Relocating rosybee

After two years of complex property deals we think we are finally moving rosybee in January (subject to some final bits of red tape which could still scupper everything!).

Rebuilding the business at the new site is tricky and we are pushing to get it done in time to produce plants next season. But on the plus side I get to fix the things I didn’t quite get right first time. We’re recycling and reusing as much as we can on the new site, which comes with its own challenges.

In preparation for the move we have begun to dismantle equipment, pack boxes and work on the very complicated moving logistics. My husband has been spending his two-week holiday (from his proper job), unscrewing things and lifting heavy concrete slabs onto pallets. I’m packing boxes and working out how many of the plants from the research beds I can take with us. It’s difficult to explain how many lists and spreadsheets I need to keep all the details straight, not only for the packing up in Oxfordhsire but the impending build in our new site. (I’ll post some more details about the new site soon).

So far my spreadsheets and lists inform me that to move everything we need:

• 4 flatbed trucks - for floodbenches, tractors and anything either too long or heavy to fit in other vehicles

• 6 trips in a Luton van for all the pallets - paving, plumbing, water tank parts, plant pots and stocks of packaging we use, as well and plant stocks.

• 1 large removal van for the boxes and furniture

• . . . and a partridge in a pear-tree

All this has to be executed within a narrow window in January, without our equipment getting in the way of the builders in Monmouthshire. This is most definitely the quiet before the storm.

We will share more details about our new site once contracts are finalised.

Wish us luck!

The main polytunnel with half the flood benches dismantled and stacked