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♪ ♪ >> Well, good evening, and welcome to Making It Grow.

We're so glad that you can join us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty, and I'm a Clemson horticulture agent, but I get to come and do this with, a lot of times, other Clemson horticulture agents, like my friend Katie Collins, who's filling in for Terasa.

And you are a water resources agent.

Katie> I am.

Thanks for having me.

Amanda> Yeah.

And, I live in a heavy, heavily irrigated and agricultural county, and everybody's trying to find ways to conserve water because it is a limited resource.

Katie> It is.

Yeah.

We've got to treasure the water we have because we definitely need it for life.

So those farmers are, you know, they don't want to spend any more money than they have to.

So if we can help them run their well pump a little bit less, they're happy.

So we help them make sure their center pivots are running correctly.

Amanda> Well, thanks for doing that.

Yeah.

Drew Jeffers, you're over in Greenville, South Carolina as the horticulture agent.

And, um, boy, that's a bustling place.

Drew> It is, yeah.

I just moved from Spartanburg, to Spartanburg office to the Greenville office, and, yeah, it's, it's, it's definitely a happening place.

We have a very active Master Gardener Association, and Greenville is growing like crazy.

So there's lots of opportunities for us.

Amanda> And when y'all have your annual symposium, I mean, that's, it is something.

>> It's a production.

(laughter) Drew> It's a production.

Amanda> But you've got a lot of smart people and I think that you don't have, they don't put all the work on you at all.

>> No, no, no, I just show up and look pretty.

(laughter) Amanda> It's, they do a wonderful job.

Drew> They do, as do several of the other Master Gardener groups around the state.

>> They do.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay.

And Mary Vargo, you used to be in Greenville, and I think you are now at the South Carolina Botanical Garden, which is right there at Clemson, but it is the state botanical garden.

Mary> Yes.

Everybody always says the Clemson Botanical Garden.

It's like, no, it's the South Carolina Botanical Garden, it's in Clemson.

But yeah, used to be in Greenville.

I really miss the Master Gardeners.

I think they're wonderful.

Still keep in contact with a lot of them, but, yeah, I'm at the garden having a lot of fun.

Amanda> And y'all are open all the time.

>> Yeah, seven days a week.

Our gates open, are timed to open at, like, sunrise and they close at sunset.

So it's completely free.

There's lots of parking.

Amanda> Yes!

That's the joy.

Mary> Not just that front part of parking.

You can go down to the desert garden near the visitor center to park or go along the trail and go back to the children's garden and come see me over there.

>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mary> Come say hey if you see me.

Amanda> And I believe y'all have utilized volunteers, too.

Mary> Oh, yes.

So, you know, working with volunteers with the Master Gardener, that was such a joy for me.

So getting to do that at the garden is just so much fun.

I have amazing dedicated volunteers that are just there every week, doing so many jobs, working various parts of the garden and help me manage that space a lot better.

So, couldn't do it without them.

Amanda> Well, it's time for us to come up and do some more filming with y'all because we sure had a good time when we did that.

And Rob Last, you used to be our watermelon specialist, but now you probably have a few people who may be growing a watermelon, but you're back up in the Midlands.

Rob> That's right, Amanda, and I would never dare steal Dr. Miller's thunder.

(laughter) So.

But, you know, people think, oh, the Midlands is, you know, Lexington or Richland is just so busy.

There can't be much agriculture on the commercial scale, but there is.

Rob> Oh, yeah.

I mean, I think about all the you-pick strawberry operations that you see from round about the late March through to mid-May.

A lot of leafy greens are grown in the county.

There's a bustling agriculture and horticulture industry within those two counties, and even though they are so rapidly developing.

Amanda> Yeah.

But, and I just, you know, what would we do without, you know, collards and all that wonderful stuff that we get from Lexington County?

My momma used to say when she was feeling a little, oh, she said, I need some Lexington County tender greens.

Isn't that funny?

Rob> That's really cool.

Amanda> Yeah.

And that was her thing.

She'd set up and she'd go and cook them up and she'd feel immediately reinvigorated.

How about that?

But they are real good for you.

Rob> They are.

Amanda> Okay.

and then, I wanted to let y'all know that, I do radio on public radio and they're archived there.

And if you want to listen to them, just go there.

And there they are.

I work real hard on it, because people who like to watch the show, they tune in, but if you're in the car, you're kind of stuck.

And so, I try to make it interesting.

Mary> I love hearing those on my drive to work.

I'll hear your voice pop up, and I'm like, oh, it's Amanda this morning talking about something.

I always learn something, so.

Amanda> Well, thank you.

You're sweet to say so, but also, we've got some other great stuff.

Speaking of watermelons, the Watermelon Queen came to see us.

Rob> Oh, excellent.

Amanda> Yeah.

Oh, just the most charming gal.

And, And then we're also going to have Jarrett's Jungle.

Our friend from there is going to come in and do some arrangements with us too, so we've got lots of things that we'll toss around during the show to, to keep you alert and paying attention as if we already didn't have a great enough crew here to do that, at any rate, but I bet you've got some people who.

Oh, no.

We have to start off with Gardens of the Week.

I'm getting ahead of myself.

We will get to the people who need help.

These people, didn't need help.

Or at least they had enough of a part of the yard that looked great, and they could send us a pictures.

Is that kind of how it goes, Katie?

Katie> Absolutely.

We have some great pictures this week.

And Rob mentioned Doctor Miller, and coincidentally we have a picture this week from Minnie Miller, of some stunning hot pink hydrangea flowers.

Amanda> Well, and, Gilbert, for those of you who don't know, is our, watermelon specialist at the Edisto.

Rob> That's correct.

Yes.

Amanda> Yeah, down in Blackville.

And tell them a little bit about Watermelon Field Day.

Rob> So.

Yeah.

July 11th this year will be the Watermelon Field Day.

Amanda> 2024.

Yeah.

Rob> 2024.

So that will be a training opportunity for growers to actually learn what's going on within the research, both the Coastal Rec and Edisto Rec.

And Doctor Miller always sows a variety of cultivar trial with 75 plus watermelon cultivars that are available for tasting at certain times as well.

So it's a really good Field Day.

Amanda> And so if somebody has a particular interest, and would like to, to think about going down if you call, I think people from the public are allowed to come.

Rob> I believe so, yes.

Yeah.

Amanda> Yeah.

But call first.

Anyway, but it's interesting because the seedless watermelons, watermelons, it takes a lot of trips to get watermelons pollinated.

And I think they've found that bumblebees perhaps are useful.

Rob> Bumblebees seem to be the more prolific pollinators for watermelons.

And the reason why it takes so many visits to an individual flower, the nectar and pollen source isn't the greatest food source for honey bees.

>> Oh!

So if there's anything in bloom elsewhere around, they're going to go in preference to that rather than the watermelons.

Amanda> Okay.

but...but, bumblebees don't overwinter.

So how do you get a bumblebee hive?

There are some overwintered bumblebees as well.

Yeah.

>> But anyway, I remember hearing that that's, you know, you think, you know, how easy it would, would be to bring in honeybees, but, bringing in bumblebees instead.

Rob> Squash bees have done, some of our native bees are also really important pollinators for that particular crop as well.

Amanda> Yeah.

Okay.

Well, thanks so much.

Well, Katie, I'm sorry, I got sidetracked, but watermelons are pretty important.

Katie> They are important.

I learned lots of new stuff, but, we have a few more photos to look at.

So, Christine Penney sent us a picture of her landscaped area with a water feature, iris and pots of succulents up in Blue Ridge.

Julie Brown sent us, another hydrangea specimen and this one has more pinkish purple flowers.

I love all the different colors.

It's fun to see that variety.

Mary Rogers sent us a picture of tomatoes, lilies, sweet peppers, Meyers lemon, and lots of herbs.

Speaking of variety, and she's down in Mount Pleasant.

Mary> I was fixin' to say, "Already?"

That's, that's impressive.

Katie> Yeah, quite the selection.

And then lastly, we have Mary Bradshaw, who sent us a close up of Stokes Aster, which is a member of the Daisy family, native to South Carolina.

And I believe I'm pronouncing it right when I say Asteraceae.

Amanda> Okay.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

And thank you to everybody who sends them in.

We really, really do appreciate that.

And also, people ask questions of us and I bet you've got some lined up for us.

Katie> We've got some good ones.

Yep.

We have a question from Fred in Dalzell, who asks, "What plants can I put out to attract pollinators?"

Amanda> Goodness.

Well, Drew, I bet there are some that are woody and some that are herbaceous and annual and perennial.

Drew> There is.

There's a lot of good flowering perennials out there that you can look at, things like anise hyssop, black eyed Susans, kinds of flowers.

A lot of native perennials are better.

>> Yes.

There's also grasses such as switchgrass, Muhly grass that you can use for pollinators are good.

And lots of our woody plants.

Vitex is actually one that's really good for pollinators.

You mentioned bumblebees.

I see a lot of bumblebees on my vitex.

But one good resource that we have is our Carolina Yards database.

A lot of those plants will, will attract pollinators, so.

Mary> And it's nice to look at, and I think it also shows you what time of year it blooms too.

So if you're attracting pollinators, you don't want just things blooming in the spring, you know, you want to have a long blooming season, so.

Rob> It's critical to flower throughout the year.

Mary> Exactly.

So there's things like, I love our native asters that bloom in the fall, Solidago, the goldenrod.

There's really great ones.

And you want, you want different flower structures too.

You don't want just certain, an inflorescence the same.

You want different ones that attracts different, different insects.

Drew> Well, and even plants do well in the shade, like ajuga.

Ajuga does really good for attracting pollinators.

Mary> Yeah.

Depending on your, your landscape situation.

Rob> Early flower?

Mary> Yeah.

And they smell incredible.

Yeah, yeah that's true.

Bunch of trees you can plant.

Drew> And all your herbs too.

Mary> Yeah.

Amanda> And then, you know, we have to remember that the European honeybee is not native.

And so most of the, a lot of the pollinators aren't very active in the wintertime.

But the honey bees, whenever the weather's appropriate, I believe.

And so, the open flowered camellias and sasanquas are attractive to them.

And I've heard even that the rufous hummingbird goes into them sometimes.

It's not one that overwinters here.

It's not one that stays here, but isn't that kind of cool?

Mary> Yeah, I know.

>> To get some of that nectar?

Mary> But it's, it's fun to think about plants of not only attracting, but giving them a place to overwinter or survive or lay, lay their eggs on, like the milkweed that we know a lot about as well.

Rob> Or, complete the lifecycle, like you say.

Mary> Yes, exactly.

Amanda> Anyway, well, thanks, Drew, we really appreciate it.

And thank you for all of you who are trying to attract pollinators.

They need our help.

Thank you for taking that on and it'll bring joy to your life, too.

Okay, Katie?

Katie> Well, since we're talking about attracting, you know, beneficial, wanted wildlife to our yards, Elaine in Marion asked what native plants she can grow to attract more birds to her yard because she likes birdwatching.

Amanda> Oh, okay.

You know, recently, we had on a show an interview with Doug Tallamy.

And birds, even birds that eat bird seed all the time, you know, seeds, feed their babies caterpillars.

And, so, that's kind of a so you could think, well, if I have, the caterpillars right there, that might attract them too.

Mary> Definitely.

I mean, I know in Doug's book, Doug Tallamy's book, in "Nature's Best Hope" he talks a lot about oak species, and oaks are incredible at attracting different insects that lay a bunch of caterpillars on there.

I think the white oak, Quercus alba, I think it it attracts up to or it has about 500 different caterpillars that will lay its, it produces its young on there, and then those are able to feed to the birds.

I read this statistic once about the Carolina chickadee, and one clutch of chickadee, I think, eats about 6000 something caterpillars before they leave the nest.

So that's an incredible amount that we need to supply for our birds for their young, to keep them in our surrounding landscape.

Amanda> And they don't get to send them to daycare.

I mean, it's from, like, sunup to sundown.

Mary> Exactly that mom is busy going back and forth getting food for her babies.

So oaks are a great tree to maybe consider putting into your landscape opposed to, you know, something maybe not native that doesn't really do much.

So it's a tree option you can do, there's also, let's see, a bunch of native viburnums that provide berries that are really rich in nutrients for birds.

Amanda> And showy that we enjoy.

Mary> Yes, so gorgeous fall color.

I mean, it's, it's so nice.

So, and nesting materials, that's something we need to think about too.

So, Drew mentioned switchgrass.

Birds use that, that material for their nests.

it's always kind of fun if you have a wren that makes a nest somewhere.

I always like to see what what she's using.

And I always find that my grasses are something that she uses in there.

So thinking outside the box, thinking about berries, thinking about something that attracts caterpillars, and then stuff that that they can help build their nests is important.

Amanda> And one of the things that Dr. Tallamy talked about was that if you have a tree, mulching is just something that is sadly often done improperly.

Drew, you want to tell us about volcano mulching?

Drew> Yeah, yeah.

If you if you if you do mulch volcanoes, that's a sin.

That's, that's a pretty bad sin.

Amanda> And that's when you've got it piled up against -- Drew> When you have it piled up so high and I don't know where that trend got started, but for some reason that people think that's beneficial, it is not.

When all that mulch is piled against the trunk, you create a lot of moisture out there, and that can lead to a lot of rot issues.

You want to flare, push that mulch out and it have a wider mulch area and leave that root flare exposed for good oxygen exchange.

Amanda> And Doctor Tallamy said that I didn't know that most of the caterpillars fall to the ground to pupate in the leaf litter or the ground.

And so if you just, even if you didn't volcano mulch, but you just had the mulch, maybe going out eight feet with the tree that has branches going out 20ft.

If they land on the grass, they can't get through that.

And so, they won't be able to complete their life cycle.

So, and, you know, everybody wants to grow grass under their trees, and, Mary, I just don't think that's a really good idea.

Mary> It definitely competes with the trees, so it's going to slow down its, its growth.

And plus if you're fertilizing your lawn quite a bit, your tree might get some kind of crazy growth.

It weakens it.

And it's more susceptible to diseases.

Amanda> And grass, I think, would really like full sun.

Mary> Definitely.

I mean, there's grasses you can grow underneath there, but it doesn't mean you should.

Drew> And, you know, you mentioned White Oaks.

Oaks actually secrete that, have a little pathway where they secrete compounds that are basically herbicides that actually kill the grass.

So that's why we get a lot of phone calls.

Why can't I get grass to grow under my oak trees?

And I'm like, well, that's why.

Amanda> One reason, sunlight.

Sunlight's another one.

Yeah.

Rob> And good management.

So if you're running through with lawn mowers and you've got grass right across you're running over that root ball, or you're using weed eaters around the trunk you know, damaging.

Mary> Yeah.

This research has been shown.

I mean, I think most of the roots are not too, not too far down into the soil profile, so.

Drew> About 12 inches.

Mary> Yeah.

So you could be damaging them with weed eaters and lawn mowers.

So.

Yeah.

Amanda> So make life easier for yourself and just mulch under your trees properly.

And, then they want to go and get, you know, some kind of ground up tires or something.

But, what's your favorite mulch, Drew?

Drew> So I like, personally, covering up the logo, I like, I like, shredded hardwood mulch.

>> Okay.

But I've used shredded pine before.

But honestly, you know, pine straw makes good mulch too.

Amanda> I love pine straw.

>> And the rubber mulch was a good idea for environmental purposes.

I get it.

I would use that more for, like, playgrounds, or pathways, because that's just where that mulch is going to shine.

Mary> Stay away from the dyed mulches too.

Drew> The dyed mulches, yeah, they can have some issues.

So.

Amanda> Yeah.

Anyway, but I mean, we have a lot of pine trees in South Carolina.

A lot of people do rake pine straw, I believe.

Rob> Oh, yeah.

Absolutely.

Amanda> Yeah.

It's an income source for them.

Yes, it certainly can be for forestry.

And technically in the forestry situation it's a waste product.

Amanda> Oh, okay.

>> So you're also not only providing a revenue stream from a waste product, you're also helping to reduce that fire risk as well, because you're reducing some of that flammable material in the forest on the forest floor.

Amanda> Okay.

So even with the prescribed burns, you don't want to have a huge buildup of pine straw, because you might, because prescribed burns are supposed to be low intensity in some ways.

>> Yeah.

Okay.

Well, thank you.

All righty.

Well, Katie.

Katie> Our next question comes from Darla in Columbia, and she would like to know, "Why are my tomatoes shriveling at the blossom end?"

Amanda> Oh, well, Rob, I don't know if we grow tomatoes commercially over in Lexington and Richland, but.

Rob> We most certainly do.

Do we?

Okay, well, then you can help out with this one.

Rob> So that sounds very much, Amanda, like it's going to be blossom end rot to me.

It's not a fungal pathogen.

It's actually a nutritional issue.

so blossom end rot is caused by a lack of calcium.

So first step to growing a good tomato: Get a soil test.

Amanda> Okay.

Okay.

Manage the pH and check the calcium levels within the soil, because that can have a really big impact on blossom end rot.

Now, when you, if you send in a soil sample and you said one of the things I want to grow is a vegetable garden with tomatoes, will they include a calcium report?

Rob> They certainly can do.

Yes.

>> Okay.

Calcium is going to be listed on the main body of the report.

>> Okay.

As you see the rest of the nutrients in loam, medium, sufficient.

>> Okay.

Or excessive.

So that's the first step is get your soil test.

We can increase calcium inputs low in the soil by using a product called gypsum, which is calcium sulfite.

And that has no impact on the soil pH.

So it's a really good way of raising soil calcium levels without having an impact on pH.

Amanda> Okay.

>> Water is going to be critical maintaining a moist soil throughout the crop, that plant's growing lifetime will reduce the incidence of blossom end rot.

And if all that fails -- Amanda> So let me just catch you on that one.

So, sometimes they say, you know, you know, like with just your lawn and all and your shrubbery, you can let things dry out and then, you know, reapply as long as they get an inch of water from all their sources.

But you're saying the tomatoes, they don't want to have that soil dry out, ever.

Rob> Right.

Amanda> Not be too wet.

Rob> Yeah, you don't want it too wet, and you don't want to let it get too dry.

Amanda> Okay.

That's important, isn't it?

Rob> That can also promote that cyclical growth habit.

So you may end up with split fruit too.

Amanda> Okay.

And then, so can you mulch around your tomatoes to help keep the soil moisture?

You certainly can.

Some clean wheat straw or hay can work really nicely as a mulch material.

>> Okay.

You can use, you know, I've used shredded cardboard.

Amanda> Good.

Recycling.

>> Yeah.

Right in the garden.

So keep the soil moisture there.

If all of that fails, just take off those first fruit that are showing symptoms of blossom end rot, and you probably won't see it come through for the rest of the season.

Amanda> Oh, really?

Okay.

So is it, as the season progresses and the plant gets larger, it tends to have a bigger root system and can harvest more nutrients out of the soil.

Rob> Yeah, and you also get some recycling of those nutrients within the plant itself.

Amanda> So I think that sometimes you'll see sprays for blossom end rot.

Do you recommend that?

Rob> I personally don't, Amanda.

I think there's better ways of managing the problem.

Amanda> Okay.

Mary> It's like a calcium spray?

Rob> Typically.

Yes.

Mary> I know that in the Upstate, I mean, we usually have a really high percentage of calcium in our soils anyway.

So usually the problem is water because it needs to be transported into the plant.

Amanda> That's really good to know.

Yeah.

It's immobile so it needs to be watered.

And that helps it, takes it up to the, to the plant.

What do you think about people using eggshells, like grinding up eggshells, putting that in their plants?

I know a lot of people that do that.

Eggshells are pretty good source of calcium.

So again, it's about recycling materials.

I would recommend composting them, so you're getting rid of any potential food borne pathogens, which, you know, we all have to be aware of these days.

But if it's available, I don't, I, you know, people use wood ash for the same reason.

It's a recycling material that's high nutrient, which can be really beneficial.

Amanda> Okay, well, but start off with a soil test.

>> Yes.

Okay.

Well, it's always a thrill for us on Making It Grow when the reigning Watermelon Queen comes to see us.

And that happened recently.

And, gosh, we had a good time.

We are so happy to welcome Kinlyn Hinson to Making It Grow today.

She is the Watermelon Queen for South Carolina for 2024.

>> Yes, ma'am.

I'm so excited to be here.

Thank you for having me.

>> And not only are you representing this fabulous crop from South Carolina, but you actually grew up in an agricultural family.

Yes, ma'am.

My family farm, Hinson Farms.

We are a sixth generation farm located in the Antioch community in between Camden and Bishopville.

And while we do other crops, we also grow corn.

So the two corn varieties we grow are yellow dent corn and blue hoppy corn.

And what we do with that is grind it in our stone grits mill.

Amanda> Stone grits mill?

>> Yes, ma'am.

And since that doesn't get so hot, I've been told that means that the the flavor is is, remains wonderfully full.

>> Yes, ma'am.

The flavor in the corn does stick just because it is by stone and not by steel.

Amanda> How about that?

>> Yes, ma'am.

And you said that right in front of y'all, your house, you don't have a traditional lawn.

You have a half an acre that is, gets some unusual treatment.

Kinlyn> Yes, ma'am.

That half acre there's very special to us.

It's one of the first places that my family actually farm.

And we built our house right behind it.

So my grandfather likes that part of our fields to be done completely by hand with the mule.

Amanda> And you sometimes have to get in front and tempt the mule to get started?

>> Yes, ma'am.

He always wants a sweet treat to just get started.

Amanda> And you said that you found out that in addition to carrots, he also likes -- Kinlyn> Watermelon.

Amanda> (laughs) Well, that's great fun.

And then your grandmother has an interesting story, too.

>> Yes, ma'am.

She's actually Cherokee Indian.

So she grew up on the Cherokee Indian Reservation with her grandmother.

Amanda> Okay.

Now, you've been at Clemson studying.

So tell me what it is that you're pursuing.

>> Yes, ma'am.

So really, what I'm studying is agricultural education and agribusiness and a little bit of agronomy.

And my hope is to come back to our family farm and turn it to a more agritourism place.

That way, people can come and learn and grow.

>> And you said that y'all are also doing some experimental work with a type of cotton that would be revolutionary.

>> Yes, ma'am.

So, cotton that defoliates itself, that means you don't have to spray it.

It'd be a whole lot cheaper and a whole lot easier on the farmers.

Amanda> Yes, yes.

>> Yes, ma'am.

Well, I think that's wonderful that you've been at Clemson and have been able to tie all this research together.

>> Yes, ma'am.

It is.

Okay, well, let's talk about watermelons.

They're not grown much in the area of the state where you are.

Where are they primarily grown?

>> So they're primarily grown in the lower part of the state, You know, going towards the beach, you're always going to see the nice, beautiful watermelon fields out there.

So it's just a place to come look and stop and grab you a watermelon.

Amanda> Okay.

And how important are watermelons to South Carolina's economy?

Kinlyn> So to our economy it's a top ten commodity.

So, of course, you're always going to be looking for a watermelon, especially when it's hot outside.

Amanda> Yeah.

And when do ours typically ripen and come on the market?

Kinlyn> Normally mid-June to mid-July.

Amanda> And I have heard people say that when they're shipped to places far up north, that people really prefer and know that South Carolina watermelons are the great high quality.

Kinlyn> They are.

Yes, ma'am.

Of course, South Carolina watermelons, you can't beat it.

They're 92% water and a great hydrator.

Amanda> (laughs) And, I think that one of the things y'all do every year at the British one in Charleston, speaking of hydration, is to get people's watermelon?

Kinlyn> Yes, ma'am.

We actually just came from there not too long ago.

So, of course, we're going to make sure that everybody there is going to get a nice, delicious treat of watermelon.

Amanda> Instead of getting a sports drink or something that's full of sugar and all kinds of additives.

>> Yes.

Watermelon would just, is the perfect way to refresh yourself.

>> Yes, ma'am, it is, being that 92% water.

And, of course, you're going to have a lot of lycopene, so that's good for your skin.

Amanda> Okay.

Goodness gracious.

Well, lots of people just eat a big ole slice of watermelon, but you have found that there are lots of other ways to enjoy watermelon.

Have you brought a recipe for us?

>> Yes, ma'am, I did.

We're going to make watermelon salsa today.

Amanda> Ooh, I can't wait.

Kinlyn> I know, it's delicious.

Amanda> Okay, well, let's get started.

Kinlyn> Okay.

Let's go ahead and get started.

So the first thing we're going to do is just get our finely diced seedless watermelon.

So if you want to hand me our watermelon.

>> Okay.

And this watermelon here, we have a little bit of the yellow watermelon.

>> It looks real pretty.

Of course we're going to have our normal red watermelon that you normally see.

>> Yeah.

So we're going to go ahead and dump it into our bowl.

Amanda> Okay.

>> The next thing we're going to get is our jalepenos.

>> Ooh.

So they are going to be seeded.

And then we have them diced here.

>>Okay.

So we're just going to go ahead and dump those in.

Amanda> Thank you.

Kinlyn> And then we are also going to have our cilantro and our red onions.

And we put them in the bowl together and went ahead and mixed them up, so they're just chopped really fine.

>> Okay.

So this is going to be very colorful.

>> Oh, yes, ma'am.

They are going to be colorful.

So we're just going to make sure we get all of that in there.

Amanda> All righty.

>> And then finally, we're going to add our lime juice.

>> Lime juice!

Okay.

How much is that?

A couple of tablespoons?

>> Yes, ma'am, just a few.

Amanda> Okay.

And that could be to taste, too.

Kinlyn> That can be.

>> Yeah.

And then we are going to mix it all together.

Amanda> I like that you added the yellow.

I think that makes it so much more appealing.

That's, yeah, half the food presentation.

Kinlyn> It's all about the appeal of this.

>> Yeah.

That's what makes you want to eat it.

Amanda> Isn't it wonderful that we have seedless watermelons?

Because you couldn't do this if we had to pick all the seeds out.

That would be a terrible job to have.

So, now that we have it mixed, you can always salt and pepper to taste.

Amanda> Oh, so you're going to do a little bit?

Kinlyn> Going to do a little bit of both.

So, just a little bit.

>> Okay.

And then just a tad bit of salt and pepper.

Amanda> This is going to be delicious!

Kinlyn> It is going to be delicious.

And I will stir it again.

>> Okay.

And there we have our watermelon salsa.

Amanda> Whoa!

And I think you've got some prepared that we can -- Kinlyn> Yes, ma'am, we do have some that we can taste.

Amanda> Okay.

Well, I'm going to get some and see how good a cook you are.

(chips crunching) Well, Kinlyn, this is just delicious.

I'm so glad you brought us a new way to enjoy a South Carolina watermelons.

And I encourage people too, to look for the South Carolina watermelons when they come in, because it's such an important way to support agriculture in our state.

Kinlyn> Yes, ma'am.

It is.

Thank you so much for having me.

And make sure everybody knows that they can go by and grab a South Carolina watermelon that always leaves a smile behind.

>> Oh, can't wait till they come in.

>> Yes, ma'am.

We sure enjoyed having Kinlyn Hinson come to see us.

And, she will certainly represent us well as the 2024 Watermelon Queen for South Carolina.

Well , this hat is kind of a hodgepodge of things.

I have a lily in it.

And lilies, one thing.

I'm gonna take it off for a minute.

most of the stamens in this one have fallen off, but the stamens on the lillies can, you want to take them off, because they can, stain your tablecloth.

see, they made my paper brown, but also, they're dangerous to cats.

Mary> Really?

Amanda> Yeah.

And so, and, you know, cats, if you have an indoor cat, some of them will just go out and taste everything in the world.

And, so apparently there's something to be, you know, if you got one of those crazy hats.

Cats.

This is our native honeysuckle.

And, you know, when we were little, we would go to the invasive honeysuckle, and, but this one is just the same.

You just kind of get the end of it off, and it's full of nectar.

Isn't that just wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

And of course, that means that it's you have to kind of beat, beat the pollinators.

Right?

And...but anyway, and then Campsis radicans, is very, very vigorous, but a native and, and I'm sure this is about all sorts of things.

And anyway, so, hats, hats, hats.

But wasn't it fun to find the native honeysuckle?

Yeah, yeah.

And it has beautiful, leaves.

They're gray green on the back.

So if you don't have native honeysuckle in your yard, in your garden, I would really encourage you to do it.

Yeah.

All righty.

Let's see.

So I guess now we get to do more questions.

Katie> Yeah, we got a few more questions.

Ginger in Spartanburg says I have little black spots on the back of my azalea leaves.

What is this?

Amanda> Well, Drew, did you see this or do you have a idea?

Drew> I have, and I'll bet she's seeing what she thinks is spider mite damage on those.

That gray stippling on the leaves, the black spots she's probably seeing on the back, sideways or is most likely the excrement of azalea lace bug.

Usually this is a problem when we see azaleas planted in the wrong place.

So usually azaleas like morning sun and afternoon shade.

Amanda> Yes.

Drew> And usually when they're planted that when they're planted in that correct manner, we, a lot of our beneficial insects will take care of these azalea lace bugs.

But then when we see them stressed out planted in the wrong place.

We usually see more azalea lace bugs.

What these little guys are doing is are actually sucking the juices out of the plant.

Amanda> Okay.

Drew> So, there's several ways you can take care of it.

There are some insecticides, of course.

we have a fact sheet on azalea lace bug on HGIC.

But, there's things like Pyrethrins that you can use to knock them down.

That's pretty soft on beneficials.

There's also systemic insecticides, like Imidacloprid, that you can use.

Amanda> So when plants are stressed, their defenses go down.

Drew> Correct.

Just like us when- Amanda> -Just like us?

Just like us.

When we're stressed we're...we tend to get more sicker quicker.

So just the same way, if plants are stressed out, they're going to get more into their problems a lot more disease problems.

So...

I would suggest moving that Azalea if you can... Mary> What about a horticultural oil.

or like a surfactant.

Drew> Yeah.

You could use a surfactant like a horticultural oil.

the problem is with horticulture oils, you have to get good coverage because, whether it's a soap, oil or soap or oil, like neem oil or hort oil, they all work the same way.

They coat the insect and they suffocate it.

So once you determine that, it's just your choice, whether it's the hort oil, neem oil, salt or insects, all soap.

So but the other thing is you have to get good coverage.

So you have to get really intimate with the plant you have to spray the underside of the leaves, top side of leaves just really good.

Mary> Maybe do it in the morning or afternoon or something.

Drew> I usually suggest in the afternoons, in the evenings around, and I usually suggest that for all insecticide or pesticide applications, because like 6:30, 7:00 in the evening, because you'll work more diligently, because you're cooler.

(laughs) And it's also better for the plants because it won't burn the plants as bad.. Amanda> That's true.

Rob> Temperature can be a big issue though.

Drew> Correct.

Rob> Multi-control Drew> yeah.

If you sprayed, say, in the midday, you could really cook your plants literally.

Amanda> Oh, oh because of the hot sunlight.

And well, and even we've seen people burn them with, spraying in the mornings.

So about 9:00 and then it gets hot.

It can still burn.

So usually it's better to stick to the evenings.

Mary> Gotcha.

Amanda> Okay.

Good point.

Thank you.

So much for helping us with that.

Appreciate it.

Well, Katie?

Katie> Our next question comes from Tom in Turbeville And he has a question about elderberry, which is a plant in near and dear to me because we can propagate it using live stakes.

And so we use it a lot on stream banks to help control erosion.

And when we do that, we like to see it spread.

So those roots are spreading out and controlling erosion.

But he kind of wants the opposite.

He says, my elderberry shrub is starting to spread aggressively.

What can I do to keep it from taking over too much of my yard?

Amanda> Well, Mary, at least they put it in a happy place.

Mary> That's true.

No I think with that I mean kind of what you were talking about with glyphosate earlier about you probably don't want to spray that with glyphosate because that's just going to go back right up to the main tree.

So don't apply an herbicide to that if you want to keep that plant.

I'd recommend if you don't like it in that spot that you planted it in, it's going to keep suckering.

So it's really hard.

You're going to either have to remove them with a sharp spade.

You can give them to friends.

That's what I do with some of mine.

If I, if I don't want it to fill in, I mean in the wild it does that.

So it's just going to keep doing that if you have it in the spot that it likes to live in.

So you could dig it up.

You can give it to a friend, or you could consider moving it by taking out that main trunk starting over with one of the small suckers, replanting that in an area of your yard where it can take over.

Amanda> Okay.

>> and it can provide, a lot of really great resources.

Not only do you, I mean, the berries are great and lots of antioxidants.

You can make lots of things with them.

But also for the birds.

We were talking earlier about attracting more birds to your landscape and boy do the birds love the elderberries.

I might get to them before.

You get to them.

I knew, I used to work with an old administrative assistant when I was in Greenville who used to put bags over her elderberry shrubs, and she showed me a picture of it one day.

And it looked hilarious because she had all these little bags over her balloons, because she didn't want any of the birds to get to them.

but it's a great plant, so I wouldn't, I wouldn't consider getting rid of it completely.

Maybe just consider moving it somewhere else.

Amanda> Well, how about if you wanted to if you didn't have a whole lot of space and you wanted to have an elderberry, is there something that you could put around it Mary> like a barrier?

Amanda> -would keep it?

Mary> Potentially.

I would say it's probably still going to sucker in that area.

And then I think you'd have a problem with airflow.

It would probably become really thick and dense in that area that you have planted it in, and you're going to have to do pruning to keep it really healthy.

So it just depends on how much work you really want to do.

I would just move it.

If you don't like it in that spot, just start over with one of the suckers somewhere else.

Amanda> Okay.

All right.

Thank you so much.

Mary> Yeah.

Amanda> Well, Katie.

Katie> Our next question comes from Zoe in Pelion.

She asks, how can I conserve water in my yard and maximize irrigation efficiency?

So thank you to Zoe.

I love that question.

Amanda> Well, Rob, do you have some tips?

Rob> That's a really fantastic question and something that should be in the forefront of all of our minds is protecting our water resources.

So if we're thinking about irrigation, if we're looking at an overhead method, a very good.

Amanda> Yes.

>> So, pop up sprinklers, for example, would be overhead 25%, up to 50% of that water can be lost through evaporation.

So is there a better way that we can apply the water?

So if we're looking at irrigating flowerbeds, for example, can we switch to a drip irrigation system that we can actually target, you know, really how the water applied directly to the soil, which is going to really help to improve disease management for one thing, but also water use efficiency, because we're getting the water exactly where we need it.

So that's one way is think about the method.

Amanda> How difficult is it to install.

Rob> Drip irrigation is really easy to install Amanda> Is it.

Rob> Yeah, it really is.

Amanda> A homeowner can do it.

Rob> Yes!

Yeah.

Very easily.

There's kits available with emitters or emission emitter tubes that you can put around shrubs.

It's really well designed and really, really easy to do.

So that's one thing.

Calibration.

If we are, if we are using, overhead sprinklers or pop up sprinklers, it's really crucial.

And there is a great video on the HGIC website of how to calibrate an irrigation system.

Amanda> All right.

>> If we don't know what we're putting out, how do we know how long to run that irrigation system for?

So if we know those sorts of things, we can then target our irrigation run time to get the maximum benefit from it.

Time of day.

How many of us see, irrigation systems running- Amanda> -when it's raining or.

Rob> It's raining, in the middle of the day when it's really hot and dry?

I think about the time of day when it's going to be most appropriate.

So early morning is always going to be better when it's cooler and you still got some dew on the leaf and you're not going to extend that period of leaf wetness.

Amanda> Oh, so that'll help with disease?

Rob> Potentially.

Yes.

Yes Amanda> Gosh.

Wow!

There's a lot to the think about.

So there's a huge amount of things that we can do with irrigation.

And don't get me wrong, irrigation is critical.

But one of the things that I'm starting to work towards is using more of our native system in the landscape.

Landscapes are- Natives are adapted to South Carolina conditions so they're adapted to our rainfall patterns and soil types as well.

So that can really help us to reduce the amount of water that we're needing to apply.

Turfgrass, my personal opinion of turfgrass is the worst thing to have for from a water conservationist point of view.

Amanda> Well, and turfgrass doesn't give anything back to nature.

Rob> Right.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

and also when you're looking for, natives to plant, you want to be sure that they are from your eco region, I believe, rather than from Timbuktu.

Rob> Yes, Amanda> Even though it's still, you know, it's not an invasive, then it's native to the United States.

But it may... you want something that is came...that evolved in... South Carolina or in this area.

Rob> Yes.

Yeah, absolutely.

And a great resource to find that sort of information is the Carolina Yards, Plant Database.

Amanda> Okay, okay.

Okay.

Wonderful.

Well, I think that's gosh, all kinds of good information.

Conserving water.

Rob> It was the one thing that I also would like, you know, make sure that your sprinklers, if you are using, pop up sprinklers, ration you lines so you're not applying water to hard surfaces, sidewalks, roads, that sort of thing.

You know, it's good practice.

Amanda> Okay.

All right.

Thank you so much.

Rob> My pleasure.

Amanda> Well, Jackie McCauley is a good friend of ours, and it's such a treat when she comes.

And now we're going to show you a treat that she made when she was here.

♪ ♪ I'm with my friend, Jackie McCauley from Jarrett's Jungle up in Columbia on Sunset Boulevard and the jungle is full of tropical plants.

Jackie> Yes, it is, and these are tropical cut flowers and we get them in from Hawaii every week.

I come from Hilo.

Actually went to Hawaii to find the flower grower to get them sent over.

So we do have them regularly.

That's a lot of fun.

and today, I was just going to take some of them and show you how to make a really, really simple arrangement that has some rules that you can use for any kind of flower not just the tropical's.

So I'm not going to make this one too terribly tall, because it would take too long to make.

So I'll put this heaviest one in the center of my oasis.

I've already prepped my container with some oasis.

And then this is another heavy when I do all my water they call this is a ginger.

This is Awapuhi.

If you went to the woods in Hawaii, you could find these growing wild and the grouchos will actually take them and squeeze them and get out this real cream rinse you know that you can wear on your hair.

But um, they're real different look and I say that look like a club.

Like you could take it and go down somebody on somebody's head.

but um, anyway.

Alright, so I have cut this one and then this one's about half the height of it.

Alright, and your largest flowers go toward the bottom of your arrangement.

Okay.

and these are these are grown as a potted plant.

This is an and Anthurium, Anthurium andraeanum.

Amanda> Okay.

So these grow in Hawaii?

Jackie> They do.

They grow wild in Hawaii, and the lava rock is really a good spot for them to grow Amanda> In a lava rock.

Amanda> That's amazing.

Jackie> All right, this I'm cutting.

Alright, so this is about about half like this one, this one's going to be about a third, and then I'm going to use another kind of taller one.

Probably back this way.

All righty.

That's going to be Amanda> plants last tropical flowers.

Last?

Jackie> They do.

I once had an Anthurium, in my kitchen that lasted for over three months.

And it was short stemmed whenever I finished, because you start out with a long stem and you just keep cutting it to freshen it.

and so I've got the three in three rooms, I've got my Hello, this is a false bird of paradise that I had a bird of paradise, I would have used that.

but It's good to have like a lot of different colors in it and this one's going to be about half of the height.

You can even though they're similar heights, you can adjust the way that the flowers look by just changing the direction that they're of course, going so some of them have curved stems and some of them I can't get this one to sit right.

So you just have to work with what they give you.

If they give you a curved stem, you better figure out how to work that in somehow.

This is a beautiful Phalaenopsis Orchid, oh, now you may not have these, you know at home to use or you might have when you bought it somewhere and you can use Yeah, you can use the cut flowers for it.

Use it for cut flower, I'm gone put this down here.

This is going to be so really beautiful.

Variegated Monstera which we had to cut off on our plants at the shop.

So I'm going to use that as the backing really easy.

Sometimes if it won't sit right you may have to adjust the length.

Okay, and put it in a little backwards.

And then I brought some of the I'm going to have to turn it around just briefly so I can see what I'm doing.

Amanda> That's fair.

Jackie> And I'm gonna put some Selloum philodendron leaves down at the bottom, which you could cut off or your planet won't hurt, you're plant just to cut just a couple of leaves off of it.

Incidentally, these philodendron leaves last for about a month and water so they're very long lasting and they don't make the water stink, you can have some flowers, the water stinky, not tropical flowers.

Amanda> Isn't that one of the wonderful things about them?

Long lasting, no stinky water?

Jackie> No stink water.

I appreciate that, believe me.

This leaf I like to cover the mouth of the base.

Amanda> Yes.

Jackie> And this is a shorter range, you know, short bass, so you don't have a whole lot to cover in it.

But... how are we looking over there?

Amanda> I think it's just lovely.

Jackie> And I like to put different kinds of foliage.

Amanda> Totally different from what you'd expect with the cut flower arrangement.

Jackie> True.

And it's easy for you to make because you're using the floral foam.

Which is not hard to work with.

Amanda> Oh, this was wonderful.

Jackie> It really does help.

Amanda> When I was little, we'd have to stand there.

and you know, help hold it under the water.

Because before they had the instant oasis.

Jackie> It wouldn't come out with it.

Sorry about the back view there.

but I just wanted to make sure I had it looks fair.

and then have a little bit of greenery right here.

You can really use any kind of greenery.

These are some little bamboo orchids, that I just think look tropical, you probably wouldn't want to use anything that looked too basic because... you want a tribal look.

Amanda> You want things to look exotic Just to be different.

We can't go to Hawaii, let's bring Hawaii to us.

Jackie> And keep your flowers kind of different heights.

You know, because they're big flowers.

and if you have them all the same height.

Amanda> Just put this in a cylindrical container and have it go Jackie> Yeah I mean you can make a shorter one but yeah, It's better to have it says that It's very Oh, in the red.

Oh, I call that when done except for one thing that bowl over there by you.

If you did not like it one sided, like you're not putting it against a wall, all you would need to do is either finish out the square, or set it up in a nice bow like this.

and then you can continue your arrangement, you know, around the back.

So that you would have you know all sides done.

Amanda> Isn't that fun?

Well, I think we'll have to go home and put on a moo moo, and have a tropical drink and enjoy this.

Thank you so much Jackie.

Jackie> Thank you, Amanda.

I enjoyed it.

♪ ♪ It's fun to stop by and see Jackie.

I like to see what's going on, and, she has a wonderful area behind her house.

that is just full of natives.

It's kind of a woodland area.

Isn't that fun?

Yeah, yeah.

Well, is there somebody else who we might be able to give a tip to?

We got a few more people to help out today.

Darlene in Pelzer asks, do citronella plants really keep mosquitoes away?

Oh, gosh.

I have learned if I catch a mosquito in the house because we get them in the house because the house is so old.

So, you know, if I do that, don't open your hand because it'll fly away.

So I do this and then I squish it.

Then I look, you know, because, I mean, you finally you caught one and you, and then it goes, nannie, nannie boo, boo.

(laughs) Well, Drew.

Gosh.

Mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes, mosquitoes.

Drew> Yeah.

Mosquitoes are always a problem here in South Carolina.

So the answer to your question, darling, is no.

citronella plant doesn't exactly work that way.

You can rub the leaves on your skin.

Similar to like, you could be, even like.

Like, a rosemary or lavender.

to help repellant, as a repellent, but it doesn't just naturally repel it.

It by itself.

So it has to be brushed.

Amanda> So you'd have to bruise the leaf Drew> So what we do recommend for mosquitoes is actually taking away the, the, the breeding sources of standing water.

So in these standing water you have.

so anything with, old toys, old toys that are standing around collecting water, Unfortunately rain barrels, the lids on some of them can catch, can catch some water.

So you have to make sure that's not.

You can also use mosquito dunks in bird baths.

That's a natural bacteria that is toxic to the insect itself, but it's not toxic to birds.

So you can actually use those in the, in the bird baths and things like that.

So again, just being really, really proactive and taking away those water sources to take away the breeding sites.

Mary> What about attracting because don't hummingbird eat mosquitoes?

Quite a bit of those?

Could you attract more?

Drew> You could and so hummingbirds will will attract will go after them.

But also martins especially if you live near water.

Martin houses putting up Martin houses will really go after mosquitoes.

Rob> That's going to be another good one as well.

Drew> Oh yeah.

Bats are, you know, bats are also seen... put up a bat house, that's even better.

Mary> So when places are trying to sell you things of, get rid of your mosquitoes instead of calling Mosquito Joe and those kind of things, maybe try some other sources Drew> Try some other.

Yeah.

Because it takes a holistic approach to manage mosquitoes.

Amanda> And the mosquito dunks.

they're not very expensive, and it looks like a donut.

Kind of.

Drew> Looks like a donut.

Amanda> Yeah.

And...it doesn't affect any other species.

I mean, it's just specifically Drew> Specifically one of those... Amanda> Yeah.

Products that have natural soil.

Naturally occurring.

Drew> It's a different strain than what we use in thorough sod.

But it's like Rob> Thisraliumbra... Drew> Thisraliumbra...

It's, it's used a lot in, for fungus now it's controlling greenhouses as well, but.

Amanda> Oh, okay.

Drew> Yeah.

It's...specific to mosquitoes that particular.

Amanda> Don't tell them you suggested having a container and putting some straw and stuff in it.

And mosquito dunks and that, since they would like that, they would like to come there and lay their eggs and that might give you a little bit of.

Drew> Basically, a trap.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

And, also bird baths, can be so pretty and all, but, children, you know, they're unsteady often.

And I've heard of children being, severely injured by going up and trying to peek into one.

And the top comes off.

so I would encourage people to maybe if they had a base of one that was closer to the ground, maybe an old tree stump or something, to put something there rather than having it up in the air.

because sadly, I have heard of instances where that's happened.

So just trying to be cautious.

Okay.

All right.

Katie.

Katie> Our next question comes from Deb in Clinton, and she asks, my hollyhock has lots of rust colored raised spots on the leaves.

She wants to know, should I remove them, or can I spray something to get rid of it?

Amanda> Okay.

Well, Mary, what's this?

It's got something on the leaf I guess that won't go away, but can you keep it from spreading, or what do you think's going on?

Mary> Yeah, I think this is the common hollyhock rust.

I mean, I have hollyhocks in my garden that will reseed and I love them, they're so gorgeous.

Nothing gives you that beautiful vertical interest like a hollyhock.

and I grow them because I there's just nothing like them.

But I know at the end of the summer, it's going to be completely just covered with the red spot.

Amanda> So hot.

Humid.

Mary>Yeah.

So there are a couple things.

It's a it's a fungal pathogen that's causing this rust spot.

And it's found freely in some other weeds that are in the mallow family, which is.

And what the hollyhock is in as well.

So there's some weeds that also get this rust.

So some of those spores can be wind, wind transmitted so to that's flying on to the leaves.

You can try your best to, to try and eradicate some of those sources.

But you're going to find that.

I mean you're going to if you have a hollyhock you're going to get rust, especially in our climate here when it's so humid, it's just so conducive to that fungal pathogen.

there are things kind of that you can do, sort of make do an IPM sort of approach.

integrated pest management.

You can increase, make sure that the air circulation is really good in that area.

So make sure that there's, not a lot of stagnant air, you know, lots of good airflow going through there.

You could apply a copper fungicide, but that's really only a preventative measure.

And it probably isn't going to give you that control that you really want.

You're still going to have those rust pustules.

And you also if you're irrigating in this area, those rust fungal pathogens can be transmitted once your if you're applying water from overhead and splashing that spreads the spores even more so on the plant.

So you could what I do.

As it starts to get worse, I remove the foliage.

I completely get rid of it.

So just to reduce the amount of pustules that form or other sort of, spots, they can coalesce and completely take over the leaf.

Again, a fungicide, it's probably not your best bet.

I would just try to reduce the amount of inoculum that you do have around the plant, and maybe once it gets to a certain threshold, just cut it off at the base.

Amanda> I was going to say, when do they start blooming?

How long do you get to- Mary> So mine... Let's see.

I guess it is June now.

It started in early May for me, and then it keeps flowering as it goes up that stalk.

So right now I don't have a ton of pustules on mine.

but...I know at the end of the summer it's going to be completely just riddled with it.

Do you have any other advice, perhaps?

Rob> Could you look at even using, those late season blooms as a flower?

Mary> Yes.

Definitely Rob> Take off the leaves and just bring them in the house so you get the benefit of having the flowers.

Mary> Yeah.

Take it off and still enjoy it.

Rob> But fungicide wise, management wise, you're going to get, going to get real... Amanda> Just enjoy it when it's there.

Mary> Exactly.

Yeah.

Amanda> Yeah.

Now.

And you say they seed down.

Mary> Yeah.

So mine received quite a bit.

So you know you can just leave them on on the stalk, they'll reseed.

Or you could just take them off and try them in another place, see if you have less occurrence and maybe you just have it planted in the wrong spot.

So try somewhere else and just see, see what happens.

Amanda> Okay.

Yeah.

Well that's fun.

Yeah.

I haven't tried hollyhocks.

I think I might have to try... Mary> Yeah.

They're gorgeous.

Yeah they're biennial.

So you start seed.

Amanda> Yes.

Mary> It over winter in a rosette.

And then the next spring- Amanda> -it shoots up?

Mary> Yeah.

Amanda> Okay.

All right.

Well, thank you all so, so very much for being with us.

I just love learning from y'all and, and being with you in person too.

And I hope you've enjoyed this as well and that you'll come back and see us next week Night Night.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Narrator> Making It Grow is brought to you in part by Certified South Carolina.

This cooperative effort among farmers, retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture helps consumers identify foods and agricultural products that are grown, harvested or raised right here in the Palmetto State.

Mcleod Farms in McBee, South Carolina, family owned and operated since 1916.

This family farm offers seasonal produce, including over 40 varieties of peaches.

Wesley Commons, a full service continuing care retirement community located on more than 150 wooded acres in Greenwood, South Carolina.

Additional funding provided by the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance and Boone Hall Farms.