first job, but Greg and I spent the next day and a half in it, trying to sort out a complete seizure. Frustratingly we managed to free it up after a few hours but we were left with a suspicious knocking and vibration as it ran. We loaded a bit of compost in it, to see if that might lubricate the process and tested it out for half an hour. It definitely didn't sound right so it was back to the tool shed to dismantle the thing even further, so we could try and identify the issue. After quite a wrestling match we got the crumbling and bent 'compost
gate' off (controls the amount of compost going into the lift conveyor) and discovered the problem behind it. At some point the bars on the lift conveyor, plus probably a foreign body or two, had ripped the metal sheet at the bottom, then later as the chain stretched and got a bit loose, a bar caught it and bent the whole sheet back on itself. It was just the bottom 4 inches so a modicum of judicial trimming and then tickling with the lump hammer got it all back in place and eventually running beautifully. With the compost gate reinforced and reinstalled as well, it is now running so quietly I suspect it was probably damaged quite a while ago and it all just came to a head with one big catch. We are now feeling pretty pleased with ourselves for getting it sorted, just don't remind me about the lost potting time.
A heart warming image accompanies this message, although those of you with a sensitive nature may not want to check out the attached image (Waitrose Doves). It's something we spotted on our way into get the groceries this morning. Someone doing the shelf stacking was either lacking imagination or feeling creative! Nice facial expressions too. "What are you looking at?"

WOODEN BOX RETURNS
If anyone is ready to send back their collection of empty wooden boxes please do let us know. Over the next few weeks we would like to collect as many as we can, so we can get them out of your way and cleaned, dried and mended before the cold damp winter arrives. Thanks.

Availability highlights
The late summer flowering Anemones are looking great in the gardens and we have some looking good now, some with bud coming. Anemones are always a tricky one as the natural tendency is for the plants to go tall. looks fab in the garden but not so easy in a pot. We have some stonking September Charm and Honerine Jobert at the moment. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are coming into flower.
We have a fresh batch of compact and chunky Leucathemum Banana Creme with strong bud showing. Pretty little Tiarella are in bud and flower now. Fresh batches of Salvia Sensation in blue; and white are in bud and about to show colour. Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the late summer too and sure enough that is what's occurring now. Looking and smelling great. We have a couple on fresh patches of Achillea in bud on short stems, the red Paprika and silver leaved Moonshine.
A few of the Asters are beginning to show signs of flowering. Fantastic plants of the mildew resistant Asmo are throwing up plenty of bud, compact and chunky, just beginning to open their pale lilac flowers. Starshine, Lady in Blue and Rosenwitchel are both also in bud, nice compact plants with colour showing on some. The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Big Hair

Morning all,
Just can't find enough hours in the week at the moment. So many new projects on the go, loads of tunnel clearance and potting to get done, as well as orders to go out. At least the weather seems to be with us at the moment. I had been thinking I might get up to the big Four Oaks trade exhibition last week, but time got the better of me and a holiday exodus meant I might be missed, difficult to believe I know. I would have been interested to see the non-plastic offerings on show as this seems to be flavour of the moment. From the press reports it seems that various different coloured pots is a popular direction and there are a few bio-degradable versions out there too which is good to see. The heightened level of interest from other growers can make me anxious at times as they are all potential extra competition for us, although we have so much more than a non- plastic pot in our package they have a way to go before catching us up. There is plenty of coverage in the current Horticulture Week with a couple of pages devoted to it, including a paragraph on ourselves, buried in the middle, covering our exciting exhibit a few weeks ago at the DEFRA summer reception in the big city. Fame at last.
On the theme of further reducing single use plastics, we have just given the go ahead for a new label cutter to be made so that we can take away the last main bit of plastic in our deliveries. Our range of perennial plant coloured pot labels are already made from 100% recycled plastic and are recyclable, but from next spring we will be ushering in a new era with card labels waterproofed with plant cellulose. The labels, printed for us by Floramedia, will be made from a material called B500 which
can be recycled through paper waste schemes or composted in the garden. The labels aren't quite as indestructible as the plastic version but when used in conjunction with our bamboo skewers which hold the label away from the worst of the damp compost, the label life is pretty good. After trials over the last year we feel it is certainly worth a go.
Another new project is going to be the replacement of the nursery office and print room. As a temporary mobile cabin, it has served us well for over thirty years but the holes and leaks, very thin and poorly insulated walls, bendy floor, broken floor beams and loose walls means that time is up. We spend most of our waking hours in or around here so it will be very exciting to have a cosy and efficient replacement. With a limited budget we are sticking with a similar design to the lab store and the staff rest room buildings we have put over the last few years, twin walled log cabins with extra insulation in the walls, floor and roof. Although not permanent structures they should last for ages and judging by the others we already have, they are very comfortable and the running costs will be minimal. I've started clearing out the old office in preparation, with a massive recycling binge of old records and catalogues. It's scary how much rubbish you accumulate and even scarier when you come across pictures of young people with big hair starting up a new nursery!
Apologies to anyone who may have tried to call us over the last week or two and got cut off, we are still having issues with our cordless handsets playing up. The engineers keep coming out to play but disappear again with them sort of working, but not quite. If you have trouble, do leave a message, or drop us an email, and we will get back to you as soon as we are back in the office using the reliable ones that are tied to the wall.
WOODEN BOX RETURNS
If anyone is ready to send back their collection of empty wooden boxes please do let us know. Over the next month or so we would like to collect as many as we can, so we can get them out of your way and cleaned, dried and mended before the cold damp winter arrives. Thanks.
Availability highlights
The late summer flowering Anemones are looking great in the gardens and we have some looking good now, some with bud coming. Anemones are always a tricky one as the natural tendency is for the plants to go tall. looks fab in the garden but not so easy in a pot. We have some stonking September Charm and Honerine Jobert at the moment. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are coming into flower. Fresh batches of Salvia Sensation in blue, rose and white are in bud and about to show colour. Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the late summer too and sure enough that is what's occurring now. Looking and smelling great. We have a couple on fresh patches of Achillea in bud on short stems, the red Paprika and silver leaved Moonshine. A few of the Asters are beginning to show signs of flowering. Fantastic plants of the mildew resistant Asmo are throwing up plenty of bud, compact and chunky, just beginning to open their pale lilac flowers. Lady in Blue and Rosenwitchel are both also in bud, nice compact plants with colour showing on some.
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. Both Erodium varieties are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous. Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy Bats

Morning all,
Looks like a run of late summer sunshine over the next few days which should provide a lovely run in Autumn. The swallows are beginning to head off, I see reports of big numbers flying over Cornwall and we saw several groups over the fields heading south in the last few days. Talking of things flying about we had an exciting moment last night on our walk home. Across the back of the nursery we saw at least three bats all feeding along the hedgerow. We almost always see one (a pipistrelle) in this spot and have done for years, but to see at least three all together was a first. It was pretty dark and there could have been more, we'll try again tonight a few minutes earlier so our ancient eyes work a bit better and I might try with my glasses too! Not sure where they are roosting, probably the barn on the other side of the road, I know they have frustratingly ignored our bat boxes for years.
Apologies to anyone who may have tried to call us over the last week or two and got cut off, it was nothing you said, just our cordless handsets playing up. The engineers keep coming out to play but disappear again with them sort of working, but not quite. We are going to try again next week, but if you have trouble, do leave a message, or drop us an email, and we will get back to you as soon as we are back in the office using the reliable ones that are tied to the wall.
In theory things should be quietening down by now but we seem to be getting busier. Having got our Green Impact entry in last week we find ourselves with another project to get tied up in the next few days. I can't say what this one is at the moment as it was a bit of a last minute suggestion by someone who thought it might be a valuable exercise. Seemed like a good idea at the time!
My experimental hessian pallet/trolley wraps are on hold while we further test the Mark1 version. I am accumulating plenty of hessian samples and awaiting delivery of bigger stronger needles and thread to start Mark2. I also ordered a handy needle threading device to help the visually challenged and impatient with their efforts. It's quite exciting making stuff that might actually be useful and much cheaper than a lot of other pastimes.

WOODEN BOX RETURNS
If anyone is ready to send back their collection of empty wooden boxes please do let us know. We already have a few on a list which we are going to drop into next time we are in the area. Over the next month or so we would like to collect as many as we can, so we can get them out of your way and cleaned, dried and mended before the cold damp winter arrives. Thanks.

Availability highlights
The late summer flowering Anemones are looking great in the gardens and we have some looking good now, some with bud coming. Anemones are always a tricky one as the natural tendency is for the plants to go tall. looks fab in the garden but not so easy in a pot. We have some stonking September Charm and Honerine Jobert at the moment. Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium are coming into flower. We have a couple on fresh patches of Achillea in bud on short stems, the red Paprika and silver leaved Moonshine.
A few of the Asters are beginning to show signs of flowering. Fantastic plants of the mildew resistant Asmo are throwing up plenty of bud, compact and chunky, just beginning to open their pale lilac flowers. Lady in Blue and Rosenwitchel are both also in bud, nice compact plants with colour showing on some. The ever popular Monch is also there with bud showing and the odd open flower.
We have a fresh batch of the pretty Foam Flower Tiarella wherii in bud and flower. They will make an attractive display for several more weeks yet before resting overwinter, ready to do it all again next spring.
Our summer/autumn flowering mini garden Chrysanthemums are on the list again this week. They produce masses of small flowers on naturally bushy, fairly compact plants and usually flower until the first frosts. Only a few varieties left now, all in bud with colour about to burst. We have a few trays of fresh Tradescantia (Innocense and Rubra) looking good and having a late summer flush of bud. Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the late summer too and sure enough that is what's occurring now. The pretty Viola Rebecca are showing another flush of bud and flower, looking smart.
We have a few left of our Verbena bonariensis in bud, another one that wants to go tall but we have managed to keep them in check for a bit longer but they won't hang about long. The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. Both Erodium varieties are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous. Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Cool and Hairy

Morning all
Where did August go? Everyone is suddenly going away and the cool nights are making me jumpy that we need to get more stock potted ready for over wintering. It was only a week or two ago and we were baking in the sun and wondering if it would ever end.
The cooler weather is quite a relief here, we are getting so much more done. Potting is bowling along and tunnel clearances are clearing the nursery up a bit which makes us feel better. I've had a tidy up of my Green Impact evidence submission for this year and sent that off before the deadline which is quite a weight off my mind. You can go through these things so many times updating bit's and bobs, changing the wording, adding another image or spreadsheet because you never really stop
adapting and hopefully improving with sustainability but at some point you have to draw a line. It is drawn, no going back now, we just have to wait for the assessors to come to check it all out in a few weeks time. I think we are on for a gold award this year as long as I don't get caught out as being a bit too creative with my evidence! I missed out on a few points by not getting a new A+ fridge in time, but the old one is a family heirloom and Caroline is struggling to come to terms with pensioning it off after all these years. We have checked that the temp control is accurate and the electric consumption and both are not too bad, any savings made would take quite a few years to make up the cost of a new one. Mind you it would be good to have a white one rather than a rust spotted one! I will have another nudge in a few weeks.

WOODEN BOX RETURNS
If anyone is ready to send back their collection of empty wooden boxes please do let us know. We already have a few on a list which we are going to drop into next time we are in the area. Over the next month or so we would like to collect as many as we can, so we can get them out of your way and cleaned, dried and mended before the cold damp winter arrives. Thanks.
Availability highlights
The late summer flowering Anemones are looking great in the gardens and we have some looking good now. Some with bud coming and a nice fresh batch of the deep pink Hadspen Abundance showing colour on reasonably short plants. Anemones are always a tricky one as the natural tendency is for the plants to go tall. looks fab in the garden but not so easy in a pot.
A few of the Asters are beginning to show signs of flowering. Fantastic plants of the mildew resistant Asmo are throwing up plenty of bud, compact and chunky, just beginning to open their pale lilac flowers. Lady in Blue and Rosenwitchel are both also in bud, nice compact plants with colour showing on some. The ever popular Monch is also there with bud showing and the odd open flower.
We have a fresh batch of the pretty Foam Flower Tiarella wherii in bud and flower. They will make an attractive display for several more weeks yet before resting overwinter, ready to do it all again next spring.
Our summer/autumn flowering mini garden Chrysanthemums are on the list again this week. They produce masses of small flowers on naturally bushy, compact plants and usually flower until the first frosts. All varieties are in now in bud with colour about to burst.
We have a few trays of fresh Tradescantia (Innocense and Rubra) looking good and having a late summer flush of bud and flower. We don't have many. Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the late summer too and sure enough that is what's occurring now. The pretty Viola Rebecca are showing another flush of bud and flower, looking smart.
We have a few left of our Verbena bonariensis in bud, another one that wants to go tall but we have managed to keep them in check for a bit longer but they won't hang about long. Nice vigorous batches of the compact Geum Cooky and Koi are both showing bright and eye catching colour.
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. Both Erodium varieties are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous. Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

It's a hairy wrap

Morning all,
I'm not quite sure which way to turn. It's Saturday morning and there is no potting team in for the first time since early April. We still have plenty to do but I'm hoping we can cope now in 5 days rather than six. It will be good for all those involved to have a bit of a break but it seem eerily quiet but definitely more relaxed, time to get started on my back log of jobs that I haven't been able to get done over the hectic and overheated summer. We've only got until the end of the month to tidy up our Green Impact input for this year's assessment, I think I'm nearly there, just got to bundle together a bit more evidence to back up the commentary which is mostly about adding a few photos which should be simple. With a bit of luck we will get a visit from the assessors this year, last year I may have overdone the evidence in my enthusiasm and put them off coming to see it firsthand.
Over the last couple of weeks we have been looking at the use of the stretchy pallet wrap that we use to hold together stacks of boxes and trays around the nursery, so they don't fall over. It works really well but it is definitely only single use and when using it, on the nursery for moving stuff about it seems a bit wasteful. I had a look on the internet and found a few tough reusable plastic pallet wraps, incorporating solid and mesh plastics, a couple of poles, belts, buckles and Velcro. Looked
good, but at $150+ dollars each, a bit pricy for us when we are not looking at daily reuse. So the challenge was set to design a more economical, practical, but sustainable alternative. The basic concept is to use hessian, thick bamboo cane and a couple of bungee loop ties. All components are cheap and easily replaceable should there be a breakage and making them is fairly simple. The prototype is done and the first trials are looking ok. We've had it out in the sun and rain and reused it several times over the last week and it looks ok. It is adjustable in length, to a degree, and has component costs of well under £5 for a 3ft deep wrap. Material costs obviously rise for a deeper version, such as one that might fit round a trolley or two, and we may have to beef up the hessian weight to add strength and longevity to it, depending on how the trials go. We are going to knock
up a few more to start using on site to see what issues are going to crop up and I've ordered some more material samples to test the heavier hessians and taller wraps so watch this space. I probably should keep this a secret so I can make millions when everyone wants one, but to be honest knowing my design skills I doubt it will cut the mustard in the end, well not enough to charge for.

Here is our 'Hairy Wrap No1' so you can marvel at our high tech solution! 

Availability highlights
Lobelia speciosa Scarlet are in colour again, compact bushy plants looking lush. Our summer/autumn flowering mini garden Chrysanthemums are on the list this week. They produce masses of small flowers on naturally bushy, compact plants and usually flower until the first frosts. All varieties are in now in bud and colour is peeping out on the Branbeach White and Bransky Plum with others not far behind.
Nice vigorous batches of the compact Geum Cooky and Koi are both showing with bright and eye catching colour. The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. Plenty in stock with fresh batches always on the go. They will flower for ages yet. We had flowers on ours outside the back door until Christmas last year.
Fresh batches of ever popular Salvia are back on line, looking fabulous, budding up well and showing colour. All varieties looking great, with Caradonna possibly the most dramatic with its more upright habit, dark coloured stems and deep violet flowers. It's a beauty. Both Erodium varieties are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous. The hot and summery Salvia Hot lips are still going strong and have suddenly started turning two tone in colour again after a rather red flowering session during the heat of the summer.
The compact and floriferous Coreopsis Illico are now producing plenty of bud and a bit of colour, but only a few left. A few of the Asters are beginning to show signs of flowering. Fantastic plants of the mildew resistant Asmo are throwing up plenty of bud, compact and chunky, just beginning to open their pale lilac flowers. One of the earliest and most popular Aster varieties is Flora's Delight which are budding and showing colour already, Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the late summer too and sure enough that is what's occurring now. We have a few Geum Totally Tangerine this week, the odd bud appearing on very strong plants. A new one to us but it was
recommended and I couldn't resist.
Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia. E. Tiny Tim is a new one to us this year, a tidy tight habit with bronzed foliage and the E. x Martinii looks fab.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Blank and Hairy

Morning
Another nice drop of rain yesterday and last night and a lovely fresh and bright morning. This is how summer should be. I've been able to dial down the irrigation a bit this week and many of the plants are looking quite relieved at the lower temperatures. The farm are slightly frustrated that the rain came when it did as they had less than a day left of the main harvest which would just have left the later crops like linseed to do in a few weeks. They may get a chance today if it dries off enough and get it in before tomorrow which looks pretty damp down here. Although we are on thin chalk soil here which drains quickly, the sub soil still holds on to plenty of moisture and the water tables haven't dropped too far despite the scorching summer so there are only a few very poor yields and the rest isn't too bad. That's one advantage of growing the wide range of crops and varieties that they do. Life is more complex but it spreads the risk. In a good 'normal' summer the main harvest does well to finish by the August bank holiday so to finish now is nearly a record. I think it was 76 when they finished by the end of July but the farm was a bit smaller then and less varied in its crops. Anyway it will be a relief to all to see it safely in without any drying to do, just the panic to follow to sow the next lot!
Our harvest continues will plants still rolling out looking great. We are well into potting next Spring's crops now with a bit more time on our hands. We are never quite as far along with it as I would like and we only need a cool dewy morning like today and I start to panic that autumn and winter aren't far away. I'm looking at my log pile and thinking that I need to get that restocked especially after visiting a friend who had a monster stack all ready to go. Definite case of log envy.
We are coming up to the deadline for entering all our sustainable achievements in the local Green Impact scheme we belong to. It's all online and fairly easy to enter the info but the number of categories' to fill in is a bit daunting at first. I've had a couple of goes this week and broken the back of it but an email came round yesterday to remind us of the deadline and ranked all the local entrants for the amount of points they had scored. Apparently it is all very close but we were only forth so that spurred me back into action. In theory this is not a competitive event, we are all just doing our bit, but it's a bit like yoga which is also meant to be none judgmental or competitive you can't help yourself at times. My downward dog is pretty good and I do a brilliant Shavasana, mind you I've always been good at lying on my back with my eyes shut, and making by mind go blank is only a tiny step from everyday life!
Availability highlights
Lobelia speciosa varieties are in colour again, compact bushy plants in a range of colours, looking lush. A fresh crop of the compact and floriferous Coreopsis Illico are now producing plenty of bud and a bit of colour. Nice vigorous batches of the compact Geum Cooky and Koi are both showing bright and eye catching colour.
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. Fresh batches of ever popular Salvia are back on line, looking fabulous, budding up well and showing colour. All varieties looking great, with Caradonna possibly the most dramatic with its more upright habit, dark coloured stems and deep violet flowers. It's a beauty.
Both Erodium varieties are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous.
The hot and summery Salvia Hot lips are still going strong and have suddenly started turning two tone in colour again after a rather red flowering session over the last few weeks. Not sure if the slightly cooler temperatures have caused the change but it's like looking at a different plant!
A few of the Asters are beginning to show signs of flowering. Fantastic plants of the mildew resistant Asmo are throwing up plenty of bud, compact and chunky, just beginning to open their pale lilac flowers. One of the earliest and most popular Aster varieties is Flora's Delight which are budding and showing colour already,
Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the late summer too and sure enough that is what's occurring now.
Our summer/autumn flowering mini garden Chrysanthemums are on the list this week. They produce masses of small flowers on naturally bushy, compact plants and usually flower until the first frosts. All varieties are in now in bud and I noticed one bud opening this morning on the Branbeach White. We have a few Geum Totally Tangerine this week, the odd bud appearing on very strong plants. A new one to us but it was recommended and I couldn't resist.
Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia. Euphorbia Tiny Tim is a new one to us this year, a tidy tight habit with bronzed foliage.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy Heatwave

Morning all,
Sorry I missed last week's news, I was rather overcome with emotion at the arrival of some cooler temperatures and a lovely day and night of rain. It took me quite by surprise that I was so affected, I don't think I quite appreciated how stressed I was getting with the relentless heat and lack of precipitation. I took full advantage and spent the entire weekend getting stuck into those jobs that were too hot to cope with a day or two before. It was great, the rain was beating on the tunnel roof and I was able to wear a shirt, sweat shirt and a coat and be perfectly comfortable. Seems like a distant memory again now we are back into the 30's, but hopefully it is going to cool again in a few days.
It seems that this summers dry hot weather and the super hot temperatures in Europe are perhaps focussing a lot of people's attention on climate change and what could be the implications of more frequent weather events like this. The dairy industry is struggling, some of the arable crops this summer are appalling and the veg farms are warning of crop shortages and price rises. Guy Watson who started and now helps run the Riverford organic veg box scheme writes a piece each week to accompany their delivery and the panic setting in at the sustained pressure on the crops, really brings the situation home. The reservoirs on their farms are running out, newly planted crops are struggling to get away and the established crops not yielding as they should. Even if the rain comes there will still be knock-on effects for months to come. With the huge extra interest this year in single use plastics on top of all this, are we actually going to get a more mainstream reaction by the public and industry to look at sustainability with some urgency rather than paying it lip service as most have done in the past. I do hope so and I hope we are not too late.
Anyway back here in the exciting world of hairy nursery life, this week I am feeling very fulfilled (it doesn't take much). After a couple of weeks of blocked pipe-work in a certain very inaccessible and undesirable area, I dismantled and fitted a new more easily maintained system with a super flow and no leaks. It took three frustrating goes to get all the right sized pipe, fittings and universal connectors plus a couple of new bottle traps but I got there in the end. What a relief, in so many ways!
Despite the heat we are ploughing on trying to keep on top of the orders, tunnel clearing and potting, productivity is suffering a bit, we just can't do anything as quickly in this heat and a few plants are not liking it either. However we can't complain too much at least we are able to keep most crops watered and growing, and our temperatures are nothing like the levels not too far away in Europe.
Must go, I've got the potting to finish and the watering-in to get done.
Availability highlights
A fresh crop of the compact and floriferous Coreopsis Illico are now producing plenty of bud.
Nice vigorous batches of the compact Geum Cooky and Koi are both showing bright and eye catching colour. Only available a few weeks each year, we have just a few Platycodon Astra Blue left. This blue Balloon Flower is a joy to behold but a bit of a pain to grow neatly in a pot, hence the short production runs. Get in quick if you fancy some before they are gone.
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. Fresh batches of ever popular Salvia are back on line, looking fabulous, budding up well and showing some colour. All varieties looking great, with Caradonna possibly the most dramatic with its more upright habit, dark coloured stems and deep violet flowers. It's a beauty.
Both Erodium varieties are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous.
The hot and summery Salvia Hot lips are still going strong and have suddenly started turning two tone in colour again after a rather red flowering session over the last few weeks. Not sure if the slightly cooler temperatures have caused the change but it's like looking at a different plant!
A few of the Asters are beginning to show signs of flowering. Fantastic plants of the mildew resistant Asmo are throwing up plenty of bud, compact and chunky, opening into pale lilac flowers very soon. One of the earliest and most popular Aster varieties is Flora's Delight which are budding and showing colour already, Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the late summer too and sure enough that is what's occurring now.
Eucomis are throwing up their creamy yellow flower stalks. What a delightful description for quite a dramatic plant. Our summer/autumn flowering mini garden Chrysanthemums are on the list this week. They produce masses of small flowers on naturally bushy, compact plants and usually flower until the first frosts. All varieties are in now in tight bud. We have a few Geum Totally Tangerine this week, no bud as yet but very strong plants. A new one to us but it was recommended and I couldn't resist.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy City Slickers

Morning all,
I hope you all did better for rain over the last week than we did. We actually got enough last night to look damp and feel a bit fresher this morning, but most has already dried off in the sun which is beating down again. Not a lot, if any, in the forecast for us for the next week but you never know we might get lucky. The grass is almost completely brown with the main green being provided by the deep rooted dandelions and alike. Luckily being an expert horticulturist our lawn is full of them! What is noticeable is that the grass is that bit greener in the patches we left for the wild flowers to flower in the spring before cutting. Maybe in future we will have to leave it all to grow long before the first cut. Still, we can do nothing but keep cool and make the best of it, so do enjoy the summer as best you can.
We've had a quiet week, just the usual orders, tunnel clearances, potting and pricking out. Oh yes and a trip on Monday to exhibit at the Defra Summer Reception at Nobel House in the middle of London and a visit here on Thursday by 45 or so horticultural professionals to check out what we have been up to on the sustainability front.
Mondays do was very exciting, I don't get out much, so a trip with Caroline on the train to start with was a treat. We had packed our compact plant exhibit into a couple of large bags so I could carry them myself (not great timing for Caroline's broken arm). We didn't get off to a great start when I got stuck in the automatic gates at the station but I was eventually released by an unimpressed barrier operative and we were on our way. The bulkiness of my package unfortunately meant we had to sit by the facilities but we were off peak so it wasn't too busy. Caught a black cab, as you do, and made it to the venue in plenty of time to set up. The Defra staff were immensely helpful and supportive as we were a bit apprehensive about the whole affair. We were one of only 10 exhibitors which included Proctor and Gamble, H and M, Sky and Tea Pigs among 150 invited guests, so we felt a bit out of our league, but we were all there to showcase more sustainable ways of production rather than sell anything, so we all had plenty to talk about. Caroline ended up chatting to Mr Gove, Claire Moriarty (Permanent Secretary for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) , Lord Gardiner (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Biosecurity) and Lord Randall (Environmental advisor to No.10) meanwhile I was asked to step aside for one guest who wanted to park her folding bike under our exhibit! I was sorely tempted to suggest she unfold the bike and use it, but I bit my tongue and helpfully found a spot close by. In all a great day out.
The big nursery tour went really well in the end, despite preparations nearly going down the pan (forgive the pun) when we discovered a blockage at 10.00 the previous evening! An early start got us back on course and all went swimmingly thanks to a lot of hard work by all the staff having a bit of a tidy in the run up. Most of the visitors seemed quite impressed with how 'different' we were to 'normal', but I think you may know that already.
Availability highlights
Probably just for one more week, we have a fresh batch of Verbena bonariensis in bud and not very tall. I must have trimmed back the young plants at just the right time and just the right height to get them to look so strong, in bud and not bonkersly tall. They will mature to full height but at the moment are perfect for sale. I wish I knew what I've done right to achieve this!
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. In case you hadn't noticed summer is here, cue Crocosmia in bud. Loads showing now, looking great, don't miss out.
Fresh batches of ever popular Salvia are back on line, budding up well with more to come. The violet variety looks great. We are still desperately fighting off the pigeons who are attempting to munch through some of our scented Phlox Sweet Summer crop, they are looking great with buds and the some open flower on a lovely range of colours.
Both Erodium are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous. The hot and summery Salvia Hot lips are still going strong as we move onto another fresh batch with buds bursting and colour showing. Flowers are mostly red at the moment, but fear not they can go two-tone again at any moment.
A few of the Asters are beginning to show signs of flowering. Fantastic plants of the mildew resistant Asmo are throwing up plenty of bud, compact and chunky, producing pale Lilac flowers very soon. One of the earliest and most popular varieties is Flora's Delight which are budding and showing a bit of colour already,
Eucomis are just beginning to throw up their creamy yellow flower stalks. Our summer/autumn flowering mini garden Chrysanthemums are on the list this week. They produce masses of small flowers on naturally bushy fairly compact plants and usually flower until the first frosts. A couple of varieties are in already in very tight bud at the moment and the others will be there in the next week or two. We have some lovely short Coreopsis Zagreb in bud this week, ferny foliage and bright sunny flowers about to open. We have a few Geum Totally Tangerine this week, no bud as yet but very strong plants. A new one to us but it was recommended and I couldn't resist.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Tidy but still hairy

Morning all,

We've had a few drops today and I can hear thunder rumbling so hoping for a bit more so the ground actually looks damp for a few minutes. I spoke too soon last week when I said the plants were doing well, the irrigation controller took the night off on Saturday and it took me most of Sunday to find the fault and fix it. A hot tense day! All up and working again now but this constant sun and heat does put me on edge.
The world cup distraction has just about petered out. Shame about England missing out, still they gave it a good go so no regrets. Great news about getting the young footballers out of the flooded caves, a fantastic international team effort. Nice to see what can be achieved by working together.
A desperately tense few days coming up with our trip to the big city to see the Queen, ok not the queen, but DEFRA headquarters and a minister or two, followed on Thursday by a large growers (in numbers not bulk) tour of the nursery. Hopefully we can tart up the site a bit by then and try to get it looking semi-professional, but with the amount of normal work to do there won't be much time for that, so they will just have to forgive us a few tunnels looking like a bomb has hit. It's that time of year between the spring/summer sales and a load of clearing up, and getting summer/autumn potting underway. I'm sure it will be fine, these things are never as bad as you fear.
Discovered another plastic alternative recently, this time for the kitchen and fridge. Beeswax impregnated cotton/hemp squares of various sizes to replace cling film. You drape it over the dish/bowl bend the edges and hold them while the heat of your hands moulds them to shape. Apparently it works really well keeping things fresh but allowing a little more air movement than cling film (no good for meats I am told). Reusable for quite a while, just cleans under the cold tap. We saw a New Zealand version first but have seen Canadian and now UK ones too.
A bit closer to home, we are hoping to have our new plastic-free colour pot labels available in the spring. Whether it's spring 2019 I'm not quite sure but I'm ever hopeful. Watch this space.

Availability highlights
Probably just for the next week, we have a fresh batch of Verbena bonariensis in bud and not very tall. I must have trimmed back the young plants at just the right time and just the right height to get them to look so strong, in bud and not bonkersly tall. They will mature to full height but at the moment are perfect for sale. I wish I knew what I've done right to achieve this!
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. In case you hadn't noticed summer is here, cue Crocosmia in bud. Loads showing now, looking great, don't miss out. Fresh batches of ever popular Salvia are back on line, budding up well with more to come. The violet variety looks great. We are still desperately fighting off the pigeons who are attempting to munch through some of our scented Phlox Sweet Summer crop, they are looking great with buds and the odd open flower on a lovely range of colours.
The pretty white Erodium are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous. The hot and summery Salvia Hot lips are still going strong as we move onto another fresh batch with buds bursting and colour showing. Viola's are again showing well, with colour and bud. Another fresh batch. Keeping the batches small and regular is the key.
A few of the Asters are beginning to show signs of flowering. Fantastic plants of the mildew resistant Asmo are throwing up plenty of bud, compact and chunky, producing pale Lilac flowers very soon. One of the earliest and most popular varieties is Flora's Delight which are budding and showing a bit of colour already,
Among the new varieties this summer are a new compact selection of Calamintha. Both are carrying masses of buds on very bushy plants with a few flowers opening although only a few left. Eucomis are just beginning to throw up their creamy yellow flower stalks. We have four long flowering Helianthemum this summer (pink, yellow and white) most carrying plenty of bud and a few open flowers other than The Bride which looks fab with its silver/grey foliage but not showing bud just yet.
We are also trying out another couple of short new Achillea varieties, Milly Red and Milly Rose, both are looking great, short and strong with bud and some colour showing. We also have fresh short batches of the Achillea Dessert Eve varieties too Still a few garden pinks left but not many. These Dianthus are all in bud, showing colour and smelling delicious.
Our last batch of hardy Fuchsia's are doing their thing, young and vigorous with loads of bud. More of the compact Monarda Balmy series are reaching that smart early bud stage, compact and tidy and so attractive to the bees and butterflies.

Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hot and Hairy

Morning all,

Scorchio. Hardly worth saying more, but I'll have a go.
We managed about a dozen drops of rain last week, just enough to produce that lovely new rain on hot ground scent but not enough to actually see the ground appear damp. The gardens are getting pretty desperate for some moisture and we are in need of some lower temperatures. The plants are fairing ok but we ourselves are wilting especially by the afternoon. I suppose we have become aclimatised to it to a degree after a few weeks, but it definitely dents productivity which is frustrating when there is so much to do out there.
Next year's crops are piling in as we try and clear up after the spring sales to make space for them and every week that slips by feels like a lost week if the young plants haven't been moved on to keep them growing. I feel we are slightly ahead of last year in the clearing up stakes but the potting definitely fell behind after that long cold start to the season and we have never quite caught that back up.
So just the time to add a bit more pressure to life with a couple of one off's. Months ago I 'volunteered' to host the ADHB Herbaceous growers group meeting, they seemed very interested in looking at the sustainability aspects of our production, learning about our nematode based vine weevil control, checking out the microprop lab and the wind turbines. It seemed like a nice idea at the time, we are bound to be all tidied up after the spring sales with the nursery looking spick and span and fresh crops all over the place. Of course it's not quite worked out that way, I was maybe a little over optimistic about the state of play on the nursery by mid July and although it doesn't look too bad in most areas there are a few bomb sites dotted about that might need some attention before the big day. Showing round a group of non-nursery folk is relatively easy, they are fairly easy to impress but taking 40 hardened (although generally jolly) growers around is much more daunting. It is much easier for them to recognise that we fly by the seat of our pants, making it up as we go along! I'm sure it will be fine, but the closer it gets the less sleep I manage, as I draw up the list of things to get done.
The perfect time we thought, to add an extra high pressure occasion into the beginning of the same week. So naturally we accepted an invitation from DEFRA to their Summer Reception in London to meet a load of people to talk about developing ways to cope with replacing single-use plastics. We are among a dozen of the 150 guests to be asked to put up a little exhibit of what we do, which in itself sounds great but getting hairy stuff and ourselves to the middle of London on a Monday afternoon is quite a challenge, especially when the other exhibitors are mostly big companies showing their wares (Iceland, H & M, Premier League, and the like), It'll be fine, we are going to everything up on the train to set up for the early evening meeting. A chance to meet the minister Michael Gove perhaps or just be enthusiastic about sustainability to one and all. We are such a tiny outfit that I can't help but feel a bit out of place at such an event, but let's see how it goes. We do get to go on a train which I haven't done for many years, I'm hoping to get a seat in the restaurant car for a silver service slap up tea on the way home!
Good football on telly. Might not feel this way tomorrow! Come on England!

Availability highlights
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting flower buds, full of promise and the odd open flower. In case you hadn't noticed summer is upon us, cue Crocosmia coming into bud. Fresh batches of ever popular Salvia are back on line, budding up well. We are desperately fighting off the pigeons who are attempting to munch through some of our scented Phlox Sweet Summer crop, they are looking great with buds and the odd open flower on a lovely range of colours. The pretty white Erodium are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous.
The summery Salvia Hot lips are still going strong as we move onto another fresh batch with buds bursting. Among the new varieties this summer are a new compact selection of Calamintha. Both are carrying masses of buds on very bushy plants with a few flowers opening. Eucomis are just beginning to throw up their creamy yellow flower stalks.We have four long flowering Helianthemum this summer (pink, yellow, white and cerise) most carrying plenty of bud and a few open flowers other than The Bride which looks fab with its silver/grey foliage but not showing bud just yet. We are dabbling in a few Gaura too. Another summer stunner, although limited numbers at the moment.
We are also trying out another couple of short new Achillea varieties, Milly Red and Milly Rose, both are looking great, short and strong with bud and colour showing. We also have fresh short batches of the Achillea Dessert Eve varieties too. The simple but delightful Armeria are still available with plenty of flower and bud showing. The garden pinks Dianthus are all in bud, showing colour and smelling delicious.Subtle cream flowers of the pretty Foam Flower (Tiarella) are showing nicely with plenty of bud to come.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy Scary

Morning all, Phew.

This is hard work in this heat. I don't mind the odd warm but this is getting a bit much for me. Still can't do much about it, so on we go. Slightly scary that the dreaded hosepipe bans are already on the agenda in some areas but reassuring in some ways that it isn't a shortage of water in the reservoirs but a shortage in the pipes! Apparently there are problems pumping it fast enough to cope with the extra demand of a sustained increase in demand caused by a 'prolonged' heat wave. Sounds like problems with infrastructure investment to me, they can cope with anything average but push it a bit harder and it breaks. Too cold or too hot and cracks appear. Good job that the climate won't change and make this more likely in the future.
Purchased a new toy this week to try and beat off the pigeons that are eating some of our crops. It plays specific predator calls of pigeons and electronic versions of the flapping wings of panicking pigeons as they supposedly fly off (they have different sets of recordings for other problem species if needed). The chip in the device plays these in a random fashion through waterproof speakers and can be set to turn off as night falls. To start with we are supposed to play all the recordings at full volume very regularly, but after a couple of days it was driving us nuts with so much apparent quite loud predator activity. Luckily the very programmable design of the kit means that we have now restricted the range and repetition of the sounds so we hardly notice them but it still seems to be disturbing the pigeons. Now we have to wait and see for the eventual outcome as it can take several weeks of changing the calls and timing etc to shift them off site or at least away from the tunnels with the crops in. We'll see. The other birds don't seem to be too bothered by it, just hoping the pigeons don't catch on to the trick. Must go and finish watering in the potting and tidy out the barn for Mondays arrival of the next container of coir pots. Possible thunder showers this evening so looking forward to getting damped down a bit.

Availability highlights
In case you hadn't noticed summer is upon us, cue Crocosmia coming into bud. The tall early Lucifer have already all gone but the others are following on nicely. The red Emberglow and golden George Davidson are both showing their first buds, still a couple of weeks from showing colour yet but ready to roll. The other two remaining varieties the two tone Babylon and orange Carmine Brilliant will only be a week of two behind.
Fresh batches of ever popular Salvia are back on line, budding up well in a range of varieties. The pretty white Erodium are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous. The summery Salvia Hot lips are still going strong as we move onto another fresh batch with buds bursting. Among the new varieties this summer are a new compact selection of Calamintha. Both are carrying masses of buds on very bushy plants with a few flowers opening now. A subtle blue variety and a pure white are available in limited numbers so don't miss out. We are desperately fighting off the pigeons who are attempting to munch through some of our scented Phlox Sweet Summer crop, so there are several varieties looking good with buds quickly appearing. We are into a nice batch of Catananche which are sending up their flower stems. The papery blue flowers are a delight, one of my favourites.
We have four long flowering Helianthemum this summer (pink, yellow, white and cerise) most carrying plenty of bud and a few open flowers other than The Bride which looks fab with its silver/grey foliage but not showing bud just yet. We are dabbling in a few Gaura too. Another summer stunner, but limited numbers at the moment as we try and select the best varieties. We are also trying out another couple of short new Achillea varieties, Milly Red and Milly Rose, both are looking great, short and strong with bud and colour showing. We also have fresh short batches of the Achillea Dessert Eve varieties too. On the theme of striking foliage, Tradescantia Blue and Gold is doing its thing. Blue flowers are opening among the bright yellow strappy leaves. Very sunny. The simple but delightful Armeria are still available with plenty of flower and bud showing. The garden pinks Dianthus are all in bud, showing colour and smelling delicious.
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting flower buds, full of promise and the odd open flower. Subtle cream flowers of the pretty Foam Flower (Tiarella) are showing nicely with plenty of bud to come. The pretty compact pale yellow Leucanthemum Banana Creme are holding swelling buds. Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.