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.

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

We sure are happy that you can be with us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty, and I'm a Clemson Horticulture Agent from many years ago.

And it's, fun because some of the things I remember, now have new scientific names Terasa Lott, my co-host and also Clemson person.

They just keep fooling- I think it's this DNA business, don't you?

> You are correct, Amanda, and it does make it a little bit difficult because we have to change something that we may have had kind of ingrained in our brains for a long period of time.

But it's also great that we have new technology and we can better understand how species are, are related or maybe not related when we previously thought they were.

Amanda> I'm just going to say, Cornus florida is hard for me to not say anymore, don't you think?

Terasa> Benthamidia doesn't roll off the tongue, I know.

Everyone will call dogwood Cornus, probably.

Amanda> Anyway.

And of course, I thought florida meant you know, from Florida, but it means flowering.

So, it's fun to learn about the scientific name sometimes isn't it?

Terasa> I think it is.

And I remember them more easily than, common names.

And the benefit is there's only one scientific name per species, where there can be many common names.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

You don't know what in the heck somebody is talking about sometimes.

<That's right.> Anyway, thank you for all you do for us.

Terasa> Happy to be here.

Amanda> Vicky, I've missed you.

Vicky Bertagnolli, who's over there in Aiken, South Carolina.

And, gosh, we've been doing things together for a long time now.

Vicky> I've been working for Clemson for about 18 and a half years now.

Amanda> And, you know, I'm thinking it's probably time for us to do another segment on fire ants.

We hadn't done that in a long time.

Do you remember, we did that?

<We did.> So let's, why don't we get that planed to do that?

Because there are such wonderful ways of, ecologically sensitive ways I believe, of controlling them.

Is that right?

> There is.

It's, managing fire ants is one of the easier insects to manage.

And it's, it's pretty safe.

Both using the pesticide for the handler and also for the environment.

Amanda> And it's easy for us to do ourselves.

<It is.> Yeah.

<It is.> Which is nice, yeah, yeah.

And you get to buy a pecan sandy cookie or something like that, don't you?

Vicky> We do.

We can either, you can either use that or some people use hot dogs but I'd rather use, I'd rather use a cookie.

Amanda> Oh, gosh a cookie.

[laughter] We are so excited.

We have a new person.

Shelby Hammond you are an Agronomy Agent in Chesterfield, Kershaw and Lancaster.

And we're just thrilled that you're coming to be with us today.

Shelby> Thank you.

I'm really excited to be here.

Amanda> And so, you grew up, I believe, far away.

Shelby> Yes, I'm from, originally Western New York, near around the Finger Lakes.

And I made my way down here to get my Master's at Clemson and, I decided to join Clemson Extension.

I've been here for about a year and I really enjoy it so far.

Amanda> We are just thrilled to have you come, thank you.

And of course, Terasa probably found you because she was from up there in upper New York.

[laughter] Terasa> New York is a big state.

So we didn't know each other.

We can certainly relate and like to talk about things from back home.

Amanda> So are you a rhubarb person?

<Yes> Oh, what else?

[laughter] Davis Sanders is not a rhubarb person, I don't think.

Davis> Only because it doesn't grow well here.

I've just never been exposed to it, a couple of times.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

Davis> I don't have a problem with it, though.

Amanda> And you're at South Pleasantburg Nursery.

And, do people come in and ask for rhubarb sometime?

> Occasionally they do.

And, we tell them that if you're going to try to grow rhubarb in the South, you're going to have to put it in the shade.

It's going to get long and stringy and tough.

So it's better to have somebody from up north send you some.

Or go to one of the markets that can bring it in for you.

Amanda> Or... you know, eat peaches.

Davis> Yep.

What's wrong with that?

Amanda> I think, kind of sounds like a better idea.

Davis> Exactly.

Vicky> You can buy it frozen.

You can buy it frozen.

Amanda> Really?

Well, Terasa made some- We found some- There was a farm here that, had some, and we- She made some wonderful things for us.

Terasa> That was the best surprise when you walked into the office with the rhubarb.

Thank you so much.

Amanda> It's fun to look at too.

Terasa> It is.

Amanda> I think some people can grow it, maybe... as an annual, perhaps.

Terasa> I've had some marginal success at home.

I was able to grow it and overwinter it for a few years.

It does need babying.

It wants some shade and it needs water.

And so it's not like- It's almost a weed, back home where I mean, it just grows and gets prolific.

Amanda> Really?

<Mhm> Well, we're glad for when you get your hands on some and share some of those good recipes you've got.

Terasa is quite a cook.

Well, we're going to have a good time today.

We're going out to Dorr Farms.

Just the nicest people in the world, I declare.

I mean, there are lots of nice people in the world, but these people are really fun and nice.

And then we're going to talk to David Shields about a new program, called The Savers of Flavor , which is a lot of fun to learn about.

Terasa, have we got some pretty things to share with our viewers?

Terasa> Boy, do we Amanda.

This is called "Gardens of the Week."

It's your time to shine when you get to show off your green thumb, your gardening skills by sharing photographs of what you're growing or what you've seen in the beautiful state of South Carolina or near by.

Changing things up a little bit today we had so many submissions that we're going to create a montage.

So let's take a look.

♪ ♪ ♪ And this one by Laurie Williams is named in honor of her late son.

It's called the Brett Lawson Daylily.

The American Daylily Society describes it as a red color with a green and yellow throat.

And Laurie reports it has been a prolific bloomer, with over 160 flowers in just 22 days of the season.

And they're looking forward to much more.

♪ ♪ ♪ There certainly were some gorgeous photos.

Thank you for all of your submissions.

Even though we did select ten to put in the montage, there are many more on our Facebook page.

I encourage you to go there.

Take a look.

Perhaps, it will give you some inspiration.

And when you see us, make a call for "Gardens of the Week," post your photos in the comments and you might just see them on air.

Amanda> Well, and thanks to everybody who does respond.

Some people have some questions and is there anybody we can help?

Terasa> Yes, we're going to start with Bob from Graniteville, who has a small tree growing behind his workshop.

He said, he was trimming it back, maybe going to cut it down, when he noticed some leafy clusters growing out of the branches.

He also noticed some pods scattered throughout the tree.

And there are other trees that appear to be the same type but don't have those clusters or pods.

And he's wanting to know if we can help him to identify it.

And thankfully, we have pictures to go along with that description.

Amanda> That does help.

Yeah.

Vicky, what's going on here?

Vicky> So, the tree that he's got- First off they're oak trees.

And oak trees are- Amanda> Well, that's good.

Vicky> It is good.

And the research shows that oak trees support thousands of species of everything that you can think of.

This particular thing, there are two, there are two different galls that are... that are on Bob's tree.

And one of them is a rosette gall.

It's made by one wasp.

And then he's got another pod-shaped gall made by another wasp.

And these, these gall making wasps are small wasps.

They're in a family called Cynipidae.

And they make all sorts of galls on all parts of the plant.

It can be on the leaves, it can be on the twigs.

And one of the fun things is, is that sometimes they'll be one type of gall in one spot and then right next to it, like adjacent touching it will be another type of gall made by a different species of wasp.

Amanda> And tell us what a gall is.

Vicky> So what a gall is, is when that, wasp... they're laying eggs inside this- <Structure> Tissue.

And the tree has a reaction and it grows tissue around it or it enlarges parts of itself or puts on, like in the case of the rosette it makes a different structure.

And it looks unusual, but when you cut these things open, there are wasp larvae inside of it.

And they, they feed on that plant tissue.

And then also they're using that gall as a protective structure so that they can complete their lifecycle.

Amanda> They're so cool.

I mean, you could have a whole, you know, class on studying galls.

They're just, wonderful to look at.

Vicky> They are one of my absolute favorite things because there's, they're so diverse.

And they can be on all sorts of different things.

Like we see goldenrod galls.

And that's one of the most common ones that we see.

And it's... it's one of the neat things that a plant can do, where a plant and insect live together.

Amanda> And these aren't harming the plants at all.

No.

Vicky> This one's not.

And if it's one of those things where you think that it doesn't look good you can cut it off.

But it's not, it's not feasible to treat.

There's no reason to treat.

Because they're, they, they evolve together.

And so they're, the plants adapted to live with that insect.

Amanda> And they're not going to come and sting you?

Vicky> Nope, these are not, these are tiny, tiny insects.

They're just going about their business living in this tree.

Amanda> Okay.

Well, that was great, great fun.

Isn't it nice to tell somebody, just grab a glass of lemonade.

Vicky> It's fine, it's fine.

Amanda> Okay, wonderful.

Vicky> I love it.

Amanda> Terasa.

Terasa> Let's see what we have next.

Well, we're going to move to a little different geography.

We're going to Pam in Rembert.

Who said, "I've noticed fields near my home that alternate between corn and soybeans.

Why do farmers utilize crop rotation?"

Amanda> Yeah, well, I think it's because they're smart or their county agent told them to do that.

Help us out here.

Shelby> So crop rotation is pretty popular.

Whether you're a home gardener or even a row crop grower.

But... crop rotation is a great way to enhance profitability and productivity within, their land.

So by rotating crops, you can help with pest management or weed management.

So, say they grow soybeans one year and corn another year.

They could use maybe a different herbicide to help with their weed management.

And it also helps with soil organic matter.

If they leave some of that plant residue from the previous crop, and it helps with the overall soil health and water holding capacity.

Amanda> If we have- Organic matter is frequently lacking in our soils because it's so warm, that they, you know, that everything just keeps on decomposing.

But it's my favorite thing.

And I've learned this, is that for every one percent increase in organic matter an acre can hold an extra 22,000 gallons of water for a week or something like that.

It's just amazing.

And water, I believe, is getting to be somewhat precious as a resource isn't it?

Shelby> Yes, it is a scarce resource, and definitely with the ongoing droughts we have going on trying to maintain, water holding capacity and keep as much moisture as you can in the ground, even in your sandy soils, is definitely important.

Amanda> So do we sometimes have some new things that come in?

Are some of these people now starting to, grow vegetables some of the people who've just done row crops?

Are they kind of changing a little bit in some of the things that they plant?

Shelby> It depends on your grower.

Some growers, they are more diverse.

And so they do, row crop acreage and maybe livestock or maybe a little bit of horticulture.

A lot of the people that I work with, they do a lot of grain crops.

And then they, also diversify with some livestock as well.

So it just depends on the grower, in different areas.

Amanda> Okay.

Terasa> You know, Amanda crop rotation is not just on large scale, you know, farms we really should be practicing this in our home gardens as well.

It can be a little difficult.

I tend to grow a lot of things in the Solanaceae family.

And so sometimes you find, you don't have enough beds to rotate.

Amanda> Because talk about some of the things that are in that family.

Terasa> Oh, gosh.

Yeah, so peppers and tomatoes which we like to grow lots of different varieties.

So I think I have two whole beds dedicated to those but it doesn't give me- And so, since they're in the same family, you can't, you don't really want to put the peppers in the tomato bed or the tomatoes in the pepper bed.

So you got to try to find somewhere that hasn't had that family.

Amanda> So it's good to do a little bit of research.

And, I think we have some ideas at Clemson, you can get all sorts of information about how to do some of these rotations.

<Yes> Okay, all right.

Well, thank you so very, very much.

Okay, Davis you've always got things that you brought down to show us.

What are we going to talk about?

Davis> Well, I brought some ornamental grasses.

There are a lot of different reasons for using ornamental grasses.

Amanda> They're so pretty.

Davis> Yeah, that's a really pretty one.

This is a, one of the Pennisetums.

One of the fountain grasses.

This one is called Fireworks.

And you can see by the, by the name that it's, it's very colorful.

It looks like a little explosion on the ground.

The only drawback to this one is it's, it's a very tender grass.

It's only hardy in zone nine and points south.

So it has to be grown in South Carolina in most places as an annual.

But it really does, it really does make a nice show.

But with the, the ongoing interest in native plants, we also have one here- This is, one of our native Schizachyriums or the, Little Bluestem.

This one is called Chameleon.

It's got a very similar, profile in the landscape as the Pennisetum.

A little bit smaller, a little bit more restrained.

And right now it's not showing any of the pink color.

Amanda> There's a tiny bit over here.

Davis> It has a little bit.

Amanda> I found a little bit.

Davis> And as it, matures that pink becomes more and more pronounced.

And then, and then in the fall, just like most of the, most of the Little Bluestems, it's going to turn a brilliant scarlet color in the fall.

This one is not as upright as most of the others are.

This one is, going to be a little bit more of a mounding type ornamental grass.

But it's also, a cultivar of a native grass.

So this one's going to persist in our environment a lot better.

Amanda> And if you had a large container and this one is somewhat not as a erect, it might be pretty to have towards the edge of it perhaps.

Davis> Certainly is.

And then you could put something in behind it, as a, sort of an exclamation point to, to show it off.

Amanda> And we, have lots of times when a little purple accent can be very nice.

Thank you, Vicky Bertagnolli.

Davis> Of course.

[laughter] Amanda> Okay.

How large is this going to be after it's been in- Davis> It's going to get about two and a half to three feet tall with an equal spread.

So it's very restrained.

Amanda> Yes.

Okay, handsome.

Thank you.

Davis> You're welcome.

And then I also, last but not least, I have another one of our natives.

This one is, one of the Eragrostis or purple lovegrass.

<Ah> These, are used pretty extensively for, soil mediation.

Amanda> Are they?

Davis> Yeah.

To... help with, erosion control.

Because it does develop a pretty intense root system.

A lot of people are familiar with the, just the common weeping lovegrass, which is a different species.

But... the purple lovegrass, is also very restrained as far as, an ornamental grass goes.

This one is called Bluer Than You, because it's obviously "bluer than you."

But, it's, it does develop a good root system.

It's also very ornamental.

This one will get up about three to four feet.

And when it does, when it does flower, it'll send up, little buff-colored seed heads that are probably going to rise about 18 inches above the plant.

So the overall effect of it in the fall is going to be around four feet or better.

Amanda> Oh, I bet if there's a breeze, I bet it's just a beautiful thing to see.

Davis> It really is.

And that's one of the things that the ornamental grasses do that are sorely lacking in a lot of home landscapes.

You have your shape, your form, your texture, your color.

But this also adds motion and sound to the landscape, which is an often overlooked aspect of landscaping.

Amanda> And everybody, you know is having so many, problems with deer because they don't have any place to be anymore and deer do not eat grass.

Deer are browsers.

And so this is a wonderful thing you can have, as you showed us, lots of different colors, lots of different textures in an area where perhaps you do have, more deer than you'd like to.

Davis> And it also provides, shelter for overwintering pollinator larvae, birds, migrating birds use it for nesting material.

There is not a thing in the world that's more beneficial to, enhance your landscape than the ornamental grasses.

Amanda> You think so?

Davis> I think so.

Amanda> Okay, well, what a great reason to use them.

And and thank you for showing us all these different things that we could choose from.

<You're welcome.> Okay.

Dorr Farms, I've been going out there a long time.

Especially, when I want strawberries.

We have wonderful people who grow strawberries in South Carolina all over the state.

And, we went out a while back, and, we're going to take you out there now.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ I'm right outside of Sumter at Dorr Farms, talking with an old friend, Marie Dorr.

Marie it's so exciting to be with you today.

Marie> Well, thank you ma'am.

It's good to have you back again.

Amanda> And I think the first time I came to see you, we talked about strawberries, which is a marvelous, marvelous thing to have this time of year.

And look at these incredible bushes.

Marie> Aren't they beautiful?

Amanda> Gosh, it's just so pretty.

It's so pretty.

It's so pretty.

And you and Maynard started off, I think, kind of growing food for your family.

Marie> We did.

Yes, ma'am.

We started out with, just a few, tomato plants and a few little watermelons, you know, squash and zucchini.

You know just a little bit, just for us.

And then, of course, you know, a few years later, he got laid off from his plant.

And, of course, you know, everybody's got to eat.

So we started out with one little acre, and I know, I was fixin' to say, that one acre grew over time, that's for sure.

Amanda> Well, and I think what you've done also is... diversify, which is just so fascinating because you don't "have all your eggs" so to speak, "in one basket."

Marie> Correct.

Correct, yes ma'am.

Because we, you know, we grow the produce, which is basically your squash, zucchini, cucumbers, we rotate them out all year long.

Amanda> And then all the berries, Marie> Tons of berries.

Amanda> So much fun.

Marie> So much fun.

We have strawberries.

Of course, U-pick strawberries.

Now, U-pick, We-pick.

And then we also started putting in the blueberries.

<Yes> And our blackberries.

Matter of fact, we picked our first little handful of blueberries this morning.

Had to sample them.

Quality control.

[laughter] And then our blackberries will roll in around June and July.

Amanda> So something else fun that happens in the spring.

It comes at Easter.

Marie> Yes, ma'am.

We have flying eggs around here.

Amanda> Flying eggs?

Marie> Flying eggs.

They do.

They fly out of the sky and come down to the ground.

So what we do, for the kids, we have what we call it's the "Easter Egg Drop" is what it is.

There's a gentleman that owned a helicopter just right here in Lake City.

I contacted him, I was like, "okay, we got this idea we want to do."

He was like, "sure, run it by me."

I was like, so what we do, we hire him in and we take the big corn field out here- The corn maze, we know from the fall, we rope it off and put it up into sections and all.

And then the helicopter comes in, we load him up, and then the eggs start flying out of the sky, coming down.

So we have all the kids- They have to fill out the form.

They have to pre-register ahead of time because we got to know how many is coming in.

<Yeah> Got to know how many eggs I got to have.

And of course they're plastic.

None of them are real.

So, they're plastic.

But they're also filled with candy.

Amanda> Filled with candy?

Marie> Filled with candy.

Yes, ma'am.

Mrs.

Hope and my girls in there they stuff for months.

They start in January stuffing eggs, in there, so they have them ready.

Amanda> You do not?

Marie> Yes ma'am.

Amanda> I bet they just have the most wonderful, wonderful time.

Marie> They have a blast.

They dump all their candy and everything out of it within their basket.

And then we take them back.

They turn in their eggs to us.

That helps us save for next year.

So if they turn in their eggs to us, we give them another bag of candy and toys to be able to take back home with them.

<Mercy!> Yes, ma'am.

But while they're here, of course though, we've got... you know, the strawberry patch is open.

So they can still come in and, you know, a lot of them go over there and pick their strawberries afterwards.

We have food trucks that come through here so they can grab a lunch.

Our coffee girl... Roast and Roll.

So you got to have that coffee in there, to keep going with all these kids.

So, you got that.

We got ice cream.

You know, the food trucks.

We have got a passel going on that day.

We had quite a few that stayed literally all day long with us that Saturday.

Amanda> Isn't that wonderful?

Marie> And that was one of our largest groups that we've had.

Amanda> Well, and you have school children coming in.

And I think that one reason you do that is that so few children know where food comes from.

So you have, things that happen in the spring and then I think again in the fall.

And they love to go out and get strawberries.

And then you do a wonderful program explaining the importance of bees because to have these wonderful strawberries and a lot of the other crops, you have to have pollinators.

Marie> You do.

I do a bee demo in the springtime and matter of fact... Know the Book is here today.

I have an observation hive.

So the kids can actually see the bees up and close.

So I can, you know, I'll start out telling them why- I make them try to guess "why it's so important?"

That way they can learn, you know, "why do we need them?"

We need the pollination.

Because if not, you know, as they say we wouldn't have no food and everything.

Everything has to be pollinated, including the trees and the grass.

And they're like, "Huh?"

You know, it's hard to believe what- Amanda> The wind can't provide everything.

Marie> That's right.

Wind can't do it all.

Yep, we have to have our help.

So when the kids come in for their field trips, I like them to leave with some sort of farm knowledge- Whenever they go out of here.

I want to teach them something.

Amanda> And your husband, Maynard is an expert beekeeper, and he, he handles hives that are in- A lot of hives that are scattered around, I believe.

Marie> We do, we've got them scattered all over.

We got some here.

Of course, on the farm premises for here.

We got some in Manning, we've some up in Mayesville.

Close... Oswego.

We got them scattered all over.

Amanda> And do you process your own honey?

Marie> We do.

Yes, ma'am, we are one of the South Carolina Certified honey houses, here.

You know, in South Carolina.

We're one of them- Amanda> Okay.

and then, so, in summertime, what can we find in the fields out here?

Marie> Ooh!

All kind of good stuff.

We got, of course, our squash and zucchini and cucumbers.

We rotate all the way up to the fall.

<Whoa, fun.> Yeah.

Sweet corn we plant it about every six weeks.

We got another crop coming in all the way to October.

And of course, our watermelons are in the ground now.

We planted the yellow- I call it the yellow belly.

It's the meat, the yellow meat on the inside with no seeds inside of it.

That was the hit about three years ago.

And now it's like, we can't hardly plant enough of them.

<Really> So we do.

Yes, ma'am.

So we got, we got yellow meat.

And of course we got our Crimson Sweets and the Jubilees.

You know, the traditional, the red watermelon stuff, so.

Cantaloupe.

We got peppers.

Amanda> I wore my red and green for the strawberries.

But it was also for the watermelons.

But I guess I need to bring a yellow shirt next time too.

Isn't that fun?

<Yes ma'am.> People do want something that's different.

<They do.> As long as the flavor is wonderful.

Marie> That's it.

The flavors awesome.

Amanda> And then as you roll into the fall and winter, since we don't have freezes, there's still a good many things I think you can grow.

Marie> Oh, lots, lots.

We do like the collards, the mustard greens, the turnips, the rutabagas, the cabbage, the broccoli.

Kale.

I call them Rabes.

A lot of people call them tender greens.

It's another form- Yeah.

Because, I guess it all depends on where you're at too.

Amanda> And you do rutabagas.

Marie> Yes, ma'am.

And some rutabagas.

Amanda> If people haven't had a rutabaga from a farm, it is so different from what you... it's like an entirely different vegetable.

Marie> Totally different vegetable.

Yeah, totally.

Amanda> Such stunningly delicious.

I just love rutabagas.

Marie> Me too.

Big ol' pot of them.

Peel them all the way down.

First time I did it, I didn't peel enough of that... I call it, the white skin off of it.

And I was like, "whoo them things were bitter" And so you say, "you gotta get it all the way down."

I was like, "so alright, next-" Yes, ma'am.

Yes, ma'am.

Amanda> Marie, I think in the wintertime, sometimes y'all even respond when something strange happens with the weather.

Marie> We do... I was fixing to say, you got to take advantage of it if you get snow or ice or whatever.

So this year we had snow, and let me tell you something, we had a ball.

We have a track hoe.

So therefore my son took the boom of it and the bucket And we took a rope and tied to it and had a sheet of plywood- We were making our own sled We were trying to figure out- Because ain't no hills around here to go up and down, you know, like I was saying to everybody.

So we tied a piece of plywood to it.

And he had us going round and round and round in circles.

And I was like, I was like, "I'll drive.

You know, just show me how to operate it.

And then you can go."

He goes, "Oh no, no."

But he wouldn't throw me off, though.

He threw everybody else off.

He would just see how fast he could get.

Amanda> He knows better- Marie> That's right.

Amanda> ...His mama.

That's right.

[laughter] Amanda> So working with all these school children has kept you young at heart.

Marie> It has.

It really has.

I love to see them come and ask questions.

You know, that way I can tell them about the farm and they can learn something.

When they leave here, I want to make sure they learned something.

Whether it's in the springtime, with the strawberries and the bees or in the fall with all the crops that we have growing up.

To be able to, just to see them growing in the field and everything.

Amanda> It's just been delightful to see the, way your farm has evolved, from what was just going to feed the family into something that's brought so much pleasure and joy to people from all around here.

I want to thank you for what you've done.

And how do people find out what's going on at the farm?

Marie> Just follow us on Facebook.

I was fixin' to say my marketing manager, Kristen she goes in there, she posts all our crazy videos.

What's coming in season.

What we got coming up, the different events that we have going on.

And I also do the Sumter Farmers Market out there at USC on Fridays.

<Goodness> So yeah, just follow us on Facebook.

It tells you everywhere we are at.

Amanda> And your marketing manager, I might say, is your daughter.

<Yes, ma'am.> And she's very interested in elderberries and I think y'all do some elderberry projects.

It just never stops out here.

You're gonna be doing something different next time.

Marie> I will be.

Yes, ma'am.

Amanda> All right, we'll come back and find out.

Marie> You come right on, we'll be right here.

Amanda> Thank you.

Marie> You're welcome.

Thank you.

♪ Amanda> Isn't it wonderful that school kids are getting to learn so much about, farming in South Carolina.

And remember that, Certified South Carolina.

Nothing's finer than things that are grown in Carolina.

And so, do look, when you're in the store for things that are from our local growers instead of things that were trucked halfway across the countryside.

And, you'll get wonderful things like strawberries from such nice people as the Dorrs.

Anyway, well hats, hats, hats.

Oakleaf Hydrangea, I declare... I just think it's one of the most wonderful things in the world.

And I'm going to let you talk about probably why you like it so much.

Because it's just beautiful year round.

Davis> It's a, not only does it have those gorgeous blooms in the late spring.

The foliage is a very coarse texture, so it's going to offset almost anything else in the landscape.

Absolutely spectacular fall color.

It's usually a deep burgundy, almost a mahogany color.

And even in the wintertime when it doesn't have the foliage or the flowers, it's got that cracking exfoliated bark it does have four-season interest.

Amanda> And it's a native.

Davis> It's a native also.

Amanda> And I imagine there's some cultivars now, but I just probably have the regular ones.

But they are just... ah.

And I have them kind of in shady areas and my goodness, talk about brightening your corner.

Davis> And some of them can be, what I call a garden monster.

Alice can get ten feet tall and 15 feet across.

Amanda> But if you've got room?

Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing to have?

Davis> We have one at the, at the nursery that's probably about that, it's probably, six feet by 12 feet now.

It's just, it is jaw dropping when it's in bloom.

Amanda> Do people get excited and often take some home to plant?

Davis> Yes, they do.

<Yeah> Vicky> I make sure and remind them that because oakleaf hydrangea does really well in our landscapes.

Do you not plant it underneath the eaves of the house.

It can't go on the corners of the house.

It should not go right up against your driveway, should not go up against sidewalks because she can get big and she starts overreaching.

And then you're going to have to prune her a whole bunch.

Amanda> That's too much trouble.

Vicky> And that's not what those plants are meant to do.

So plant them, plant them back and give them some space to to do what they're supposed to do and give them their natural form.

Amanda> Are there some smaller ones?

Davis> There are some dwarf forms.

There's Pee Wee, there's Ruby Slippers, which tends to turn red as the flowers, as the flowers begin to fade, they turn red.

There's one called Munchkin that's obviously named after the munchkins in The Wizard of Oz .

There are a number of dwarf cultivars that are going to stay within, you know, four feet by four feet.

And they're also very slow growing.

So even if you do have to prune them you only have to do it every two or three years.

Amanda> Okay.

So, something for every, an oakleaf hydrangea for every space.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Davis> You're welcome.

Amanda> Alrighty.

Well, Terasa.

Terasa> We're ready for another question?

Amanda> We are.

Terasa> All right.

Let's see if we can help Beth in Ruby.

That's sort of my neck of the woods.

Beth said, "My pear tree leaves look burnt and crispy.

Is there something I can do for them?"

And we do have a photo.

It's not great, but I think it might do in this case.

Vicky> Yeah.

So what's going on with Beth's pear is that it's got fire blight.

And it's super, super common that, that our pears get this bacterium.

Amanda> Now are some resistant though?

Vicky> There are some that are resistant.

Amanda> Maybe not the cultivars people like the most.

Vicky> Correct.

But it's also not going to be helpful if you've already got your pear tree in the landscape.

<Yeah, yeah.> So what is there to do about it?

There's not a whole lot you can do about it.

If it's, if the tree is relatively small, you can prune it out.

Make sure that you clean your pruners when you're finished with it.

But you can prune it out.

You can throw it away, not compost it.

But if it's a large tree of size, there's really not much you can do.

So, you'll just keep the tree as happy as possible.

Now, in the case of of Beth, I know what's going on with her tree.

But some of them, you're going to find that they've got flagging happening and you don't know why they're flagging.

Where you've got, a growth tip that's dying.

Amanda> All right.

Vicky> And, when you start investigating the wood and you start looking at it, maybe you're going to find a problem with something like a twig girdler, which is a beetle.

And they can cause damage that look like this.

Where they're- Amanda> Twig girdler, sounds- Vicky> Twig girdler... she's girdling the twig.

And that beetle is going to end up laying her egg, out here on this tip.

And this is going to- she'll, she'll girdle it off.

It'll fall to the ground.

And then the insect completes its lifecycle- Amanda> In a safe place.

Vicky> And then emerges later.

There's other instances where you might see more extensive damage on the plant material.

This is, these are great examples of this.

And what's happening is, is you'll see that the bark is stripped away and you're thinking- Amanda> That's pretty cool looking.

Vicky> Oh, well, you know, maybe this is squirrel damage and, but it's awfully small to be squirrel damage.

And, you're, you're... you're thinking, oh, well, maybe it's woodpeckers because sometimes you'll see trees <Sure> that have a, <Sapsuckers> tidy row of holes and, that's sapsucker damage.

But in this case this happens to be European Hornet damage.

And European Hornets, they'll come and collect this bark.

So that they can incorporate it into their nesting material.

And sometimes you can, you can have some damage on those trees that's extensive enough to cause some flagging on some of the smaller, branches.

Amanda> Okay.

But... once it's happened, it's happened.

Vicky> Once it's happened it's happened.

There's nothing to do.

I mean, there... as long as the tree is larger and healthy.

It's, not... it's not going to cause any significant long-term damage.

This is one of the hornets that we have that we find, in our landscapes.

And this is one of the only hornets, true hornets that we have.

Most of them that we, like... like... bald-faced hornets are actually yellowjackets.

This is a true hornet.

And, one of the ways that we identify her is that when we look at her, it's her abdomen that we're looking at.

And the markings that we're looking at is she's got, a dark colored abdomen.

There's yellow stripes on here, but she's got some teardrops.

And that's how we know that this is European Hornet.

<Okay> Her teardrop markings.

Amanda> How do they reproduce?

Do they make a, group with others or just individually?

Vicky> They've got a, they have an aerial nest.

Amanda> They do?

Vicky> And... these things are not going to, typically the, they won't overwinter.

You'll have like a queen that overwinters.

<Okay> But these particular hornets, they're not, they're not aggressive unless they're defending like a nest.

So if they're out foraging, they're really not aggressive.

Amanda> That's nice to hear.

Vicky> So it's not one that just because it's yellow and striped and fuzzy, it's not really one that we have to worry about a whole lot.

Amanda> All right.

Glad to here it.

Thank you, so much.

Well, Terasa.

Terasa> Let's try to help Jenny in Camden.

Jenny has seen irrigation pivots running after a rainstorm.

And she wants to know, why would farmers be irrigating if it's already rained?

<Mmm> Amanda> Well, is this, is this just cause they needed to get out there and cut it off.

Or what's going on?

Shelby> Well sometimes, especially in South Carolina, we'll get, some irregular rains or there'll be no rain or sometimes it'll come hard and fast and essentially beads off the soil.

So, sometimes if an area or a field doesn't have regular irrigation, they'll run the irrigation pivots to help make sure there's adequate, water in the soil, especially around the reproductive times of the crop's life cycle.

It's important to make sure they don't experience any drought stress- Amanda> Yeah.

Okay.

Shelby> And then also, farmers will do fertigation.

So they'll run some of their fertilizers through the irrigation to make sure, they can get into the field at certain times, to make sure that the crops have adequate nutrition.

Amanda> Okay.

And, you know, sometimes it'll just seem like we had a drenching downpour, and I go out and look at my rain gauge- And even though it seemed like it should have been enough to wash away everything, there's just a tiny bit in there.

So it can be confusing to us, who are making strict measurements, as to why the farmer might be doing that.

Shelby> Yeah, and it depends on soil texture.

So, the areas that I work, we have a lot of sandy, sandy loam soil.

And especially when it's hot, the moisture from the sandy soil, goes away much faster than in some of the red clay soils that we have in the upper part of the state.

Amanda> Okay.

Well, thank you so much.

Yeah.

Because farmers realize that this is a resource that we need to conserve and be careful with.

Thanks for telling us that.

Davis, what are we going to talk about now?

Ooh, these are so pretty!

Davis> Aren't they, though?

Well, you know, we've been talking a lot about form and texture and color in the landscape.

And everybody has all these nice rounded shrubs.

They've got flowers that pop out periodically.

But every now and then- Amanda> Boring, sometimes.

Davis> Sometimes you need an exclamation point in your landscape.

And this, this serves a lot of different purposes.

This is Liatris.

This one is the, Kobold, cultivar.

It's also known as Blazing Star because of the- you can, just from the appearance of it, you can tell the where the, common name came from.

The interesting thing about this flower is that unlike most inflorescences that open from the bottom up.

<Yes> Liatris opens from the top down.

It sets the buds, and then it opens from the top down.

So it gives you the impression of being like a meteor or a shooting star.

Amanda> What fun.

What is it like?

Davis> It likes full sun.

It can take just a little bit of shade.

They like, average garden soil, average moisture.

They're not very demanding.

It is a, Prairie State's native.

<Yes> So, it's going to be widely adaptable to a number of different soil types, and exposures.

Amanda> It's easy.

Davis> It's very easy.

It's, it's very cold hardy.

Amanda> Do they multiple at all?

Davis> They do.

They will eventually make a fairly significant clump in the landscape, and they don't ask for much except a little bit of, periodic watering when we have a drought.

<Okay> It's also a great pollinator attractor, because- <Is it?> It produces a lot of nectar.

Uh-huh.

<Oh> And, and recently there have been introductions of other cultivars of the Liatris.

This one is called Alba because it's a white-flowered one.

<Oh> Similar, similar texture, similar places in the landscape.

Amanda> A little bit like parts of your beard.

Davis> Well, yeah.

Well, a lot of it now days.

[laughter] But this makes another, another outstanding show.

This one seems to not get quite as large as the, as a species.

It's gonna be a little bit more compact.

Amanda> So it's got a right long blooming time?

Davis> Ah, yes.

Yes.

They'll bloom for about four, four or five weeks, which is pretty long.

Amanda> That's nice.

Davis> And occasionally they will rebloom if we have up and down weather.

And that can be encouraged by, once the seed heads are formed and dropped off, deadheading it a little bit.

Occasionally they will rebloom but don't count on it.

<Okay> And finally, we have another exclamation point here.

This one is, one of the, Kniphofia.

Or torch lily, some people call it.

Amanda> K-N... like knife Davis> K-N-I... And some people spell it with a P-H.

Some people spell it with an F, but it's K-N-I-F-O-F-I-A.

And, it's also known as Red Hot Poker.

Amanda> But this one's not red.

Vicky> That one's not very red.

Davis> This one's not red, that's why it's called Glow Stick.

This is another relative, a new introduction.

Very upright, very floriferous.

One of my neighbors, has the, the species which has the orange and yellow flowers that probably has 50 flowers on it, right now.

<Gracious> It's been there for a while, and it's also, it's in a little bit of shade.

So instead of it being erect, an exclamation point like this one, it's kind of like... a kraken It's sort of snaky and reaching out.

And you've got a lot of the upright flowers, but a lot of the inflorescences are sort of nodding over.

So it's makes for a very interesting presentation in the landscape.

Amanda> Conversation piece.

Davis> Mhm.

Certainly.

Amanda> Oh, that's just great fun.

No pest?

Davis> None that I'm aware of.

It's, they've been around for a long time.

And here again, this is one that you can plant it, water it, feed it, forget it.

Amanda> How bout that.

What fun, okay.

Davis> They also make excellent cut flowers.

Amanda> Do they?

<Uh-huh> Golly Pete, that's just got it going all along.

Okay.

Thanks, Davis.

And now let's learn about a new show on public television, The Savers of Flavor .

Amanda> I'm talking to David Shields, a food historian here in South Carolina.

And David, I am thrilled to see you again.

The first time I met you was at Rodger Winn's at the Tasty Tomato Contest up there, a million years ago.

> There's nothing like tasting 40 different varieties of heirloom tomato with Duke's Mayonnaise.

But you had to bring your own bread.

Amanda> That's true.

Yeah, it was such fun.

And, you have long had a fascination with foods and their history.

And I believe now this has turned into a show that is on PBS.

David> That is true.

For 20 years or more, I've been involved in bringing back heirloom foods.

From Carolina Gold rice to Benne to... Cocke's Prolific corn.

And finally, I was approached by a TV producer, Ginger Castle, from SCETV- <Right here in South Carolina.> That's right!

She said, "This would make a good show."

Amanda> It's a lot of fun and you have a great co-host.

David> That's right.

Kevin Mitchell, chef scholar, who teaches down in the Culinary Institute of Charleston.

Has been a South Carolina chef ambassador, teaches the rising generation of professional culinarians, knows all about African American food, knows about the history of southern food generally.

And he and I have been collaborating for, since 2015 on various projects, including a book that I see you've got a copy of, right there.

"Taste The State South Carolina," a kind of survey of the most important, dishes and ingredients that you have right here in the state.

Amanda> Yeah, okra, peanuts, you name it, all those wonderful, wonderful things.

David> And it has a wealth of historical recipes.

Amanda> It does, that you've found from all kinds of sources.

And I was very interested in finding all the things about oranges.

And you tell me that they were able to get oranges here from- David> Cumberland Island, Georgia.

And they were brought up, grown in the Lowcountry just farther south.

And we do have these sour oranges that naturalized here.

Amanda> But you've got a lot of fun new things to talk about, or things we've always loved, but maybe older varieties.

David> That are featured in this TV show.

Amanda> Yeah and I was watching it, and I love talking about okra.

So let's talk some about okra.

David> Yeah.

You know, one of the things about okra, which is interesting, is how controversial it is.

I mean, you go up to New England, you talk about, "I love the okra," and people make, you know, that face, you know.

<Goo-sly> Yeah.

Too slimy, too something or rather, but they just don't know okra.

And interestingly enough, there are aspects of the South that don't know everything about okra.

You know, one of the things that, I'm sure that most of your viewers don't know is that in Africa, it's the leaves that are eaten as much as the pods.

<How about that.> And the nutrition is spectacular.

Lots of folic acid, vitamins K and A, and antioxidants galore.

So it's a superfood of sorts.

And there is this one variety of okra, Abelmoschus caillei, or it's called Motherland okra down in Georgia, that has those leaves that you cook up and you cook them up like greens.

So- Amanda> And it's a big leaf.

David> That's right.

This is... it's bigger than your face.

You know, a lot of people, familiar with okra that grow around here, growing the Clemson Spineless.

<Yes> And they have kind of- Amanda> And we're glad for it.

David> Yes.

The elimination of those spines saved the hands of many a chef and many a picker.

<Yes> So Lord bless, Clemson.

I know, as a member of the faculty of the University of South Carolina, I'm not supposed to say that out loud, but it's the truth.

Amanda> You're welcome to say it here.

David> Dr.

McGinty is the man who did the work on that.

At any rate, we went down in the show to take a look and to eat those okra leaves.

And the other thing that was interesting, I had heard a lecture from a guy named Herman Kresse, who was a food chemist from Texas.

And this was back, you know, like 20 or 30 years ago.

And he said, "Why are we eating the immature pods of okra when it hasn't even extracted all of the nutriment out of the soil?"

And someone, you know, asked him, "Well, what should we be eating?"

He said, "The seeds!"

And so I thought, well, "Is anybody working with the seeds?"

And it turns out that down in Pitts, Georgia, is a man named Clay Oliver who is pressing okra seed oil.

And here I have a jar of it for you to sample.

And what's interesting about this is that a lot of oil- Amanda> It's a pretty color.

David> Yeah.

A lot of oil these days, tries to imitate canola oil being odorless, colorless and tasteless.

It can be a blank- Amanda> I don't want that.

Blank, inserted in everything it's this sort of industrial conception of an ingredient.

This is an oil that tastes just like okra.

<Gosh!> So break out your spoon.

Because we're going to have a taste right here.

And ideally this should be on a Cherokee Purple tomato.

Amanda> That'd be fun.

David> But, it has a quite distinctive flavor.

And... Amanda> Mmm!

<Yes> Gosh, this is wonderful.

David> You could use that as a finishing oil on a salad.

Amanda> I like the thickness of it, too.

It has a different viscosity I think, than other oils do.

David> That's right.

Now... let's just say that making okra seed oil is challenging because in a seed, it only makes up around ten percent of the total- You know, think about a sesame seed, nowadays it's 64 percent.

Think about a pecan nut, 70 percent oil.

This is one-tenth.

A lot of okra flower, okra seed flower is left.

And that can of course, be made into a good base for a stew and things like that.

<Okay> Herman Kresse, the guy who first had the idea of processing okra seed, wanted to make imitation meat out of it in the 1980s.

[laughter] I don't know if slippery meat is the answer in the future, but I do think that this okra seed oil is splendid.

Amanda> Many of our past presidents were farmers, and I believe Thomas Jefferson was certainly an example of that.

And you went up to Monticello and what were you looking for up there?

David> Well, we were looking for Jefferson's favorite vegetable, which is the garden pea.

<Alright> And there was a particular one which grew early in the season.

They had contests with the, farmers up there, the plantation owners who would serve the best pea.

And they'd be judged, the big farmer.

And so we were looking for the extinct Early Frame pea, which always won.

<Whoa!> And guess what?

Amanda> It's not extinct?

David> We show where it is.

<Wow!> And we send some of it up to Monticello, and we get to see what they did with it.

Amanda> Okay.

They grow it out?

David> Yes, they did.

Amanda> And then I believe you get to taste it.

David> Oh, yes.

[laughter] The end of every one of these shows is sitting down with the guest, Kevin, putting on his chef hat and preparing it.

Amanda> In the fall of the year, everyone likes pumpkins and do we have some heirloom pumpkins?

David> Yes!

In the town that you'd expect.

Pumpkintown, South Carolina, up in... Pickens County and, we were looking for the Old Cherokee pumpkin that town was named after.

<Oh!> So we go up to the Cherokee homeland in North Carolina, taking what we found and talked to the Cherokee horticulturist, and they show us a pumpkin we had no idea about- <Woah!> -that was a relative.

And here are seeds from the Pumpkintown pumpkin for you to grow.

Amanda> Thank you so much.

Another president famously chopped down the cherry tree.

And we don't think of cherries as things that we can grow here in the South, but I think you've got an interesting cherry.

David> That's right.

Cherries require a certain number of chill hours in order to set fruit.

South, not too chilly.

But there was this one cherry, it's a sour pie cherry called the Dyehouse.

Amanda> The Dyehouse?

David> D-y-e-h-o-u-s-e.

<Oh, Okay.> That was developed in Kentucky, and it was enormously popular from the 1870s to after World War II, sold by Stark Brothers and everybody.

And it seemed to have disappeared.

So we went out looking for it.

Amanda> Woah!

And were you successful?

David> Let me say that I thought that the cherry pie was delicious at the end of the show.

[laughter] Amanda> Isn't it fun to have Kevin cooking for you?

David> Oh yeah, that's maybe the best part of the show.

Finding the things are great, but sitting down after you've gone through the search and you've heard all of the tales about something, about how wonderful it was and actually tasting it to measure the myth against the reality.

And it turns out to be even better.

Amanda> I think also, you have a good time getting around to these places, because it looks like lots of fun footage of riding around in trucks.

[laughter] <Yes> Colorful old pickup trucks.

David> There's certain things we do on every show.

We always have a poem about the subject, that we recite, and we drive around in antique cars.

Amanda> You know what, David?

You've just got it covered.

David> Well, part of it's due to the genius of our producer, who knows how to tell a story.

And we got SECTV backing us.

So, we got professionals.

Amanda> Thank you so much for coming and sharing these stories with us.

David> It's always a pleasure to be here.

I hope you plant these seeds and have another taste of that okra oil.

[laughter] Amanda> Vicky, you know, you don't have to travel in the summer.

You can have a good vacation just learning about things in your yard if you want to.

Vicky> And we talked about, galls today, and we talked about bark damage.

And two books that I really enjoy, that are very helpful to me on a daily basis as my job as an extension agent are "Garden Insects of North America" and this "Tracks and Signs of Insects."

And they both have chapters on... like bark feeders, structures that form on trees.

Maybe you've got mounds in the landscape or, you know, anything... webs that you might find.

These two books help me identify what those insects might be.

This one's a field guide.

This one you probably, you know, a little bit big to be carrying around.

But this is a great book to have on your shelf.

<Okay> I wouldn't even put it on the shelf I'd put it on the coffee table.

Amanda> Yes, dear.

Okay.

Well, thanks everybody, for being with us tonight.

And we hope that you'll join us next week right here on Making It Grow .

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.