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.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Terasa> Good evening, and welcome to another episode of "Making It Grow", your source of trusted gardening information in a fun, easy to digest format.

I'm Terasa Lott with Clemson Extension.

And as you can see, things are a little different this evening.

Amanda is away, but do not worry, she will be back.

Joining me tonight to co-host is Zack Snipes, the assistant program team leader for the horticulture program team with Clemson Extension.

Zack> Thanks Terasa.

I'm happy to be here tonight.

And luckily for me, it is tomato season.

So I work with a lot of tomato growers throughout the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

Nothing gets me more fired up than taking a ripe tomato, taking it home, and eating a good ol' mater sandwich.

So I hope the viewers are eating a 'mater sandwich.

I know somebody else who likes a good tomato sandwich.

That's right, Glen Payne.

He is our, horticulture agent in Beaufort County, where a lot of, a lot of our tomatoes come from.

Are you a, what kind of mayonnaise guy are you?

Terasa> Oh, you're not going to ask that question.

Zack> I got to.

Glen> I'm going with Duke's, Zack.

Zack> Duke's mayonnaise, white bread?

>> Duke's on the front.

White bread.

And then, eventually give way.

and just straight cut the tomato and eat it.

Cut out the carbs.

Zack> There you go.

And go for the lycopene.

Glen> That's it.

Zack> Yeah.

It helps you out.

So cool, glad to have you tonight.

I know you're going to, answer some questions for us and help some viewers out.

So, next up is Ms Christiana Huss, and I'm going, it's going to take me about 30 minutes to read all the counties she covers, but she's a commercial horticulture agent for Clemson Extension.

And, you work with the commercial farmers that grow fruits and vegetables in Dillon, Georgetown, Horry, Marion and Williamsburg counties.

Christiana> That is correct.

Zack> That's it.

So Christiana> and with the end of strawberry season, that's the beginning of tomato season.

But it makes me kind of sad because strawberry season is my favorite season.

And I've made about 17 jars of strawberry jam.

And, I don't know, I guess I've never jarred tomatoes yet, but maybe I'll have to try this year.

Zack> Yeah, you can come visit me, we'll jar some tomatoes, and I don't see any jam, for me tonight.

Maybe next time, right?

(laughs) Christiana> Next time.

Zack> And Clemson, you know, speaking of jam, you know, we want to make sure that we do it safely.

And there's some, there's some real food safety hazards, I guess when it comes to canning.

Clemson, offers some canning classes, to help consumers and even commercial producers, can in a safe way.

So you can always check our website out and find some of those.

Christiana>Yep, I got my recipe, straight from Chase Bailey, our food systems, agent in Florence.

Zack> Hey, we're always here to help, right?

Yeah.

So.

And on my left, last but not least, Dr. Herrick Brown with the A.C. Moore Herbarium at USC.

Thanks for being on the show tonight.

We're glad.

Glad to have you.

Dr. Herrick> Yep.

Always a pleasure.

Zack> And before you were the curator of the museum or the herbarium, sorry, you had another interesting job that we were talking about before we started filming.

Can you give a little insight about that?

>> Yeah.

So, from about 2007 to 2019, I served as assistant botanist with the Department of Natural Resources Heritage Trust Program.

So we were, charged with, monitoring all this sort of rare, threatened and endangered plant species in the state and, making inventories of what's known to occur on some of the public lands that we have here.

Zack> Wow.

That's really cool.

And some of the work that's been done in South Carolina, you were telling me dates back 200 or 300 years.

Dr. Herrick> Yeah.

So, we're one of the original 13 colonies, so we have a very long history of natural history exploration in this state.

And one of our earliest explorers was, Mark Catesby, who came through in about the 1720s or so.

And so a lot of our floristic knowledge actually dates back to that era.

Zack> Could you imagine coming over here and being the first one here?

And to explore that and document all those things?

And here you are like, continuing that work he did?

Dr. Herrick> So yeah.

Zack> Very cool, very cool.

Well, cool.

Well, Terasa, well, do you want to give us a little tease of what we're going to see tonight in some of our segments?

Terasa> I'd be delighted to.

So one of the things that we like to do, not only, is to provide you with gardening information you can use, but to also highlight some of our agricultural producers throughout the state.

So first you're going to learn about butter bean and pea production, with the help of Philip Carnley, who is also a horticulture agent with Clemson Extension.

He visited with Cannon AG products.

And next we're going to take a visit to Roots and Shoots Nursery in Charleston.

That's a native plant nursery.

And, you know, we always try to encourage folks to plant native species whenever possible, always remembering that the overarching principle is right plant for the right place.

Zack> Well, speaking of right plant, right place, do we have some photos of the right plant in the right place with our "Gardens of the Week"?

Terasa> We do, thanks to our wonderful viewers who submit their photos whenever we put out our call for "Gardens of the Week".

It's become so much fun, so inspirational to see what you're doing in your yards and gardens.

Sort of like a virtual field trip because we get photos from all over the state, sometimes even from our neighbors to the north or to the south.

Today we begin with Glenda Waters, who shared a visually appealing area lining her steps in Belton.

From Gloria Wade, Hollyhocks.

She said they remind her of her granny, who grew them in the Georgia pickax clay.

From Libby Brietenbaugh, the gorgeous magenta flowers of Spring Obedient plant, which is attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds.

Jill Callaham sent in her Dear Dolores Hydrangea that is one of the repeat blooming mop head hydrangeas, and we round things out with Nettles Farm, an assortment of fresh produce grown by Ted and Janelle, which they said is their retirement dream come true.

We really appreciate everyone's submittals.

Remember, this is just a random sampling.

You can see additional photos on our Facebook page.

We hope you go there frequently.

You can post your photos when we make a call for Gardens of the Week, and also hopefully enjoy the content.

We try to keep that fresh and up to date.

Zack> Awesome!

Well, thank you Terasa, and I'm extremely excited that someone from Belton, South Carolina, submitted a photo.

Not many people know where Belton's at.

That's where I come from.

That's my little home town.

Terasa> How about that!?

Small world.

Zack> Small world.

Small place.

(all laugh) So, very cool.

So since I've been sitting here, I've been getting a smell.

Do y'all smell that?

Terasa> Yeah.

Something might be kind of wafting over.

Zack> Wafting.

Well, it's a good smell.

A good smell.

(laughing) So, I think Herrick brought some plants in, and these plants, are smelly plants.

What do you got for us?

Dr. Herrick> Yeah.

So, I brought in a mixed bag of things that, I thought would be sort of fun to, test your olfaction.

This first up is something called, Florida Swamp Anise.

It has, not very showy little flowers.

It's starting to produce a few of them way down here.

They're like little green buds, and they'll have little yellow petals later when they get a little more mature, but the really, cool thing about this plant is that if you crush these leaves up and give it a little whiff, I think they smell a little bit of sort of a spicy smell to it.

Here, pass those around.

Another fun- Glen> Sort of like a black licorice.

Dr. Herrick> Black licorice?

Yeah, exactly.

So kind of spicy, "licoricy".

Zack> Now, are these used for anything, any type of, Dr. Herrick> You know, I haven't.

Zack> Cooking or just smelling?

Dr. Herrick> I don't know.

I just like to smell them.

Zack> Smells great.

Christiana> I can smell them just from you guys.

Dr. Herrick> A good way to identify the plant, like if you if you don't have any thing else to go on, you can always just crush up a leaf and see what it smells like.

A lot of times that's a very distinct odor that can help you identify it.

Zack> Now, you mentioned it's a Florida anise, but will that do well in South Carolina if somebody wanted to add a smelly garden.

Dr. Herrick> Yeah, indeed.

And, this is in my yard in Columbia It's quite robust and you can grow it easily from cuttings.

Sort of a shrubby kind of plant.

Evergreen.

Zack> Oh, it is evergreen.

That's nice.

Dr. Herrick> But yeah, it is, endemic to Florida.

It's actually kind of more of a Bahamian plant from the, you know, Caribbean areas, further to the south, but it has been sort of introduced into parts of Georgia and South Carolina Zack> It does well through the cold?

Dr. Herrick> Doesn't, doesn't mind it at all.

Zack> Wow.

That's awesome.

<Yeah.> Very cool.

What do you got next?

Dr. Herrick> Let's see something, that you probably would notice more in the fall when it's producing these lilac berries.

This is American Beauty Berry.

Zack> That's one of my favorites.

Dr. Herrick> This is one that, it's not the most pleasant smell, but it's not very off putting either, unless you're an insect.

I think some folks actually will take these leaves and crush them up.

And, you know, rub them on your arms and what not to kind of keep mosquitoes and ticks away.

But I've heard that I don't know how much, stock I put in that claim, but, well, it doesn't hurt to try Zack> When you're desperate, you'll try anything, right!

Dr. Herrick> Exactly.

Zack> Yeah.

I have a bunch of Beauty Berry.

It's one of my favorite plants.

I never knew that it, it was a smelly plant.

Dr. Herrick> Yep.

So, yeah, it's, it's in the mint family, so it kind of makes sense that it, you know, has a little bit of an odor to it.

Terasa> I'm not even sure how you describe this one, Kind of pungent, but- Zack>-Grassy!

Dr. Herrick> Grassy, pungent- Zack>-Almost like tea.

Terasa> Spicy grass.

Zack> Spicy grass, yeah!

Dr. Herrick> Yeah, yeah.

Interesting.

Zack> All right.

What you got next?

Dr. Herrick> We've got, Wax Myrtle or Bayberry.

This is, Morella, or Myrica, whatever genus you want to put it in nowadays.

And the leaves are smaller, of course.

But again, this is another one that you can kind of crush up.

And, I usually just kind of you can use your hands, roll them together and then kind of cup them.

Zack> Oh, wow.

Dr. Herrick> A little more peppery, I think, than the others there.

This is also a good plant if you have a female one This is a dioecious species.

So you'll have male plants and female plants.

If you have female plants, very good for, native birds and that sort of thing.

They'll forage on the fruits that they produce.

Zack> And if, if I'm wrong, correct me, But I think they use the fruit for candles.

Dr. Herrick> Exactly.

Yeah.

Another common name for it is Candle Berry.

And so, they produce a lot of little lipids on the outside of the, the fruit surface.

So you can boil that down.

And of course, the fats or the lipids will float to the surface of the, of the water and then skim that off to make a- Terasa> You would need a lot of them to make...

I mean, the fruits are tiny.

Zack> They really had to work back in the day (all laugh) to make a candle.

Dr. Herrick> Exactly.

Zack> So all right, anything else in there?

Dr. Herrick> Yeah, I got a couple, more interesting things.

Now, this one is not a native species, and it's not looking too happy.

I cut it this morning, but, these leaves are, from Clerodendrum.

You might see this planted more as an ornamental.

And sometimes it can behave a little...you know... such that it gets out of control in the yard.

So it's good to kind of keep an eye on it.

But this one's interesting, because when you crush the leaves, it has this sort of peanut buttery smell to it.

It's the weirdest scent, like when I walk through this stuff and brush up against it, I'm like, oh, it smells like peanut butter and jelly, almost.

(laughter) Kinda cool.

Zack> Yeah, I don't love that one.

Dr. Herrick> No?

Not a fan?

Zack> I did the peanut butter, but I wouldn't throw it on a sandwich, that's for sure.

Dr. Herrick> No, I have no idea if this thing is edible or not.

Zack> Well, maybe Christiana can put that on her, sandwich with, you know, the peanut butter and all the strawberry jam she was making?

Christiana> No, I don't think so.

(laughter) Dr. Herrick> Now last up is, one of our, unique native species.

This...I ripped a couple of leaves off of it.

But this is our Paw paw, right!?

Zack> Oh, yeah.

Dr. Herrick> This is one of the largest native, North American fruits.

If you're lucky enough to try one, the fruit's pretty interesting, too, very tropical sort of flavor.

But when you crush the leaves, it might, might make you wonder what you're smelling.

Very chemically, reminds me a bit of, like, diesel fuel.

<Yeah.> Dr. Herrick> So... not the most pleasant one.

Terasa> I can't say that really makes me want to smell one.

Zack> Good thing the fruit that doesn't smell like that.

Dr. Herrick> No, I know, not at all.

But it's very, very interesting, distinctive odor, I haven't found anything else in our area that smells quite like this.

Zack> And, Paw paw is actually a, larval food source for the Zebra Swallowtail butterfly.

Terasa> I didn't know that.

Zack> So I really encourage homeowners to plant these in their yard.

It does a lot of benefit.

Dr. Herrick> Yep.

Zack> So, and now you can smell it, if you like diesel.

Dr. Herrick> Always a good clue when you're walking in the woods and you think you might be looking for Paw paws if you spot one of those Zebra Swallowtails, then you're in the right neighborhood.

Zack> Yeah.

Christiana> You can eat the fruit, as well, right?

Zack> Yeah, it's very delicious.

Christiana> I haven't had them yet.

Zack> Yeah, it's very delicious.

Dr. Herrick> Narrow window of time though to get those, probably late August or so, and then you've got two days before they start falling to the ground and the raccoons- Zack>-and everything gets some.

Dr. Herrick> Yeah.

Terasa> Takes me back to my childhood.

We used to sing the Paw paw patch song... Way down yonder in the Paw paw patch Zack> We recently, posted on the South Carolina Grower about the Paw paw patch.

So, that was a mystery plant a few months ago, so.

Well, is there anybody we can help out tonight, Terasa?

I know we probably need to get some questions.

Terasa> We do?

Let's see.

This one comes in from Craig in Lexington, who sent us some photos and said, I thought this tree, it's a Japanese maple, was dead, but it's leafed out and it has both maroon leaves and green leaves at the bottom.

What should I do?

Zack> Oh, oh!

A two colored tree.

Glen.

What's going on?

Glen> Just when you think you're seeing it all, something new comes along.

And, Craig, it looks like you've found something new with this Japanese Maple.

Craig, with your Japanese Maple, it looks like it maybe is, a traditionally planted Japanese Maple that's been bred, and now it's reverting to its dominant trait with its green leaves.

And so you're not seeing as much of the- Zack>-So maples want to be green, but they're bred to be red.

Is that what you're telling me?

Dr. Herrick> You are correct.

And the majority of them now are bred on a grafted rootstock, where you grafted onto the scion.

And, with that, you're able to pass along those dominant characteristics that you want to see, like leaf shape.

Glen Payne> Some of your, your red maples can be five leafed or seven leafed, like your Bloodgoods.

And you want to see those same characteristics over and over, especially that burgundy color.

I know, as "Herrick" was saying, up around the Columbia area in South Carolina, they just go absolutely bonkers over this burgundy color.

Zack> Why don't they grow a burgundy or garnet maple?

Dr. Herrick> Grounds crews at University of South Carolina like to place these subtle hints around campus Zack> Garnet where you are.

Dr. Herrick> Garnet is one of our colors.

Yes.

So you select those cultivars that have that trait.

Glen> So when you see that green and you're, you're growing those Red maples out, go ahead and leave about a half inch from the trunk and or the rootstock where they're emerging from.

And you want to take your pruning shears once they're cleaned off and sterile and remove those dominant green leaves, it will continue to express itself, and coming out with the green leaves.

So you'll want to remove those, Zack> So you're just kind of helping it out and really selecting what you want to see.

Glen> Right.

And until they come along with the Orange leafed maple, and then we'll try to breed that.

(laughter) Zack> There you go.

I think it might be cool to have a bi-colored tree.

That might neat.

Christiana> There is actually a tree on Clemson's campus, and it's a dogwood tree, and it's half white and half pink.

And so I'm wondering, do we think that's the same thing happening.

Glen> Very well, could be.

We'll have to look into that on the next episode.

Christiana> I can show you exactly where it is.

Zack> Yeah, drop me a pin.

I want to check that out.

Glen> Well hopefully that helps Craig out with that.

And he can get the green removed out of his maple.

And I think he'll have good success with that.

Terasa> Yeah.

Sounds good.

So this one is pretty, pretty easy to take care of.

Glen> Pretty straightforward.

Zack> Yeah, we like easy like the easy button.

All right, Terasa, what we got next?

Terasa> Next up, a question comes in from Marion.

Jim said and sent us a picture.

What is this bug in my garden?

Zack> Well, good thing we have an entomologist here.

And before we start, what is your favorite insect, being a trained entomologist?

Christiana> My favorite insect is a parasitoid wasp.

Zack> Okay.

Very cool.

So that's not what this is?

Christiana> That's not what we're looking at now.

Zack> Why is it a para... Say it again for me.

Christiana> Parasitoid wasp.

Zack> Parasitoid wasp.

Now why is that your favorite?

Christiana> So there are these really tiny wasps, that are, you know typically about this big, You probably have seen them but thought they were just a gnat.

Zack> A mosquito.

Christiana> A mosquito?

They're smaller than a mosquito.

Zack> Oh, really?

Christiana> I guess some can be as big as a mosquito, but most of them are even smaller.

But they have a very unique life, history, where they will lay their eggs inside of either the eggs or the bodies of other insects, and they will develop, inside of these, other insects- Zack> Like a sci-fi movie.

Christiana>-and then emerge out as a parasitoid wasp.

Yeah.

So they're very creepy.

Zack> Yeah.

It's like the movie, "Alien".

Christiana> Like the movie, Alien".

Terasa> So we'll see that, on tomato or tobacco horn worms sometimes.

Right?

And so if you see little white- Zack>-rice grains... Terasa> Yeah, they look like rice grains.

That caterpillar is already done, for.

(laughing) Terasa> It's being eaten from the inside out.

<Yeah.> Christiana> And they're fantastic pest control.

A lot of farmers will actually, plant, little small flowering plants, to specifically attract these parasitoid wasps, into their, their farms.

And, the hope being that, they will do some pest control for them because we, we don't really want caterpillars eating our vegetables.

Zack> Right.

>> So we want the parasitoids to eat our caterpillars.

Zack> So will these parasitoids help with this insect, that Jim's having problems with?

What's going on with Jim's?

Christiana> So Jim's insect is actually a different, another predator.

There are parasitoids that will eat, this insect, but what we're looking at here is a predatory stinkbug.

Zack> Okay.

So, like, aliens and predators, (laughing) Now, I know where the people who write movies get their content from.

They just go out in the garden.

Christiana> Yeah, that's true.

That's what they should do.

But this insect here, it looks just like the marmorated, the Brown Marmorated stink bug.

But you'll notice that on the shoulders of the stinkbug, you see these two, spiky points.

And that's what gives it the name, the spine soldier bug.

And in this photo here, you can actually see that it's eating an imported cabbage worm.

On a, on a what, looks to be a collard plant.

So it's unique.

It's different from most of our other stinkbugs that eat plants or hang out in your house.

Zack> So how does it eat it?

I mean, does it physically eat, like, chew through the caterpillar, or does it have a special, you know, appendage or something that they can feed with?

Christiana> Yeah.

You can actually see in the photo, as well.

It's got one of those straw-like mouthparts, so it stabs the caterpillar.

And it deposits some, some Terasa> Probably enzymes, I would imagine.

Christiana> Yeah.

Zack> It kind of breaks down the tissues of the caterpillar, Terasa> Liquefies it.

Zack> Liquefies it.

Make it a smoothie.

(laughing) Christiana> Then he sucks it back up like a straw.

Yeah.

So another, creepy predator that I like.

Zack> Really cool.

Again, it's so cool, what's, what's out there if you just take time to watch, you know?

You know!

Terasa> Fascinating.

The natural world has so much to offer, but sometimes our lives are so busy, we just don't think about it.

Zack> That's right.

Terasa> Sometimes it's creepy and gory, too.

(laughing) Zack> Well, speaking, of smoothies... got me hungry.

I think we're going to take a field trip today to a butter bean and pea farm, potentially.

Terasa> Ah!

Yes.

Yes, indeed.

And those are two crops that being a non-native of South Carolina, I was not very familiar with.

So I'm excited to learn more, as Philip talks about the production and harvesting of butter beans and peas.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Phillip Carnley> Hello, everyone.

My name is Philip Carnley with Clemson Cooperative Extension.

I cover Orangeburg, Calhoun, Clarendon and Sumter counties.

And I'm here with, Jeremy Cannon of, Cannon AG Products in Turbeville.

Jeremy, tell us a little bit about your operation.

Jeremy Cannon> Well, Philip, thank you for having me.

And thank you for being here.

We're, I'm actually a fourth generation farmer, here in Turbeville, South Carolina.

Our farm is Cannon Ag Products.

And, like I say, we're fourth generation.

We, we grow, produce some row crops and, some beef cattle.

Phillip> So we're, we're in the middle of a, pea field here.

But why don't we talk about it's close cousin, the butter bean, for a little while?

There's not as many people growing butter beans, as there once was.

What varieties do y'all grow?

Jeremy> Well, we like to grow, Jackson Wonder, which is, you know, that's probably the most favorite for this area.

Some people know them as speckled, some people colored, other people, you know, those words mean different things to different people, but Jackson Wonder is our colored bean and our green bean is typically Thorough Green, if we can get them.

Phillip> Always a very good choice in beans.

I grew up eating Jackson Wonder as a kid.

My granddaddy grew them for a long time.

So we've had some issues here recently with, with drought and too much water.

Has that affected your butter beans, in any way?

Jeremy> Yeah, the butter beans this year was, was down significantly from, from our drought.

We, we had about nine weeks with an inch and three tenths of rain for the whole period of time for that.

And, didn't make a whole lot better beans in the spring, but we planted some for the fall because, you know, people love them.

People, like to put them in the freezer, and eat on them all winter.

So we've got some growing, and we're going to start harvesting some here shortly.

Phillip> Awesome.

I know butter beans being... an indeterminate flower does that make it a challenge to harvest these beans in a timely manner, or does it prolong harvest?

Jeremy> Well, I guess you know, the problem is finding a, a good enough flower pot set, because the butter beans are all mechanically harvested.

It's hard to get enough flowers.

You kind of pick and choose the best time to get the most yield out of it, but you're battling weather.

If it gets too hot they're not going to have a lot of pods, or if you get it in a rainy season or dry season.

So there are definitely challenges to making a butter bean Phillip> So we're in a pea field, which is close cousins to butter beans that we were just talking about.

And I know there are two varieties planted here, one being Dixie Lee and the other one I'll let you discuss a little bit later.

Describe the Dixie Lee for those growers that may not know what it's like.

I know it's a very locally, favorite pea for the Midlands of South Carolina.

Jeremy> Well, you know, Dixie Lee is probably my favorite, as well I probably prefer a Dixie Lee pea over a butter bean, but they, they're a vining pea They have a long, a long pod and they're, they actually turn gray similar to like a color butter bean would when you cook it.

I, I really like them.

They, they take about 80 days to grow from when we plant them.

And typically, like, from bloom to harvest, is 2 or 3 weeks.

Phillip> Now, I know a certain vining type peas, you plant, a specific number of seed per foot.

Is there, is there any recommendations on planting space that you would offer for Dixie Lee?

Jeremy> Well, Dixie Lee because they are vining, they make a really big bush.

you know historically, we probably were planting four seeds per foot.

But they it really doesn't take that much and they don't take a lot of fertilizer.

We'll probably have, through our trials and test and we're probably down to about two seed per foot because, so you can make a lot of peas on very little seed purchased.

But they, they really seem to produce really well when they have space to, to grow out and make that true vine, you tend to get more blooms and more pods.

Phillip> Okay, now, being that it is, a more productive vining type pea.

at that lower population count, what is the interval or how many days until harvest from bloom to pick?

Jeremy> Well, it all will depend on weather, you know how much water and how much sun you get.

But, you know, 2 to 3 weeks is pretty typical.

And then they if they get decent weather, decent rainfall, you could pick them for 2 or 3 weeks.

You're not going to pick a whole lot at one time.

You know, if you had to machine harvest them, you're probably looking at 30 or 40 bushels, maybe.

But if you can get, like I said, a good, good rainfall, good sunlight on them, you may pick a 100 plus bushels to the acre.

Phillip> So, so with that being said, I know your butter beans are machine harvest.

These are all hand harvest.

Jeremy> Yeah.

All the peas would do a hand harvest.

They just seemed to, not bruise as bad.

You know, we handle a little bit easier and and you get more chance to pick them.

A machine harvest is really a one time deal.

There's just not enough pods on it at one time to really justify machine harvesting.

Phillip> How many pickings will you usually get off of, a feed, off of a field of peas that's, hand harvested?

Jeremy> Well, to really justify you know, having the labor and what not to go picking, you probably, they're probably going to pick them every three days, 3 or 4 days, depending on, whether, so, you know, hopefully you can pick them 4 or 5 times.

That would give us two weeks of picking.

Phillip> So it's a rather extended window compared to your butter beans?

Jeremy> For sure.

Butter beans you know, you get three days and then they're too big and you probably lost your window of picking.

Once they're ready, butter beans got to be harvested.

Phillip> So the second variety of pea is one that's very local and close to y'all.

Would you mind telling us a little bit about this pea variety?

Jeremy> It is other varieties is what we call the Watts pea.

And the Watts are here in Turbeville and they actually gave us peas that they have saved in their family for well over 100 years.

It's similar to a growing pattern as a, as a Dixie Lee.

But, the peas are not quite as big.

I think they're probably got a little bit more flavor, a little more robust, a little hearty flavor.

Even the likker is a little darker, but people in this area tend to like them a lot.

Phillip> It's definitely a, unique pea.

The pods seem to be a lot lighter than a Dixie Lee.

And, and the pea seems to fill the pot a little bit better.

Does that play into the, processing weight of these peas after they're shelled?

Jeremy> Yeah, I think overall, when you pick a Watts, because the peas aren't quite as big or the pods aren't quite as thick, as well.

You, you'll think you probably haven't picked very much, but when you go to shell a Watts pea they tend to shell out more than a Dixie Lee will shell out.

Phillip> Now, Jeremy, where can people find these products, if they're interested?

Jeremy> Well, we, we have a market here, in Turbeville, it's on...

It's 2996 Hicks Road is where our market is.

And you can also find us online on Facebook, Cannon Ag Products, or even through USDA's website.

Phillip> Awesome.

Well, we appreciate you allowing us to come out here and look at these peas with you.

Thank you very much, Jeremy.

Jeremy> Thank you.

♪ Terasa> Watching that segment really drives home the incredible amount of work, labor, time that goes into agricultural production.

Zack, I think you can attest to that.

Zack> Absolutely.

Our farmers are working hard all day, every day.

But the good thing about growing vegetables, especially butter beans and peas, at the end of the day, there's nothing better than a pot of butter beans.

Terasa> And you need some cornbread to go along with that.

Zack> Absolutely, absolutely.

So speaking of hard work or hard play, actually, I recently, went to the Francis Marion with some, plant buddies and we went and found some pitcher plants.

So I think you brought a pitcher plant, Herrick, for us to look at from y'all's herbarium.

Dr. Herrick> Yeah.

So, this is a, a photo reproduction of one of the specimens.

It's, a little bit blown up here so you can see it.

But this is, of the hooded pitcher plant and yet collected from, Francis Marion National Forest in, Berkeley County.

And one of the things that I think is interesting about this is that it illustrates quite, subtly, the artistry that's involved in actually preparing these sorts of specimens.

So if you look at, the sheet here, it looks almost like there are two plants on the sheet.

But if looking down at the base of this plant, you'll notice that, that rootstock or actually it's a, it's a horizontal stem that typically grows underground, the rhizome, has been filleted.

It's sliced in half.

And so that's how we've sort of separated a single plant and made like two specimens out of it.

And up towards the top of the sheet, You'll notice there's this interesting sort of, nodding sort of appendage that's on a thin stalk.

And that would be the fruit that the collector, in preparing it, actually filleted that, as well.

And so there's this other small little half of the fruit stuck down here.

So there's all these sorts of, like, ways that we can illustrate the internal anatomy of plants when we're making these sorts of specimens.

And of course, we include this label down typically in the bottom right hand corner that gives us all the information of like where it was found, who was there to see this plant in the wild, what other plants were growing with it at the time.

And, you know, sort of paints a picture of what the landscape looks, look like, when this plant was collected.

But the one thing that this collector doesn't mention, and I think it's pretty interesting is evidence of fire.

Now, if you look down, close up at the rhizome, there's these little stubs of last season's leaves, and they are charred at the top.

And so this sort of speaks to the importance of fire in the landscape and how it helps maintain some of these, plant communities through, through time.

Zack> I work, I worked in the Francis Marion a good bit or have to go through there and they do, do regular burning, which is, it's really cool to see.

When we went, I had no idea you know, it shows my ignorance, but I had no idea that they flowered and they were in full bloom.

And it was absolutely stunning.

And I think, you know, this is a great representation, but I was blown away at just how vivid the colors were on these pitcher plants.

Dr. Herrick> Yeah.

They're pretty amazing.

And of course, yes, those flowers are, you know, modified to attract pollinators, insect pollinators.

And depending on the species of pitcher plant, it might be, geared towards attracting a different type of pollinator.

The interesting thing to me about the flowers, though, is that they also manipulate insects to a degree.

And you think about how plants are trying to sort of cross-pollinate each other and end up with, you know, genes flowing between different individuals, so you have the hardiest, seedlings.

Pitcher plant flowers are designed similar to, like a Lady Slipper orchid where there's one way in and one way out.

So it ensures that when the insect visits, it's not, it's, it's designed to transfer pollen from a neighboring plant onto the stigmas of the one.

It's just now visiting.

It gets sort of trapped in this weird flower structure, buzzes around a little bit, gets more pollen on it, and then it exits and transfers pollen to the next plant.

Zack> Wow!

That's amazing.

Dr. Herrick> Pretty cool.

Zack> And another cool feature that, that I noticed when, when we visited...all this, what I would call in brassicas, Christiana, window paneing.

And someone told me that, that mimics a window, so insects get trapped and can't get out, right?

Dr. Herrick> Yeah, exactly.

So, the insects are drawn by either certain, volatile smells that the plant is emitting.

Some of them actually have nectaries, like little sugary secretions around the openings to these.

These are pitfall traps.

And if you're a flying insect and you fly into this space, you get a little disoriented when you think you're flying out, because there's these transparent parts of the leaf on the back that, act as, just like you said, just like windows that let light in.

Zack> Wow.

Really cool.

Well, thank you for sharing.

And I think South Carolinians, we're so lucky that, you know, we have such a diverse, plant palette out there.

And then these cool, fragments of plants, you know, kind of still exist in our state.

So, very cool.

Well.

Thank you.

Dr. Herrick> Yeah, absolutely.

Zack> Terasa, is there any questions that we can help folks with?

Terasa> We never seem to have a shortage of questions.

So let's see.

This comes in from Mike in Roebuck, who said our ebony and ivory crape myrtles struggle with powdery mildew, which we combat with neem oil.

However, this is the first time we've seen "scale", and the person, Mike used quotes we've seen "scale" on it.

What might this be and how do we fight it?

Zack> All right, well, scale is a very interesting insect, kind of fascinating, it's life cycle.

So, Glen, can you shed some light into what's going on here?

Glen> I'd be happy to, Zack.

We need to help Michael out in Roebuck there.

It sounds like his new breed of crape myrtle, ebony and ivory has got that burgundy color that everybody's looking for these days with the, flower.

But he's got some scale that's infesting it.

And, with the scale they're getting on the leaves and they're getting on the stems, they're sucking out the sugar in the chlorophyll, and a lot of times, what you'll see on the backside, Michael, is what's called honeydew when they take the sugar out and then it's, excreted on the leaf, and then you quickly turn that into a, breeding ground for bacteria, which gets on there.

When you have the energy from the sugar, the bacteria get on there.

And it's what's known as sooty mold.

And, it's a very off putting color on the leaf.

It takes away from that color that you're breeding the tree for and looking for.

And, so at that time, you probably want to get, insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, that you can apply to the scale.

Zack> So we're trying to manage the scale and not the sooty mold itself, <Correct!> because the sooty mold is a symptom of the scale.

Glen> That is correct.

It's just a symptom.

So you want to treat the actual problem and not the symptom that you're having.

And, the actual problem is the scale.

So if you can get the insecticidal soap or horticultural oil on there.

And what that will do is it'll prevent the, scale from being able to, breathe through its exoskeleton and, get rid of your problem that you're having with that.

And, a lot of times with your high humidity, you'll notice the scale, just during their life cycle will be worse at that time, really doesn't relate to each other at all.

But those calls start coming into the Extension Office as it gets hotter and warmer.

You see the symptoms of where they bend.

Zack> And Christiana, correct me if I'm wrong, but scale, you know, they hatch out and they have a crawler stage.

And at that point in time, they're very easy to manage.

But once they become a scale they're really hard to manage.

Why is that?

Christiana> Yeah.

So whenever they're actually a scale, they're getting their name, scale because they have this hard cover that grows over them.

So it's, it's a lot more difficult to hurt them with the pesticide whenever they've gotten to that stage.

Zack> I like to think of it, like a turtle shell, almost, you know, like, the turtle kind of goes in the shell and hides.

And that's- Terasa>-It's like a suit of armor, almost.

Zack> Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

Terasa> But we've seen so specifically Crape Myrtle Bark scale is a relatively recent pest, I guess, that people are seeing.

And from what I understand, trees that are more stressed tend to be more susceptible.

So encouraging folks to practice proper, cultural practices, making sure your tree is irrigated properly and, avoiding the, you know, indiscriminate topping of your, your trees is helpful.

Zack> Yeah, absolutely.

And I think with a lot of insects and diseases, I mean, we got to go back to the basics and do the fundamental things, watering and fertilizer and the right plant, right place.

You're still going to have issues, but you'll have less of those issues.

Terasa> That's right.

I mean, it's really like humans too, right?

We want to eat a healthy diet, exercise, take care of ourselves, and give our body the best chance to, prevent ourselves from having too many, infections or other issues.

Zack> I had some scale on some Paw Paw, actually, a few weeks ago, and I don't know what kind of scale it was, but I actually had a good time just popping them.

It was almost like bubble wrap.

(laughing) So anyway, you know, have at it.

So,...well very cool.

Terasa, do you have any more questions for us?

Terasa> We might.

Yes.

From Sam in Florence.

It's a short question.

It came along with a photo.

What is this in my compost bin?

Zack> Oh, oh!

(laughing) Zack> Compost.

Terasa> Yeah.

<All right.> Terasa> Evidently, it's not the compost that they're asking the question about?

Zack> It's a critter in the compost, I assume.

Christiana> Another critter question.

I'll take it.

Zack> All right, Christiana>So these are actually Black Soldier Fly larva.

A lot of people are used to seeing earthworms in their compost, or they even put earthworms in their compost on purpose.

But this is sort of maybe an alternative, to the earthworms.

These Black Soldier Flies will eat some of the things that earthworms won't eat.

So they are actually better at eating, like meat, and, onions and things that the earthworms won't even touch.

Zack> But typically in a compost, we shouldn't put meat and dairy and that sort of thing in a compost.

Christiana> Correct.

Zack> However, Christiana> However, if you do.

Zack> Yeah.

Christiana> And even sometimes if you don't, they'll show up, even if you're not putting, some of these things in there.

But they'll actually... they'll eat, the nutrients and things faster than earthworms, and they can actually be a bit more efficient.

But they haven't done as much research on, if the compost that Black Soldier Flies make, if that's, if that's really any better than the earthworm castings.

So earthworms is really what you want to shoot for in your compost.

Zack> Absolutely, and I know a few years ago, the hot topic, with a lot of growers and especially small, like chicken, small scale, like chicken farmers and egg farmers, was trying to create a habitat for these Black Soldier Fly larvae because the larvae, I think self harvest themselves.

And so they will actually crawl up, kind of a ladder, go in a bucket.

And that's an excellent protein source for chickens.

Christiana> That's exactly correct.

The, one of the farms that I used to work at, had a Black Soldier Fly bin, and they were using chicken manure that they were putting that in their compost and that was attracting them, Zack> -which then they fed to the chickens.

Christiana> Yeah Zack> So it's kind of this whole circle of life kind of thing.

Terasa> Everything has to eat and something, eat or be eaten.

Zack> That's right.

Christiana> Exactly.

Zack> That's right.

Christiana> And it's also great food for reptiles, if you have, like a bearded dragon or a pet toad or something, you can feed them the Black Soldier Fly larva.

Zack> Or maybe just pull up, a chair and grab a drink and watch Black Soldier Fly live here on Friday night.

Terasa> I think it's pretty slow, though, so I don't know that it would be that exciting.

Zack> Oh, okay.

Christiana> Oh, they, they wiggle quick.

They're unsavory to look at.

(laughing) Terasa> ...for Halloween.

Christiana> Yeah.

For Halloween.

Zack> All righty.

Well, very good.

Thank you.

Herrick, do you have something else we can look at for a little show and tell?

Dr. Herrick> Yeah.

Well, so I've brought in some weird things.

I thought I'd talk about the Mulberry thing a bit.

And, of course, you know, if you're familiar with the mulberry, it looks something like that.

That one's not quite ripe.

Zack> Do you make, jam out of mulberries?

Christiana> No, I haven't.

I've made mulberry pies, but I have not made mulberry jam.

Zack> I'd like to try one.

<Yeah.> Throwing it out there.

(laughing) Dr. Herrick> Cool.

But.

Yeah.

So the thing that strikes me as odd about the mulberries, and you might look at these and superficially, they look a little bit like a blackberry.

Right?

But from a botanical standpoint, they're very complicated.

Very complicated.

It's not a berry at all.

In fact, it's this thing that we call multiple fruits.

Now, this little thing that I've, brought in is a succulent in the mulberry family, that I think is native to parts of Africa.

And it produces this, a similar sort of fruit structure that, it's actually a bunch of little tiny flowers on that starfish looking shaped thing.

Zack> Wow, that's really interesting.

Dr. Herrick> So now if you imagine that this starfish shaped thing was stretched out a little bit into what we have as a mulberry they're basically analogous, right?

But what's happening with mulberry is, or this, this starfish shaped thing is that, the the fruits are actually these little dried things we call achenes they're like, little.

They look like little seeds.

And in the case of the starfish thing, the calyx, which is normally that green part of the flower, that's just below the petals, that's what's getting swollen and making this disc here.

So, in this little, succulent that I've brought in, those calyces start to swell and they build up pressure and eventually they pinch the fruits, the actual fruits, so much that they shoot out.

Zack> Really?

Dr. Herrick> And this is how it disperses its seeds.

By contrast, your mulberry, those things just kind of get swollen, and they wrap around the seed, and then they eat them and rely on some little critter to come by and eat them to disperse the seeds.

Zack> How far do they shoot?

Any idea?

Dr. Herrick> Several meters.

Several feet...yards.

Zack> Could you see this with the naked eye?

Is this something you can pull up a chair to and watch?

Dr. Herrick> You can.

You can.

Dr. Herrick> You could.

Yeah.

And it might hurt, if it hits you in the eye.

(laughing) Zack> Sure.

Dr. Herrick> But the reason I'm drawing this to your attention is because there is a little bugaboo that shows up in some folks' gardens that we call mulberry weed.

Terasa> Oh, yes.

Dr. Herrick> And it has this sort of modality, this sort of strategy for getting its fruits, spread around.

It produces this weird little fleshy structure that squeezes the seeds and shoots them around.

So, you can pull that stuff till you're blue in the face, but it's still going to like, throw seeds and, and keep coming back.

Zack> Very cool, very cool.

Different ways to survive in the world.

Very cool.

Terasa> Zack, I think.

Yeah, Oh, I see you've got a strawberry, which, if I'm not mistaken, That's not a berry either.

Zack> It's not a berry.

The, a lot of the anatomy you were talking about, you know, the calyx, the achenes, the fruit swelling up.

That's what we see in strawberries.

So, very cool.

Everything kind of connects.

Dr. Herrick> Yeah.

That's neat.

Terasa> So why do we call so many things by the wrong name?

Why do we call it a strawberry, if it's not a berry?

(laughing) Zack> Good question.

So, well, cool.

Well, thank you for sharing.

I think we're going to head down to Charleston and visit, "Roots and Shoots".

Terasa> Indeed, we're going to take a look at some native plants there, perhaps give you some ideas about things you might want to add to your yard, or just maybe, admire.

When you're in a natural area, you'll be able to recognize some things.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Amanda> I'm in Charleston, South Carolina, talking to David Manger.

And he is a person I've wanted to come see a long time, because you've got, a business that I think is part of what may save the world.

David> Thank you.

Yeah, we specialize in native plants and fruit trees, and we try to really stick with the sustainable message behind gardening and all that kind of fun stuff, when you're working with the outdoors.

Amanda> I think, like a lot of people, you studied something in college that turned out to be completely inappropriate for you.

David> Yeah, I did bioengineering.

And I think, right about when I was halfway through, I realized that I didn't want to be in a cubicle.

So for the second two years of school, I tried my hardest to get further and further away from it.

Amanda> And so I believe that a very nice couple, started this kind of as a backyard hobby, and you kind of fell into it through that.

David> Yeah, I started as a sustainable landscaper, and I often, from the very beginning, had a hard time finding the plants and things that I needed for my projects.

So I ran into Jane and Lynn, who were the original... founders of "Roots and Shoots."

And after a little while, they decided that, they were ready to officially retire.

And that was a great moment for me and a great opportunity to, to add "Roots and Shoots" to my landscaping company.

Amanda> And you have a pretty big staff, and everybody here seems to share that same passion from what I see.

David> Yeah, we try really, our hardest to find everybody that's really, really into the, the insects and the birds and all the beauty around nature, that's not just flowers.

Amanda> But flowers are fun.

David> They are really fun.

Amanda> And so you got, herbaceous perennials.

Then you've got, woody perennials, I believe.

And, then because of your interest in permaculture, I believe you have fruits that can perform well in Charleston.

David> Yep.

We have, well in Charleston, we're in a really cool spot because we are almost semi-tropical.

<Yes> And we could bring a lot of the warm fruits up into here.

And we could also bring a lot of the northern fruits down into Charleston.

So we, I do a lot of research and figuring out what grows best here in our little special zone.

And we try to make it all available to the public.

Amanda> And so you've got two little boys and I think they can sometimes pick an apple off the tree.

David> Yeah, yeah.

(laughter) Amanda> And we've been told you can't possibly grow an apple in this part of the world.

David> Well that's wrong.

I think all it, all has to do with making sure you make the right selection when it comes to a fruit tree.

So, so we can, certainly grow some apples in Charleston as long as you're being well aware of finding things that are low chill hours.

Amanda> I think you have an affinity for citrus, too.

Some of them that are probably fun to bring inside, and make orange juice or put in your sweet tea.

<Yeah> And then some of them are kind of exotic.

David> Yeah.

We have a handful of exotic ones that are good for making drinks and cooking with, and other ones that are good for squeezing for orange juice and just eating fresh.

Amanda> And when people come here and... decide that they want to add citrus to their landscape, I think you're very careful to give them the rules about not taking it outside of the county because of the citrus greening quarantine, if I'm not mistaken.

David> Yeah, totally.

We have a quarantine under all of Charleston and probably everywhere south of us also, is under quarantine.

So you just have to be a little careful about moving citrus, once you bring it home with you, it's got to stay there.

Amanda> I think you're interested in carnivorous plants, too.

And I think that's a fun thing because people can easily do that in a small area in their house.

Can't they?

David> Totally.

So the carnivorous plants take a very special soil type and a special environment.

So you could build a mini environment, for that plant and keep it right on your porch or somewhere, really convenient for you.

Amanda> Gosh, I wish we could get one that just specialized in mosquitoes.

Wouldn't that be the bomb?

David> That's like the million dollar idea.

Amanda> And then I think you've got, woody, you have some trees too... Are they also, is there a native selection of trees?

David> Huge native selection of trees, and a huge selection of shrubs and plants of all sorts of sizes?

<Really> Amanda> And I don't believe that you do installations but, you are willing to spend time with people, generously and guide them in choices.

David> Yeah.

Since our, since our nursery grew so much, we don't do landscaping anymore, but we have, a great list of other landscapers that we work with, and all of our staff is really well, trained and equipped to answer lots of questions about people's yards, that they bring in pictures and things like that.

Amanda> So through Doug Tallamy, we're all trying to reduce the size of our lawn.

If someone wanted to start a meadow as part, instead of just all turf grass or start native grasses, would you be able to give some advice on how to do that?

David> Yeah, we can give all sorts of advice, for all sorts of different projects, whether you want to get rid of your yard or expand a really shady section of your garden and... and really, we hear all sorts of different things that people, people are getting into.

Amanda> I would think part of the joy is just to see people come and get so excited about, the opportunities and the varieties here.

Does it bring joy to you?

David> Every day.

Yeah, it's a great place to hang out and work and, and I think there's no such thing as a, as a sad plant person.

(laughter) Amanda> That is a wonderful way to look at it.

You've certainly given us a lot of happiness today.

I've got a big basket that I'm going to put in the back and take home with me.

I've got a busy week for next week and, you know, I'll just have these beautiful native plants that are so easy to care for once I get them established.

And Fall is the best time to plant.

So I'm doing it at just the right time.

And not only will I have the flowers, but what do you think I'll also get to enjoy?

David> Well, I think for years to come you're going to have lots of birds and bees and all sorts of other little creatures thanking you as well.

♪ Terasa> The availability of native plants is increasing thanks to places like Roots and Shoots.

If you'd like to find a native plant retailer near you, you can visit the South Carolina Native Plants Society website.

And they've done a great job of putting that information at your fingertips.

Speaking of fingertips, coming near yours over there, we look, we got some sickly looking plants.

Zack> Yeah.

We try to help a lot of folks out, but, I screwed up this time, so I want to see if, if it's something y'all seen before.

I know, Christiana and I dealt with this a little earlier in the season.

What I have here is a tomato that was grown in my yard and, I was trying to get rid of some weeds, and, my tomato just started turning yellow on the, on the inner leaves and the new growth.

So what is, what's going on?

Christiana> It looks like you made a mistake.

Zack> I did make a mistake.

Christiana> Maybe it was a little too windy that day.

Or maybe your sprayer was not, calibrated in a way that it should have been.

Zack> I was distracted by my kids, I guess Maybe I looked out or something.

Christiana> Yeah.

Maybe.

Zack> Okay.

So.

Yeah.

What's happening here is, is a herbicide injury Particularly, this is really common.

We get a lot of calls about this from homeowners and commercial growers, but this is, glyphosate injury.

And it's very, very common.

It's very, very common, on the new growing points, of the plant.

It'll be a bright, like a neon type yellow, and when this happens, that plant, it shows up probably eight, 10, 12 days, after the event that happened, so you got to ask a lot of questions.

So anyway.

Yeah, something to be on the lookout for.

But anyway, I had a great time tonight.

I learned a lot.

It's good hanging out with you all.

And, we thank the viewers for tuning in, and we'll see you next time.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ 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.