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.

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

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

I'm Amanda McNulty, and I'm a Clemson extension agent.

And I'm here with my co-host, who also is a Clemson person.

But I think you are now telling other Extension agents.

kind of how to be more strategic in things they do.

Is that right?

>> Well, I like the way you phrased that, Amanda.

Yes.

I have moved into a more administrative role, and hopefully can be a resource for the agents that are in my district.

And they are a wonderful group of agents.

In fact, one of them is part of our panel today.

Amanda> Yeah.

Isn't that fun?

We're Midlands?

Terasa> Midlands.

That's right.

Amanda> Well, and I'm from the Midlands, so, how about that!

Good part of the state.

Anyway, always thank you so very, very much.

Couldn't do it without you.

Terasa> I absolutely love it.

Amanda> And Rob Last is the horticulture agent, commercial agent.

Rob Last> That's correct...yes.

Amanda> So don't call you if I've got a problem at home.

>> I will, I will take some of those calls and assist Jennifer in our office with anything, as well.

Amanda> Yes, but you're in Lexington and Richland?

>> Yes.

<Amanda> And boy, I mean, those people in Lexington with those sandy soils.

They just grow, don't they grow like more turnips or collards than anybody in the country?

Rob> Collards are probably the most in the country, yes.

<Wow!> >> Just out of Lexington County.

It's really quite phenomenal what we can produce out of those sandy soils.

Amanda> Yeah.

And I guess the good thing about sandy soils is you don't get waterlogged and, and they can irrigate... Is that right?

Rob> Yeah.

I mean, they're in much more control of the water that they're putting out through irrigation strategies.

It's often said in Lexington County, particularly on the sands around Pelion, that we're only one day away from drought.

Amanda> Wow!

And are they strategic in how they water?

Do they use?

Rob> Yes.

Yeah.

A lot of folk will be on drip irrigation.

Amanda> Okay.

>> So that's targeting really where the water is going?

<Yeah.> Rob> There's a lot of center pivots that we're looking at using, as well.

Amanda> And you can, fertilize that way too, sometimes?

Rob> Yeah, fertigation goes through both systems.

Amanda> The world has changed.

Rob> Definitely makes life easier and more precise, as well.

Amanda> Yeah.

Okay.

What are the big crops in Richland?

Rob> Richland?

There's quite a few pecans, a lot of strawberries and berry fruit.

Amanda> Oh of course.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

Well, thanks so much.

Rob> Thank you.

Amanda> Carmen Ketron has a precious darling little girl.

And tell me what her name is again.

Carmen Ketron> Junea.

Amanda> Junea.

And she has, used to wear big bows in her hair.

Is she getting any hair now?

>> She's got lots of hair and, and she learned how to take the bows out.

(laughing) Amanda> And so you always bring fun things.

And I'm so glad you're here.

You're the hort agent over, in Darlington and Florence.

But you're the urban hort agent?

Carmen> Yes.

I'm the one who comes for all the house calls.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

And, that's kind of, you know, that's a big area.

Carmen> It is.

But you guys like the Midlands.

We like the Pee Dee.

Amanda> I know, I know.

Yeah.

Well, and, it kind of comes down to what kind of barbecue you like too.

Carmen> Exactly.

Amanda> And, yeah.

Carmen> Vinegar.

Can't go wrong.

Amanda> I know, and where we are, they have mustard based.

But I like the vinegar.

Carmen> Vinegar, yeah.

Amanda> Although they're all good.

Right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Anyway.

But I'm always so happy when you can usually have fun things for us.

Going to do something fun today?

Carmen> We're going to have a lot of fun today.

Amanda> We're hoping so.

And a new person.

Hooray, hooray, hooray!

Thank you so much for coming.

Brady Badder.

And you are the tropical person over at Forest Lake Greenhouses on Alligator Road in Florence.

>> Yes.

Thank you.

I'm excited to be here.

Yeah, I'm going to show off some cool plants and, kind of explain some of the ways to grow them and what I do all day at work.

And, it'll be cool.

I'm excited.

Amanda> Yeah, and I asked you if y'all had a generator because tropicals, I mean, if it gets real cold, you got to, but then you said, also, you need to be sure that- Brady> It'll save our life in winter or summer.

Amanda> Air conditioning, yeah.

If it's tropical, doesn't mean they want to be 130 degrees.

Brady> That is very true.

Yeah, and the humidity rises fast.

Yeah.

Amanda> So what's a good temperature?

Brady> We keep it between, 65 in the wintertime.

Never get to get below 65.

And, summertime we do our best to keep it below 100.

Amanda> Really?

Brady> The day before yesterday, we got our first notification that the greenhouse was sitting at 100 degrees.

Amanda> Dang.

Brady> Yeah, but that's okay for the plants, as long as they're watered and we're taking care of them.

Amanda> Yeah.

Wow!

That's something.

<Yeah> Try to keep it below 100.

Brady> Do our best.

Amanda> Do you use shade cloths and things?

Brady> We do.

Yeah.

So, we have, It's a quite a big greenhouse.

I don't know the square footage, but, parts of it are full sun parts of it are shaded.

So most of the house plants have double shade cloth where it's a nice shady spot, and it'll get 20 degrees cooler there than it will be in the, the sun area.

Amanda> Okay.

Brady> It's pretty cool.

Amanda> I hope you don't have to hang out there a whole lot.

Brady> I do, I spend my whole day in there.

Amanda> Goodness gracious.

Brady>...a warm one, for sure.

Amanda> Yeah, well, I'm so happy that you came over.

Brady> Thank you.

Amanda> All right.

Thanks.

Well, Terasa... Oh, first I'm supposed to say what we've got.

We are so excited because the Watermelon Queen came to see us.

And so we're going to talk about watermelons, and that's always fun.

And then, and since it's summertime and we all like to eat a lot of fruit, Trisha Mandes is going to show us an ambrosia fruit salad, which would be fun, too.

A good time to eat a lot of cool fruits.

It really is.

Brady> That's right.

Amanda> Anyway, and then, so, Terasa I think you're going to start us off with Gardens of the Week.

Terasa> Indeed.

Gardens of the Week is your time to shine.

It's where you get to show us what you're growing in your yard, your garden.

Maybe you visited a beautiful place that you'd like to show off.

So let's see what was submitted today.

First, we have from Denny Lau a glimpse of his pollinator garden with an assortment of plants.

From Annette Mishoe, Gloriosa lilies in Socastee.

Amanda> Ooh.

Terasa> From Betty Futch, tomato plants in Union County, the coveted tomato from Wanda Christmas, a harvest moon on purple coneflower, a fun garden friend to have.

Beth Monroe was out visiting the Ag and Art tour and captured a photo from the CHRSC Community Garden.

Fun times for sure.

And then last but not least, we have Lucy Whitehorne, who shared germander, which she warned is a rampant spreader but adorned by bumblebees.

So she lets it take over some areas of her yard.

<Terasa> Thank you to everyone who submitted photos.

It is absolutely a joy to see all of them.

Remember, what we, what we show on air is just a random sampling.

So we encourage you to visit our Facebook page.

And when you see us make that call for Gardens of the Week, that's your opportunity to post your photos right there in the comments and they may appear on air.

Amanda> Well, how about that?

Thank you.

And I think that, bumblebees are better at pollinating watermelons than, honeybees, I believe.

And so they're trying to figure out ways to get them to come.

Is that right?

Rob> That's actually true because of the size and stickiness of the pollen that's associated with watermelons.

Amanda> Yeah.

Yeah, because you used to be down in that part of the world.

Rob> I certainly did.

Amanda> Do you still like watermelon?

Rob> I do.

I'll be honest with you, I do prefer cantaloupe, but a good watermelon is still good.

Terasa> Now I'm just the opposite.

Honeydew and watermelon, I love.

Cantaloupe, ehhh.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, they're all good.

Yeah.

All righty.

Well, do we have some people we can help Terasa?

Terasa> You know, there are always people who have questions because gardening is, is not always very easy, especially in South Carolina.

Lots of challenges.

So let's see if we can help.

Jean in Lexington, who said, "My peppers are developing white lesions on the fruit.

"What is it and what can I do about it?"

Amanda> Okay.

Well, Rob, this is a vegetable question.

Do you have any idea what's going on?

Rob> I actually, this one sounds really common at this point in the year.

I would imagine that the peppers, that Jean's seeing with the white blemishes on them are in reduced canopy areas of the crop.

<Oh> >> So they're actually getting overexposed to sunlight, causing sun scald.

So there's, there's a few things that we can do as homeowners to try and rectify that.

Amanda> All right.

Rob> One is to make sure that we're giving our plants the right amount of nutrition when we're planting, in accordance with the recommendations from the soil test.

That will help to keep those leaves going and get that, that canopy shading effect.

Amanda> Oh, okay.

>> Okay?

Second option is to look at putting some shade cloth out.

Amanda> Oh!

Rob> You know, the sort of fabric, fabrics that we can use to create some shade that can often help a little bit.

Amanda> And enough sunlight gets through that you're still going to have good plant growth.

Rob> That's right.

Shade cloth comes in various degrees of percentage of shade, ranging from 5 to 10 percent, all the way up to 80 to 90 percent.

So you can really pick which, which is the right amount of shade.

The final option we've got is a product called kaolin clay.

And that can act kind of we're supplying sunscreen to the plant.

It allows it forms that barrier across the top of the fruit.

And just allows that reflection of sunlight.

So that can reduce the incidence as well.

Amanda> Okay.

You know, my parents backyard was a kaolin mine.

When, when we grew up, South Carolina, exported lots, that the United States exported lots and lots and lots of kaolin clay, and it was used in bone China like Wedgwood.

Isn't that fun to know?

It is the worst thing you could ever try to garden in there.

Red clay, you can garden in, but you can't do anything with that kaolin clay.

Terasa> Apparently you have to extract it and then you can make a product that you can then use another garden.

Rob> Absolutely.

Yeah.

Amanda> You can make...

I guess if you were a potter, you could try to make some really Fine China.

Isn't that kind of fun?

Terasa> That really is.

How is it applied?

So do you any of your commercial growers using the kaolin clay?

Rob> Yes, they are Terasa.

The product actually comes as a liquid suspension.

So you got those fine particles suspended in the jug.

It is a nightmare to get out of the jug because it has the tendency to settle.

Amanda> Oh my goodness.

Rob> So, it's really vigorous shaking.

And then supply it through a commercial sprayer.

Terasa> Okay, good.

Amanda> Well I'm glad they've got it.

Just like, zinc oxide for us.

Rob> Absolutely.

Amanda> I'm pretty careful.

I hope everybody is.

All right.

Well, is there someone else who might need a little help along the way?

Terasa> There is.

Next in line, we have Herbert from Florence who's having trouble with his lawn.

He said, my 25 year old Saint Augustine grass has started to die in increasingly larger spots every year for the past few years now.

"There is no disease "and the soil results come back fine, "I am stumped.

What could be causing this decline?"

Amanda> Oh my goodness.

After 25 years, he thought he didn't have to worry about his lawn anymore.

Carmen, is there any hope?

>> Hope is, one way to maybe something to think about.

We hope it works out.

But what it ended up being, And we are seeing more and more, all down the east coast is ground pearls.

Amanda> Oh, that's tough.

Carmen> And they are teeny tiny scales, that is tough.

That's why I hope.

Amanda> Yeah.

>>Hope is a special word to use.

But, what ends up happening is, a lot of your grass, not just Saint Augustine, but, Centipede, Zoysia.

They all become, affected by these tiny little scale insects that you can't really see outside of, March to June, March to June, July, because they burrow down into the ground.

They're...and during spring and summer, they come up to the top.

That's when you can see them feeding on the roots of your grass.

Amanda> I mean, do you need a jeweler's loop or something?

How small are they?

Carmen> A jeweler's loop is very nice to see that pretty pink adults and bright pink adults.

You can usually, if you go around to the edge of where your grass is dying, it's normally in a big patch.

Go right to that transition zone where the grass is dying and you dig out not more than four inches of soil.

Amanda> Just a tiny bit.

Carmen> And just look, you will start to see the small, pink adults or a lot of the times, little white egg sacs.

You want to do a jeweler's loop to make sure, but if you, you'll see them every scoop you get, usually in the very affected grasses.

And it happens to established lawns a lot of the time.

Amanda> How do they get in there?

Carmen> Nobody knows.

That's the weirdest thing, because normally I tell everybody, oh, you need to, clean your...your lawn, your, your blades on your lawn mower, Amanda> Especially if somebody is coming in, a service is coming.

Carmen> Yes, but they're down in the ground and they don't come up usually.

And so it's very interesting how, they are getting there and how they're establishing and then how they're taking over.

Now here comes the hope.

If you can maintain,... Brady's laughing at me, because he gets these questions a lot.

Brady and I are in the Pee Dee, they come to us all the time with this.

The trick is maintaining a healthy lawn.

And so that's a lot of work to maintain your healthy lawn.

Make sure that it is limed correctly.

Make sure that you're not overwatering, under watering and that you're fertilizing it the right amount, because too much fertilizer seems to make a big difference.

It gets them more active.

And some people tend to go on the upper limits of the recommended fertilizer because they think it'd be, look greener, quicker.

Carmen> More is better, but not always.

Amanda> So, there's no chemical that we can put out?

Carmen> No, there's currently no chemical that you can put out.

A lot of the times, what you really just need to do is make sure that you're watching and that you're identifying that your plants, that your grass is suffering from this and proper identification.

So, you know, too that it's there, so that you aren't digging around and transferring soil.

Amanda> So you have to go back in and like, plug the dead area, I guess, or something like that, wouldn't you?

Carmen> A lot of people are going back in with Bermuda, but- Amanda> Oh, it's, Carmen> Ah...we've, we've found that they're eating on Bermuda, as well, Amanda> That it's so vigorous.

Carmen> So vigorous.

Yes.

Amanda> Yeah.

Okay.

So that's if you have full sun that would be an option.

Oh my goodness gracious.

Well, or you could just have ground covers that were wonderful or just have a small bit of yard.

Carmen> A lot of people are going back in with garden beds.

Amanda> Wonderful.

Yeah.

Carmen> So landscaping in garden... Amanda> It doesn't, it won't hurt those at all.

Carmen> No, more native grasses, prettier options.

Amanda> Wonderful.

Carmen> So there are there are options and there's hope, right?

Amanda> Yeah.

Carmen> Yeah.

Rob> More biodiversity may help, as well.

Carmen> Yes.

It's back- Amanda> What did you say, dear?

Rob> I said more biodiversity may help, as well.

Amanda> Yeah.

There you go.

Yeah yeah okay.

Well, how about that.

The elusive perfect yard.

More reasons not to have that as your number one goal.

Right?

Okay.

Well, what did you bring us today to look at?

Brady> Yeah.

So, I have a bit of a plan.

I wanted to talk about easy plants and maybe kind of work our way up to things that are a little more advanced.

(Amanda laughs)<Okay> Brady> So we'll start with some easy stuff.

Yeah.

So these are, these are sand Sansevieria varieties, so snake plants, which are pretty common in the plant world.

Amanda> That doesn't look like the old kind we used to have.

Brady> It definitely isn't.

So this is a newer one.

It's called a Silver Streak.

Amanda> Okay.

Brady> This is a, a newer cultivar that has been available to the market, but it's just as easy to grow as any snake plant ever has been.

So it's not very picky about light level.

You can kind of put it anywhere in the house where it wants to go, <Okay> 100 percent dry between waters, like as dry as it can go.

So it's a good set them and forget them plant.

It's great for a person who hasn't gone on a watering schedule yet.

Amanda> Yeah.

Brady> A wonderful place to start.

And then they also really like getting pot bound.

You can see this one is also, <Yeah> breaking out of his pot already.

<Wow.> Oh.

So they like getting very, very tight, before you go up.

Amanda> A very easy plant.

Brady> It is, and you know, my kids, all live out in Los Angeles.

People use them out there in their yard.

Brady> Yeah.

So, these are actually from Africa.

They like the heat.

They love the humidity outside.

So also like a covered porch or something, would be great for that.

It's the wintertime that they don't like here.

Their real cold, as well, is what hurts them.

Amanda> Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Brady> But a beautiful plant.

Amanda> Isn't that pretty?

It really, really is.

<Yeah.> Terasa> Brady, they do flower occasionally, but not often, right?

Brady> So, it's always a big deal at work whenever one of them flowers.

But yes, they send up a very fragrant bloom that has a very, like, syrupy nectar, as well, and very, like white, frilly flowers.

It's very cool.

And it'll stand up taller than the rest of the plant, but it is quite of a rare occasion.

<Okay.> Brady> So it's always the talk of the town when it happens.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay.

Sansevieria.

Brady> Yeah.

Very cool.

Amanda> And you got another one?

Brady> Yeah.

We can talk about this one, as well.

Amanda> These are the same thing?

Brady> This is also a Sansevieria.

Yeah.

Amanda> This is hard to believe.

Brady> So this is a Shark Fin.

<Okay.> Brady> Totally different type of growth habit but exact same care.

So if you wanted something unique that you might not see, at a friend's house, something that you might have, kind of Amanda> Nanny, Nanny, boo, boo.

Brady> Exactly, exactly.

Yeah.

This would be a cool one to get, but also a very easy plant to care for, something that you don't have to worry about too much.

Amanda> Wow!

Brady> Yeah, but a very unique look.

Amanda> And, the back of the leaf has a beautiful pattern.

Brady> Yes.

Very cool variegation on these.

This is more standard to kind of your regular Sansevieria that you see commonly, just blown up very wide.

Amanda> So isn't this the summer that they're rereleasing "Jaws" and everybody's all upset and everything?

Brady> So here's your Shark Fin to celebrate.

(laughing) Amanda> Okay.

And now will it send up more leaves?

Brady> Oh, yeah.

Absolutely.

So this was a single fin when I started growing this one.

So this is a new one on this side.

Amanda> A single fin?

Brady> Yeah, a single fin.

(both laugh) But yes, so we'll continue to do that.

And the same as the first one we looked at.

It will like bust out of its pot when it's ready for a new home.

And you can kind of squeeze like right here.

You can feel a new guy in here.

So if we were to pull him out of that pot.

Amanda> You can.

Yeah.

Brady> You would see the little baby in there.

And if at any point you wanted to, you can break that off with a little bit of root, pop it in some dry soil and you have you a new plant.

Amanda> Wow!

Brady> Very easy.

Amanda> That's pretty cool.

Brady> Yeah.

The big trick is you don't water it until you see new growth... go propagate.

<Really?> Brady> just keep it dry until you know it's growing.

Then you know you've got new roots.

Brady> Yeah.

Amanda> How fun and how easy.

Brady> Yeah.

Very easy.

Amanda> So, you can go on vacation and nobody needs to worry about these guys.

Brady> Right.

Water it good for a couple of weeks.

Terasa> That's what I was thinking, how it would be really nice because families sometimes with kids in school will travel over the summer.

They might not have someone that would be coming to water their plants.

Yeah.

Brady> This is great for the household.

Amanda> Well, gosh, you... don't you let these get too hot, now.

Brady> That's right.

Amanda> We're getting some hot weather.

You be careful.

Brady> That's right.

Amanda> All right.

Brady> Thank you.

Amanda>Oh, it's so much fun when the Watermelon Queen's here.

and, you know, South Carolina, watermelons are like, 14th in our crops for... top, whatever, anyway.

And, Rob, I believe that, smaller growers can use this to really supplement their income.

Is that right?

Rob> There's a lot of people that do grow watermelons on a smaller scale, particularly for farmers markets as well, but then we've also got the very large scale growers who are providing excellent material into the grocery stores.

Amanda> Yeah.

And some people apparently like seeded, prefer seeded watermelons, but, I guess that's good.

They can practice spitting the seeds.

Yeah.

How about that?

Brady> A local farm next to us is growing, watermelons that are different colors.

Pink and yellow.

Amanda> Yeah.

Isn't it crazy?

Brady> Yeah, and they're very good, too.

Rob> There's a big rise in the number of, demand for orange.

Brady> Yeah, orange watermelons.

Yeah, yeah.

Amanda> Well, everybody wants something different.

Brady> That's right.

Amanda> Yeah.

I just like watermelon, purists.

And it's, Yeah.

And, you know, and you...

It used to be, they'd be like this.

You can usually get one about like this, that you can put in your refrigerator.

Brady> Right.

Amanda>I've got one in mine now.

Oh.

All righty.

Well let's see, the wonderful Watermelon Queen for this year.

I am so excited to welcome the South Carolina Watermelon Queen, Gracen Vaughn.

And we are thrilled to have you with us.

Gracen Vaughn> Well, thank you for having me.

Amanda> And, it's coming up when we're just going to be eating watermelon.

It's so wonderfully good for you.

Gracen Vaughn> Yes, it is.

So watermelon actually has 92% water.

It is also full of lycopene, which is great for replenishing your muscle health.

And it is a certified fruit for the American Heart Association.

Amanda> And so, when they had the bridge run in Charleston, instead of giving out a sports drink, y'all have little containers of watermelon, Because if you need those people need muscle repair.

Gracen Vaughn> Oh, yes.

Amanda> And...a lot of, water.

Gracen> Yes.

Amanda> So to speak.

because they've been running.

Gracen> Yes, ma'am.

So the South Carolina Watermelon Association has a program called Watermelon Fuels Athletes.

That program actually likes to promote that watermelon is more hydrating than your leading sports drink.

So when these runners come and finish the run, we like to hand them a nice little pack of watermelon.

It actually has vitamins in it, A, B6, and C, as well.

So these runners are getting, you know, this nice little thing of watermelon.

Sweet, juicy and refreshing.

But it also has so many nutrients in them to help them with their muscle requirement.

Amanda> And then y'all are doing things at schools.

And, a lot of kids, you know, don't know so much about watermelon.

A lot of people, thank goodness there are smaller watermelons now.

And so, but you're kind of building an audience, for watermelons.

Gracen> I am.

So, with the National Watermelon Promotion Board.

They have little coloring books and games, on some papers.

So, like puzzles that the kids can do.

And I love taking those out in the community and sharing them with the kids, because honestly, that is how you grab their attention, getting them to color, especially at field days, or hand some stickers out that say watermelon fuels athletes.

Amanda> They love stickers.

Gracen> They do, and they will wear them all day, every day until they fall off.

But I love also telling them this is a great treat.

You know, go home and tell mom.

A new thing that they love telling me is adding tahini or tamari on their watermelon, just like you would add some salt.

Amanda> Come on.

<Yeah.> Gosh, the new world.

Gracen> The new world.

Amanda> And so also, at those times y'all actually take watermelons in and show the kids how to cut them and give them real watermelon slices.

Do they eat them like a little.

Gracen> Oh, they eat them so quick.

Normally we have to just to make sure that I like to tell them we have enough to share with all your friends.

We can only limit you to three slices today.

Amanda> Three Slices?

Gracen> Or sometimes more, if we have enough watermelon.

They will go through them so quick.

But typically you can get about 25 to 30 slices out of a watermelon.

Amanda> Okay, that's really fun.

Oh yeah.

And now that they don't have seeds in them I've been told some people like still like... Gracen> Some people like some seeds.

I was at the Blythewood Farmer's Market yesterday, and a lot of people actually asked me if our watermelons had seeds in them.

They really wanted to take that seeded watermelon home.

Amanda> Isn't that funny?

Gracen> It is so funny.

Amanda> Just what you're accustomed to.

Gracen> Yes, ma'am.

Yeah.

Yes.

Okay.

Amanda> And then, the other things that y'all do as well, and that is go to national meetings and promotions, I believe.

Gracen> Yes.

So I travel to all different states and work with all the different Watermelon Queens.

In a few weeks, I am going to Washington, DC, and in Washington DC, I will be doing visits up there, with people from South Carolina.

Amanda> Cool.

Gracen> Yeah, I'm super excited.

Amanda> And I think it's a pretty important crop in South Carolina.

Gracen> It is.

It is actually, top ten in commodities.

Amanda> Oh!

How about that!

And they're grown mostly in the lower part of the state.

Gracen> They are.

So thank, Columbia down.

Most of our farmers are around Lodge, South Carolina or Blackwell.

Amanda> And, this is something that they do in addition to other kind of farming, because it's not year round.

Gracen> Yes.

So,...Yes, ma'am.

Amanda> Watermelon come now and then they're gone again.

So a lot of them that I know actually grow squash, tomatoes, corn, peas, just so many different fruits and vegetables.

Amanda> It's just an element in the mix so that our farmers can stay prosperous.

Gracen> It is.

Amanda> Yeah.

And, and we should do that by, getting watermelons and bringing them home and... Gracen> Yeah.

So, of course, Amanda> They're so good.

Gracen> Yes.

Amanda> And, now they come in different colors.

Gracen> They do.

So actually right here with us today we have our, your normal red watermelon.

And then you have a yellow watermelon.

And we're actually getting some orange watermelons.

Amanda> Oh how about that.

Gracen> Yeah.

Amanda> Okay.

Fun, fun.

Gracen> Yeah.

Amanda> Well, you know, you don't have to just have a slice of watermelon, as good as it is.

<I agree.> So, is there something that we can do?

<Yes.> Amanda> with extra watermelon we left...?

Gracen> So this is called a red, white and blue parfait.

Amanda> That's right.

Gracen> If you don't mind, I'm going to ask you to help me with it just a little bit.

<Okay.> So we are going to start on the bottom.

Amanda> A red, black and blue parfait.

Gracen> Yes, ma'am.

Great for the 4th of July holiday.

Amanda> Yeah.

Gracen> So we are going to start with your blueberries on the bottom here.

Amanda> And blueberries are a wonderful crop that we grow also in South Carolina.

Gracen> They are.

Yes.

They are actually one of my top five favorite fruits, too Amanda> And you know, they are native.

Gracen> They are.

Yes.

Amanda> Isn't that fun?

Gracen> I love adding them in with my watermelon, especially when it gives it more color.

Amanda> Well, and you know, just the complexity of flavors.

Gracen> Yeah.

Oh yeah.

Amanda> Is that about right?

Gracen> That's about right.

Amanda> Okay.

And then next on top of that to give the white, we are going to add in some Greek yogurt Amanda> Greek yogurt.

Gracen> Yes ma'am.

You can add in any... Amanda> This is plain?

Gracen> Yes.

That is plain vanilla Greek yogurt.

You can add in any type.

I've honestly tried it with blueberry yogurt since you have some blueberries thrown in there.

Amanda> Well, I don't, I don't, you know, I think the watermelon is so wonderfully sweet.

The unsweetened yogurt is going to be... Gracen> It probably is It is.

Amanda> ...I think, a very nice contrast.

Gracen> And then on top of that, of course, the star of the day, we add in some watermelon.

Amanda> Ta, da, da, da.

Gracen> You can chop it however you like.

But we decided, Amanda> They're kind of small.

Gracen> to chop up some small pieces Amanda> because you don't want to have a giant clob in your mouth.

Gracen> Right, I agree.

Amanda> You want to get a little bit of everything when you eat this.

Gracen> I like to get a little bit of everything in every bite.

That looks great.

Amanda> Well, I want to be sure I've got enough.

Okay.

Gracen> And then to top it off, of course, with some Cool Whip.

Amanda> Okay.

Gracen> Oh, yes.

Amanda> Gosh, this is just, what a wonderful dessert!

Gracen> Oh, yes.

Amanda> And wait a second.

I'm going to... Gracen> Put one more on the top.

Amanda> How about that?

Gracen> That looks great.

(laughing) Awesome.

Amanda> That looks so good.

Gracen> So you can enjoy this by the pool.

You can stick it in a kid's lunchbox.

A lot of our kids today love the color contrast of this.

Amanda> Or you can get one of those containers and just pop it in there.

Gracen> Oh, yes.

Amanda> Oh, that would be so much fun.

when everybody else has an apple and look what you got Gracen> Look what you've got.

Gracen> Oh, yeah.

Amanda> I'd like to give a shout out to, one of our, one of my wonderful Clemson Extension coworkers, Gilbert Miller.

So can you tell us a little bit?

Gracen> Mr. Gilbert.

Amanda> Isn't he just the most wonderful person.

Gracen> I love him with my whole heart.

From the day that I met him, to him helping me on and off the stage with his bright colored, wonderful watermelon tie at our convention.

Mr. Gilbert just brings so much knowledge to the table.

Amanda> And down at the, Edisto R.E.C., he's done years and years and years of research and improvements to watermelon to make them easier to grow, I believe.

Gracen> He has.

We actually had him when I went to queen training, He came and talked about the biology of watermelons and gave us a lot of knowledge to take throughout our years.

Amanda> Did he?

Gracen> He did.

Amanda> Yeah.

Yeah.

And he's got a great shirts that he wears.

<He does.> Amanda> He may have a PhD, but he sure doesn't..

He doesn't put on that crown.

I mean, that crown, I mean, he's just a normal guy who's had a wonderful time having fun and doing- Gracen>-He does Amanda> a really important job I think... for South Carolina.

Gracen> I'm so excited to talk to him more throughout my year preparing for nationals, as well as just get to know him and what watermelon has to share.

Amanda> Thank you so much for coming.

Gracen> Thank you.

Amanda> I think you represent our state beautifully.

Gracen> Thank you so much.

Amanda> We are so fortunate to have you.

Gracen> Well, thank you for having me.

Amanda> Gracen Vaughn is, I think, a good representative for our Watermelon Queen.

And we wish her great luck at the nationals and then all the other things she does besides, you know, being a great representative, carrying these watermelons on.

She is a super, super clogger.

And she goes to Mars Hill College and they have this phenomenal clogging team, and she's going to be going overseas for a month and just clogging all over the place.

And, I thought that was kind of cool.

I don't know if they have to do talent at the, at the, at the, contest, but that would be a pretty cool talent, I think.

Anyway, we appreciate so much what they do to promote watermelons in South Carolina.

Anyways.

So hats, hats, hats So, right now, this Hypericum, which is the yellow one is just all over the roadsides, especially the dry ones.

But this is one I have in my yard.

that gets bigger, and you want to have something that is attractive to pollinators.

It is just stunning.

It's not native.

It was used by the Greeks and Romans.

It's from, it's worldwide now in it's distribution.

And this is kind of fun to listen to.

"Saint John's Wort doth charm all the witches away, "if gathered at midnight on the saints' holy day "and devils and witches have no power to harm "those that do gather the plant for a charm."

Anyway, and then, of course, Saint John's Wort is, you know, a lot of people use it medicinally, and it was forever and ever.

But please don't be doing that without talking to your doctor because it interacts with some other things.

So, you know, but it's not, you know, it's, it's not something that you just should do on your own.

You could get kind of in serious trouble if you're not careful.

So, don't think because something's made out of a plant, You know, that it's automatically okay to do.

Okay?

Check with your doctor, please.

Or whoever gives you your health care.

All righty.

And then- Oh, our Oakleaf hydrangea, which is a native hydrangea.

Terasa, it's just one of my favorites.

How about you?

Terasa> Oh, it's magnificent.

Especially if you have, a nice shaded area in which it will thrive.

Amanda> Yeah.

And, and then the flowers, even when they fade, are still beautiful throughout most of the winter, don't you think?

Carmen> Oh, yeah.

You can dry them and put them in arrangements, or leave them on the bush.

And it'll give a really great winter interest.

Amanda> Yeah, it's just a great plant after all.

And easy, easy, easy, easy.

So, if you don't have one I would suggest you get one.

A nice native.

How about that?

Okay, Terasa, who are we going to try to help out now?

Terasa> Well, let's see.

You know, there's never a shortage of questions.

This one comes in from Lexington.

Richard says "I have one shoot "on my blackberries dying back, "and there is a growth on the stem.

"What is it and how do I manage it?"

Amanda> Goodness.

You know, it used to be blackberries, we just go out and, you know, try not to be barefooted and pick blackberries and hope to make a pie.

Because they're here, it's one of our natives, I guess.

Rob> They certainly are.

Yes.

Amanda> Well, what do you think's going on?

Rob> That's a really interesting question.

It's kind of an unusual pest that we don't see very often.

Amanda> Really?

Rob> It's actually called Blackberry Gall Midge.

And what happens is the adults are tiny little insects, about an eighth of an inch long.

Amanda> Oh, come on.

Rob> So really, really small.

They often go unnoticed in the yard situation.

The adult female will lay her egg behind the developing shoot.

So you imagine on a blackberry shoot, you get the growing tip where the flowers are going to be, they'll lay their eggs behind there or into a wound site on the cane.

The larvae then hatches and burrows into the stem that triggers the release of plant hormones, so you can get this large growth formation.

If you cut that gall open, you'll find multiple chambers inside this gall.

And the gall actually looks like an oversized blackberry.

It's a really cool thing.

But you'll find multiple chambers with larvae inside that are typical so, the fly larvae, headless and legless, like a student on a Saturday night.

(laughing) Terasa> I've never heard that, that saying before Rob> There will be multiple of those inside this gall.

In a commercial situation, we often don't see it because we apply more insecticides.

So it's more common to see it in a home, home situation.

So the easiest way to actually manage this is to prune out the... out the affected shoot.

It's typically only one or two per plant, so remove that cane.

Amanda> And don't leave it in the garden.

Rob> No, don't leave it in the garden.

Destroy it.

Amanda> Don't put it in your compost.

Rob> No, no, definitely don't compost it because that will allow... Amanda> They'll come out.

Rob> They'll complete their life cycle.

So yeah, remove it, destroy it, and you'll be good to go.

Amanda> Okay.

So we have all kinds of blackberries, now.

You don't necessarily have to have stickers on it anymore, do you?

Don't we have some thornless?

Rob> We have a lot of thornless blackberries and a lot of semi- thornless blackberries too.

My advice to anybody, growing, wanting, wanting to grow blackberries in the home yard is always go thornless.

They are so easy to pick and deal with.

Amanda> Semi-thornless, just.

Rob> You've got some thorns, but not as many as you would on an overgrown wild blackberry cane, Amanda> They're all in all pretty easy, aren't they?

Rob> They are.

One thing to be aware of is that blackberries will also sucker with the new canes.

If you, they can be very aggressive.

Amanda> Okay.

Rob> So, and really want to dominate and take over.

Amanda> And do you cut last year's canes down?

I can't remember- Rob>-After harvest you remove any of those...fruity canes, allowing the new canes to come through.

<Okay.> >> There are some, slightly different cultivars that are prime cane fruiting now, and they will fruit later on the season.

So typically late July, late July through September.

Amanda> But, yeah, a blackberry for everybody.

Rob> Absolutely.

Amanda> Okay.

All right, Carmen, I think you're going to come out here and do something that you've been doing with 4-H kids or something.

Carmen> Yes.

Amanda> That's because we're so infantile.

Okay.

We can't wait.

Carmen> Any time I get to use a mallet, I always want to experiment.

So.

One of the best parts of the summer at Clemson Extension, of course, is, all of the 4-H summer camps.

And, we've been having a number of different, summer camp activities, and I love to always help one of the more fun ones that we are doing this year is, flower print transferring.

Amanda> Whoa!

Carmen> So a lot of people, if you're looking for something kind of fun to do, is taking some of the, flowers in your garden and seeing how they will transfer on to.

I have a hank- We've been using handkerchiefs, but people will do it on paper, on silk.

It's a really fun activity, especially if you're, you know, hanging out with the kids.

Some of the plants that I like to do are, any of the flowers, but you can also do the leaves.

We've been doing a lot of fern transfer things like that.

Amanda> I would think the ferns would be interesting.

Carmen> The ferns, the ferns turn out really nice, and it's really fun to kind of ask the kids, like, what do you think you're going to, What colors transfer?

Because not all the good colors transfer, like you would think.

But one of the tricks is, you take- Amanda>-So tell everybody what you've got there, what flowers you use.

Carmen> We've got some, Plumbago.

We have, Where did my....?

Nope.

Doesn't matter.

We've, we've got some, Plumbago here.

This one's a pretty one.

Amanda> Ooh, beautiful.

Carmen> Yeah!

And we'll start with that one, and we'll just see how it transfers real quick.

Carmen> So the trick is on wax paper.

<Okay.> Carmen> Then your fabric or, your paper down, then your flower of choice, and then, another piece of wax paper.

And this way you're not transferring anything, too terrible to your mallet or hammer, and then you just start smashing it down.

Now you'll see that I'm doing, very light, Amanda> light tapping.

Carmen> light tapping.

Light tapping.

But you want the one trick that I've always, tell people is you want to make sure to get the edges of the flowers.

And sometimes what you'll end up doing is start in the center and work your way out for some of the bigger flowers.

Amanda> Okay.

(banging) Amanda> So that's a rubber headed mallet?

Carmen> This is a rubber headed mallet.

I've also done it with a regular hammer.

Amanda> But for the children, Carmen> You definitely want to make sure that you are, you're being safe.

Now, I've done this with four different 4-H groups, so far.

And we have really enjoyed doing the mallets.

And not one child has lost their finger, so... Amanda> No smashing.

Terasa> Definitely a plus.

Yeah.

Carmen> Then you can take it and, peel it back.

And a lot of times I'll check and see, how it can be transferred.

What do you think, Brady?

A little bit more?

Brady> It looks pretty cool to me.

The pattern is so nice.

Carmen> Yeah.

Let me just... some of the ones that, I didn't have today, but we've really enjoyed, are Ligustrums.

They transform very nicely.

Hold on, let's see.

Yeah, I'm going to call that a winner.

Rob> I like them.

All> Oh.

yeah!

Carmen> And then a lot of the times if it is still wet, you can just hang it out to dry, and wait for the flower imprint to kind of to, to kind of pull off, or you can just pull it off by yourself.

Amanda> That's just beautiful.

Carmen> Oh, but here's one that we did with some Plumbago, and some Calibrachoa.

But yeah.

And it's kind of nice.

You want to wash in cold water, and then you have your, your beautiful, handkerchief to kind of play with and remember it by.

Amanda> That is perfectly lovely.

Terasa> Nothing else special to set those colors.

Just wash it in- Carmen>-cold, cold water.

Warm it in just a regular detergent.

A light detergent is nice, but, cold.

But you want to make sure cold water instead of warm water.

Amanda> Well, I don't think I want to blow my nose on that, that handkerchief.

It's too nice.

Carmen> Very cool.

A lot of the kids went home and framed them.

Amanda> That's what I was thinking.

Carmen> So, it's kind of fun.

Amanda> Yeah.

Too cool.

Carmen> Something to play around with and try out.

So yeah.

Terasa> I think that's a great idea for incorporating, you could do lots of educational things about flower parts and structure and then pair it with a craft for the kids to enjoy it.

Amanda> What a great idea!

Carmen> They've been really fun, trying to do, hypotheses about pigment transfer.

And do we think it's going to look like it does.

A lot of the kids, they started to bring in the carnations that were dyed.

So we had to have a whole conversation about how true color is.

Amanda> So I'm seeing some weird colored, orchids now too.

Amanda> Yeah.

Carmen> It's wild.

Amanda> I don't know, but everybody wants to improve on nature.

Oh, well.

Terasa> I just saw a blue orchid and was commenting.

I was like, they're going to be really sad next year when it flowers and it's not blue anymore.

Amanda> Well, I mean, I imagine it'll still be quite beautiful.

Terasa> Oh yes.

Yeah.

Brady> Beautiful white, probably.

Yeah.

(laughing) Amanda> I guess and did they pay a lot of extra.

Do they charge a lot extra?

Brady> Oh, we will not buying any... Amanda> No, no, no, of course you wouldn't Y'all are way too cool.

I bet, I bet they cost.

Brady> I'm sure.

I did hear that.

Cut flower orchid blooms like Phalaenopsis orchid blooms are going for around $100 a piece to people who do vases and stuff, now.

Amanda> $100 a piece.

Brady> I heard that literally yesterday.

Yeah.

Amanda> Wow!

I think I'd find something else to put in my vase.

Brady> Right.

Yeah.

That's right.

Amanda> Woo!

Okay.

Well, I think you've got something that really looks fun for us to look at.

Brady> So yeah, a little bit more advanced of a plant to care for, but if you were, if you were taking care of your Sansevieria and you were doing really well, I would say that it's time to move up to something that wants a little more love.

<Okay> So this is a fern.

It's a blue star fern.

Amanda> The color is just marvelous.

Brady> Very much so.

I actually was wondering, could you smash this and get a bit of color out of here?

Carmen> Yeah.

Brady> Yeah.

But, so this is a fern.

So ferns, like, a little bit more on the moist side.

Never want their soil to go near as dry, as like the Sansevieria did.

So this is one that wants you to check on it every day, every other day.

And give it like a little bit of water.

You never want to soak it hard.

Amanda> Wiggle your finger in.

Brady> Yep.

And as you feel that moistness on the top start to go away.

That's what I want.

Just a little drink just to catch it back up.

So you never have to soak it hard.

You never have to drown it.

You're always just keeping it lovingly moist.

Amanda> So, not necessarily to run out of the bottom of the pot.

Brady> Exactly.

You only want to do that when you let it if you forget it for a few days, or if you want to let it go a little too dry, that's when you want to soak it hard.

Amanda> Well, you wouldn't want to use fertilizer in that water because it would build up too much, I guess.

Brady> That's true.

If you're going to do a fertilizer session, you want to water it harder.

Yeah.

You do want it to run through.

Amanda> And then don't do it again.

Brady> Give it a little while.

Yeah.

I mean, one philosophy that I have, moved towards in the greenhouse is less fertilizer, more often.

So we do a very, very light mixture, but we do it all the time.

And that seems to work out.

We have almost a zero percent burn rating.

Like I haven't burned a plant in a very long time.

And it's because we're always using just a little bit.

Yeah.

Things do well.

You can see how lush and gorgeous this is.

Amanda> Oh, and the color!

Brady> Stunning, stunning.

And then as this matures you get longer and longer leaves.

With more and more fingers that come out.

So, in a couple of years, this guy will be even longer.

Very cool.

Amanda> Yeah.

And, but indoors?

Brady> Indoor, I mean, again, a covered porch until the winter time, I would say probably down into the forties is about as low as you want to go.

And then you can bring it in for the year.

It is a bright light plant, so it doesn't want to sit anywhere that's too dark in the house through the winter time.

Amanda> Oh, okay.

Brady> But a little LED bulb in a lamp nearby that you run during the day would be more than enough.

Amanda> Okay.

Gosh, what a beautiful color.

Brady> I agree.

Amanda> I declare that is so, so pretty, And not too, I mean, just.

Yeah, you have to remember to Brady> Just remember to check on it.

Yeah.

This is for the lover.

<Yeah.> For sure.

Amanda> Well you could put, if you had a beautiful picture.

You could leave that picture next to it Brady> That's right.

Take care of it with it.

Yeah.

I actually painted one of these in a beautiful, like, a light blue pot that almost matched this for a customer the other day, and it worked out really well.

And, yeah, like a "shiwanzry" style pot nearby would be.

Or a saucer nearby would be very good.

Yeah.

Amanda> Okay.

Oh, thanks so much.

Brady> For sure.

Amanda> Okay.

Fruits are always good.

We certainly love watermelon, but we also like others.

And Trisha Mandes came.

We made a fruit salad.

Amanda> I'm talking with Trisha Mandes, and she has a Master's in public health and nutrition.

And for a while you were down here at the Arnold School of Public Health, at the University of South Carolina.

Trisha> I was...

I was a nutritionist in Dietary Inflammation Research.

Amanda> And now you live, I think, in Pennsylvania, and you have private clients.

And tell me what you're doing with them, please.

Trisha> Absolutely.

Still working as a nutritionist.

And I help clients shed pounds sustainably with optimal eating.

Amanda> What does that mean?

Trisha> So I help clients not only shed pounds sustainably, but also in certain instances reduce blood pressure medication, decrease their cholesterol, so they may be able to get off cholesterol medication, pain medication, increase their energy.

So we're really focusing on proving the totality of their health, even faster sometimes, and they're shedding pounds sustainably.

Amanda> So what is the basis for having this wonderful outcome for some of your clients?

Trisha> Well, I actually learned a lot of this research when I was getting my master's degree, reviewing Dr. Brie Turner-McGrievy research and other researchers.

She's at the University of South Carolina.

But I'm getting clients to eat about 90-ish percent of their food coming from whole plant foods, from the garden, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, rice, beans and then fruits and veggies in there as well.

Perfection is not required, but we really want to move the needle in that direction.

Amanda> And so do they.

Do you think that they're hungry?

I mean.

Trisha> Absolutely not.

That is my favorite part of eating optimally.

And what my clients love, too, is we don't count calories, we don't portion control.

We can just eat and you want to be nice and full and satiated.

However, these foods tend to be lower in calories, but you actually get to eat more food, which helps you feel more satiated.

And some of the foods also really help give you more energy so you can start moving again, as well.

A lot of my clients come to me and they, they can't.

They're struggling to exercise.

They don't have enough energy.

They're in too much pain.

So changing the foods they put in their mouths helps them start to be able to move and live their life again more in the different ways that they want to.

Amanda> Do you have some recipes that you're going to share with us?

Trisha> Absolutely.

So we're doing a Spin of Ambrosia fruit salad here, but we're making it really optimal.

Amanda> Yes.

Trisha> So I'd love to show you how to make it.

Amanda> Let's do it.

Trisha> All right, beautiful.

So we're going to start off with pineapple, and you can buy pineapple fresh and cut it if you want to.

You can also buy it pre-cut in the store.

I don't personally like doing that because you don't know if they actually cut it when it's ripe or not.

But you kind of if you want.

What I think the simplest and easiest thing to do is actually to buy canned pineapple.

I love making it easy to eat optimally and improve my health.

We just want to make sure that when you buy in any can, you're buying it with 100% fruit juice.

Amanda> Yeah, because it used to be when you got things in the cans, they were in such sugary basis.

But I think now everybody seems to offer alternatives, don't they?

Trisha> Yes, you can buy either or.

It's still very common to find it with added sweeteners and added sugar and high fructose corn syrup.

Or you can buy it in 100% fruit juice.

And that's what you want to look for on the can, either on the front or the ingredient list on the back.

Amanda> Okay.

Trisha> And then we're going to use some of that juice in the recipe as well.

So, can you put that in the bowl for me, Amanda?

We have our cut pineapple chunks.

Beautiful.

Amanda> Okay, Trisha> This is really simple.

It just requires that you rinse and cut a bunch of fruit.

So next we have our red grapes.

Rinse them, and then I cut them that half.

I think they look prettier that way.

They're more enjoyable to eat.

You could put them in whole.

But I do like.

Yeah, I think it looks prettier that way too.

And then I have three different oranges that I cut.

Amanda> Oh!

Trisha> Yes.

So I peel them.

Amanda> Different oranges do have different flavors.

Trisha> Yeah.

And if you can get your hands on different tangerines or clementines or oranges, you can do any sweet orange citrus fruit that you enjoy or a mix them.

Amanda> That does look pretty good.

Trisha> Yeah, it's really pretty.

And then we have two bananas that are sliced.

You're doing great.

You're doing wonderful, Amanda.

(laughs) Amanda> I'm good at the dump method.

Trisha> Yeah.

It's so simple.

That's what I love about it.

It tastes really good.

It's really sweet.

And then to your right, we have our pineapple juice and again, again from the can.

Amanda> Which is the actual juice of the pineapples with no extra added sugar.

Trisha> Exactly.

Exactly.

And then right here I have almond extract.

So it's about a half a teaspoon of almond extract, and that gives it a nice, refreshing flavor.

So I'm going to dump that in there as well.

A little goes a long way with that.

So you want to start small and then taste it.

And if you want more, you can always add more.

Then we have shredded coconut.

Amanda> Okay.

Trisha> And again, we want to buy the unsweetened.

So it's not adding a lot of sugar to it.

Amanda> It still has wonderful flavor.

Yeah.

Trisha> Right.

Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely.

So this is what I like to call a daily dessert.

It satisfies your sweet tooth, but it's optimally healthy enough that you can eat it every day and it's going to be helping you with your health at the same time.

So if you can do me a favor, Amanda, take a spoon and just mix that all together.

Amanda> It looks pretty Trisha> Yeah, it's beautiful.

And pro-tip for our viewers right now is that when you are mixing fruit salad or you're mixing anything, use a much bigger bowl than the amount of ingredients you have in it because you really want to give yourself some room to really get in there.

Yes, exactly.

If you're anything like me, I'm not a particularly tidy cook.

So if I had all of that fruit in a bowl the same size, I would be flinging it everywhere.

Amanda> I think it's pretty well mixed up.

What do you think?

Trisha> Beautiful.

Then, if we want to present it and make it a little bit prettier for guests, then we can just pour it right in there.

Amanda> Okay.

Give me just a second Trisha> And you don't have all the juices on the side.

And then we have our final product of our ambrosia fruit salad without any added sweeteners.

And it's still going to be very sweet.

Amanda> It would be fun if we had one maraschino cherry.

Trisha> Yes.

I agree 100%.

Amanda> I think...one At least one.

Trisha> Yes, absolutely.

You could even add more in there.

But that would.

I agree.

That would that would be delicious.

Amanda> So if people want to know about this program and find out more about what you and your clients have been able to accomplish, what's the best way to find that?

Trisha> Thank you for asking.

They can go to my website www.trishamandes.com and there I have a training on how to shed pounds sustainably that I would love for your viewers to watch.

Amanda> And I think you've got other information there and I believe you wrote a book Trisha> Yes, I am an author.

My book is titled The Optimal Eating Solution Maintainable Weight Loss and Longevity.

Even if you can't exercise.

So you can find everything on my website.

Amanda> Well, that's just great.

I want to thank you for making the trip down to South Carolina.

Trisha> It's my pleasure.

I adore you.

I love the show.

I love learning how to make plants grow, but I really also love to eat them.

So there's a perfect fit for me.

Thank you so much for having me.

Amanda> I think a lot of us would like to sustainably lose a little weight.

and feel better.

Trisha> Yeah.

I've kept about 20 pounds off for over 11 years now and I don't count calories, portioning...

I eat, I just eat and I love it.

And this is how we do it.

Amanda> Well, if everything's as much fun as this and tasty and satisfying, I think it'd be pretty easy to adapt some of the ideas you have.

Trisha> It's a lot easier than people anticipate.

It ends up being a lot easier than they think.

So thank you for having me.

I really appreciate it.

Amanda> I'm glad you made the trip.

Trisha> Thank you so much.

Amanda> A nice way to have, something cool, that's not a whole lot of trouble to make for supper on these hot days.

Thanks Trisha for coming and sharing that with us.

Carmen, I think you've got something you're going to talk about.

Carmen> I just wanted- Amanda> You look excited.

Carmen> I am so excited.

We just got off of the Dillon County Tomato contest, the annual Dillon County Growers Association had their annual tomato contest, and we crowned our winners.

So I just wanted to, you know, celebrate that and tell you that we have, three fabulous winners for 2025.

We normally do it as an adult in-ground grower, a container grower, and a youth.

<Okay.> Carmen> And we've, we've gotten to enjoy, three new winners for this year.

And I just love the, Dillon County, brings it for tomatoes for the season.

<Cool> So it's just so much fun.

And every year we try to, have educational sessions to learn and get people excited about growing tomatoes.

Amanda> You get a taste them.

Carmen> We do get to taste them- Amanda>-I mean, I'm just going to say Carmen> You need to taste some of them, but a lot of the times it's based off of how they're growing in the yard, how big the plant is, how, their yield.

and how good they look and if they have disease or not.

So, over 17 contestants this year, put their hat in the ring for this annual event, and it's just the pride of Dillon County.

So I just wanted to shout out... Everyone worked really hard this year.

Amanda> Where do y'all have it?

Carmen> Oh, we have it..

So we, go and we will go to everybody's house to inspect their plants.

And then we have a huge banquet at the Dillon Wellness Center.

Amanda> Come on.

Carmen> Every year.

They've been doing it for 25 some odd years.

<A banquet?> Carmen> It's a wonderful banquet.

Everybody brings a dish.

It's a lot of tomato dishes.

So it's just a lot of fun.

And so I just wanted to shout that out, that everyone worked really, really hard this year to have the best tomatoes.

And it was just a lot of fun.

Amanda> Oh, hooray for them.

Hooray for y'all.

What a great way to get people together.

What do you got for us?

Brady> Yeah.

So this will be, the coolest one, I think, for the day.

So this is a Batik Odora Alocasia So this is for the person who, feels confident in their plant abilities in their house.

So this one is, definitely an increase in price if you were to come buy it from me.

But it's because of the rarity.

So this is a plant that you won't see at a lot of the bigger box stores.

You won't see this at other growers.

This is one we had to kind of search for to find.

<Whoa.> And grows babies off the side.

So it will also be easy to spread around to your friends.

Amanda> Oh, you could, I mean, these are relatively- Brady>-Very easy, yeah, literally grab this, pop it out of the soil right into a new one.

Very, very easy.

Amanda> Now, what does it take as far as keeping it happy?

Brady> So, fertilize it often again, a little bit of a little bit of fertilizer very often it really likes and it never wants to go dry.

So this is another one where we're checking them every day.

We're, we're always making sure that it has a little bit of moisture in the pot.

If you were to pull this out of here, you would see it has very, very big, thick roots.

And those roots really, really want to be moist pretty much all the time.

But you can see it even just growing a little bit of moss on top of the soil here- Amanda> Oh, it sure is.

So, so you don't need so this when you need to... now, this sometimes things that are variegated don't want to be in full sun.

What is this?

Brady> Yeah, certainly not full sun.

Definitely more light than it's, regular.

Like, if this were a solid green Alocasia, it would want more light than that one, but not full sun.

So this is wonderful.

In a bright spot in the house, with bright indirect light that you can keep for many years inside.

Amanda> Gosh, it is just stunning.

Brady> Yeah.

One of my favorites in the greenhouse.

Amanda> I can see why.

Brady> Yeah.

Amanda> Whoa!

This leaf is just the front and the back, which is nice because if it gets tall, the better for me.

That's just as good.

Brady> And it will get tall.

This one will get, 3 to 4 feet tall over time.

So this will go from a tabletop plant to a corner plant after a while.

Amanda> And does it, can it stay in the pot for a while?

Brady> Absolutely, yes.

Getting pot bound is, in my opinion, a good thing.

Being able to drink all of its water, being able to stay, without being worried of, over watering from all the extra soil.

Keeping the moisture is great.

So being pot bound is good.

Amanda> Gosh, that's not too hard.

<Yeah.> Amanda> To get that much beauty in your house.

Brady> That's right.

Amanda> Yeah.

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

And for, braving the heat, and coming to our nice, cool, air conditioned set.

Thank you again.

Come back soon.

We really enjoyed having you here.

Brady> Thank you for having me.

This was a lot of fun.

Amanda> Okay Yeah.

We're not too scary.

Brady> That's right.

No, not at all.

Amanda> I hope you'll be here next week.

We hope to see you then.

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.