<Narrator>: Making It Grow is brought to you in part by Certified South Carolina is a cooperative effort among farmers retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to help consumers identify foods and agricultural products that are grown harvested or raised right here in the Palmetto State.

The Boyd Foundation supporting outdoor recreational opportunities, the appreciation of wildlife, educational programs, and enhancing the quality of life in Columbia, South Carolina and the Midlands at large.

McLeod farms in McBee South Carolina family owned and operated since 1916.

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

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

♪♪ Amanda: Good evening, and welcome to Making it Grow.

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

I'm Amanda McNulty.

I'm a Clemson horticulture agent, and I'm here with my friend Terasa Lott, and Terasa, I always say this is just continuing education because our guests come and just tell us so many fascinating things.

And even though you know a lot of stuff, and I know a few things, It's always nice to be reminded of new things.

Terasa: It is and there is always so much to learn.

You know, one of my favorite things about Making it Grow is running into our viewers in you know, just going around town.

So I was grocery shopping one day last week and someone said, I recognize you and it just is a wonderful feeling to know that you out there are enjoying what we do, because we certainly enjoy it.

Amanda: We do have a real good time.

And then of course, a lot of people know you as the Master Gardener Coordinator as well.

and you graciously make time for us fit us into your busy schedule.

Terasa: Oh, goodness, wouldn't have it any other way.

Amanda: Rob Last you are a commercial Hort.

Agent, which means you're not because you're not going to people's backyards and looking at their vegetable gardens.

But I don't know that people understand how important commercial vegetable production is in our state's economy.

<Rob>: It's a huge portion of our state's economy.

Yes.

If you look at agricultural production as a whole, with It's very important to the revenue for South Carolina.

Amanda: So I know you are based in Lexington County, and that's you know, brassicas, I guess which is collards and mustards, and turnips and rutabagas.

<Rob>: I guess Absolutely.

Yes, that's correct.

Amanda: But um, what are some of the other ones that that play a big role?

<Rob>: Squash, squash both winter.

Zucchini would be a really big crop for us.

A lot of tomatoes in Lexington County, as well as peppers.

Amanda: And then statewide.

Also?

<Rob>: Statewide would obviously be peaches as number one.

We are, after all a bigger producer of peaches than Georgia.

This... Amanda: Okay, and I think in your previous incarnation with Clemson, you were down in the lower part of the state where they was a lot of watermelon production.

<Rob>: That's correct, Amanda.

Yes.

So serving Bamberg Barnwell, Hampton and Allendale counties, which is known as watermelon country in South Carolina.

Amanda: Gosh, there's nothing like a good watermelon.

Had you ever had a watermelon in England?

<Rob>: Oh, yes.

Yeah, they they would be imported from Spain.

Amanda: But I guess ours are tastier.

<Absolutely.> Herrick Brown, you are the curator at the AC Moore Herbarium at the University of South Carolina.

And but as we are going around and you know, in the world seems to be changing.

and there are new pressures on things.

What are some of the things that people would come to a Herbarium for to look for kind of historical records and all is that one of the things that y'all do?

Dr. Herrick: Yeah, well, so we have 130,000 specimens.

And they span from I think our oldest is probably about collected around 1814.

So It's 200 years of history and studying plants in the state.

And yeah, so we can look at trends of whether or not plants are changing their flowering time.

If the ranges are expanding or shrinking, all that kind of information can be gleaned From the specimens that we take care of there.

Amanda: So it's really a historical collection.

In a sense.

Dr. Herrick: There's a lot of history to it, you know, I liken it to a plant library.

So everything's filed away in the similar sort of way that you would find in a library.

Everything's dead.

Now It's not, you know, we're not talking about a greenhouse or anything.

So sometimes It's kind of like a plant morgue, but but you can, you can keep all the same information associated with the specimen, like who collected it, where it was found, what if it was blooming, or fruiting?

All that sort of stuff is recorded on these.

Amanda: Okay, and then also, I would imagine that people who are doing research in other So parts of the country or the world might occasionally want to ask your things, do they?

Dr. Herrick: Indeed, we get requests quite frequently for specimen loans.

If someone's studying a particular taxonomic group will box stuff up and send it to that institution.

More often nowadays, we get requests for little pieces of our specimens that can be ground up and DNA can be extracted from them.

Amanda: So those are the horrible people who are changing the names on everything.

Dr. Herrick: I wouldn't say they're horrible, they keep us they keep our brains fresh and active.

But yeah, it does shed some light on taxonomic relationships.

Amanda: because I think he used to do it, by the flower structure didn't you?

Dr. Herrick: A lot of it used to be based on the physical aspects of the specimen and more and more nowadays, folks are looking at genetics, genetics.

Amanda: Okay.

Goodness gracious.

And then we got some other things for you that we will take you on some some virtual trips, we're going to Hickory Top Farm, which is equine therapy center.

And if you don't have a Kleenex by the time It's over, there's something wrong with you.

I've got to say that and then Terasa, I think you're going to do something for us.

Terasa: I am we're going to take a virtual field trip to the Pee Dee region and learn about an anti litter initiative.

Amanda: Okay, well, Teresa, usually you can start us off with something really happy and cheerful.

Terasa: Yes, the gardens of the week and It's appropriate that we were talking about trips because this segment is sort of like taking a virtual field trip where you can see what's going on around the state in your yards, gardens, or maybe beautiful places that you've captured.

Today we begin with Agatha King, who shared her hope I get this pronunciation correct Hachiya Persimmon that is absolutely loaded with fruit.

Now this is one of the astringent Japanese persimmons so that means the fruit needs to be completely ripe and soft before you eat it.

Okay, from Sharon Merrow in Lyman South Carolina, what she referred to as her collection of late bloomers that she brought inside for savoring at the table hydrangeas, roses and camellias Jill Allen shared a tribute to Amanda she was in the Myrtle Beach Art in the Park pumpkin painting contest and was the winner.

and she wore a headpiece that she said was fashion after Amanda's famous hats and she was dubbed Mother Nature.

Carol Kleppin in Summerville has a vibrant yellow sunflowers.

So this is the genus helianthus.

This in fact that Greek is derived from Helios, which means sun and anthos means flower.

So hence sun flower.

And we finish up with the Richland County Master Gardener Association compost garden in Colombia we have a few photos.

The compost garden is one of several demonstrations maintained by the Richland County Master Gardeners at the Sand Hill Research and Education Center.

And here we see various methods of composting.

And all of the compost used at that garden is sifted and utilized.

So not only is it being demonstrated, but It's being put to good use.

<And that's just wonderful.> Yeah, It's always so much fun to see the gardens of the week, I get lots of ideas and inspiration from what you are doing.

Amanda: And isn't it nice to see one of your Master Gardener groups that you supervise?

Doing something so wonderful is the demonstration of what we should do at our homes?

Terasa: That is right in it.

We have Master Gardeners all across the state doing wonderful things.

This is just one example.

Amanda: They do.

And if It's a little group, they may do something small, but they all are helping people in some form or fashion.

All right, well, thank you so much.

Well, Terasa we usually try to give people some help with questions.

Can we try to do that now?

Terasa: Let's try we are going to help Jean in Gilbert, South Carolina.

Gilbert sent in a photograph and said some of my collard leaves look ragged, but I haven't found any caterpillars.

But I did find this and so it just kind of looks like black specks in the photo.

What is it and what should I do?

Amanda: Goodness gracious Yep, you have to wash things off before you cook them anyway, but this is just something to worry about it isn't going to spread what's happening Rob?

<Rob>: It sounds very much like it could be Caterpillar activity.

So the ragged leaves that typically are associated with Caterpillar damage, but the black specks that are on there, they look a little bit like flea beetles.

but what they actually could well be is Caterpillar frass, poop that they've left behind as they've been feeding without seeing an insect or any evidence of the worm.

So the caterpillar itself, I wouldn't recommend treatment.

Okay, we don't want to be applying pesticides or we haven't got a pest to actually target.

So keep the keep the plants monitored.

Keep looking for them very closely.

and check the underside of the leaves and the growing points very closely.

That's where you'll find them.

There are several species of caterpillar that will feed quite happily on collards be the Diamondback moth, cabbage, imported cabbage loopers all striped cabbage worms as well and they all look slightly different.

The loopers will be about them will be a little bit larger and bright green, Diamond back will likely be very small, and again bright green.

The striped yellow stripe cabbage worm both very green has sort of stripes down it's back.

Terasa: Funny enough that we got this question because I was looking at my collards over the weekend and I saw some holes in the leaves.

So surely I said there must be some caterpillars in it.

You have to have a good eye especially for those that are green because they'll blend and a lot of times they'll hang out on the midrib of the underside of the leaves.

But I found a Diamondback moth larvae and it was small but it will be usually it was close to pupating I think It's just like wrapped in in the silk.

and then the cross striped cabbage worms, you can see them because they have such a recognizable pattern.

So unfortunately, the cold crops do tend to attract several caterpillar species that have voracious appetites.

<Rob>: <Oh, they really eat a lot.> They can quickly defoliate a plant.

<Oh they can.> Yes.

Amanda: So once they have once they found the cat... and found the fat... if they find the caterpillar and know that that is indeed what it is.

Can they go to HGIC?

Perhaps a home gardener and find a way to control it?

<Rob>: Absolutely.

There is some really good fact sheets on HGIC on collards and brassicas as well, which will include sections on insect management.

One thing to be aware of is that we do have a lot of parasitic wasps that will lay their eggs in the capital pellets that can actually be doing some biological control for us as well.

So if you have the option if you do need to spray or do want to spray, choosing a natural type insecticide, something like a Bacillus thuringiensis dipel, yes.

Which is very specific to caterpillars will help those predator populations as well.

Amanda: Does that need to be used when the caterpillars are relatively young?

<Rob>: Yes, the smaller the insect, the better levels of control typically.

Amanda: Okay, all right.

but um, just because there's some frass on your leaves, just bring them in the house and wash. Wash them off.

Right?

<Yes.> So thats what you need to do?

<Absolutely.> Okay.

All right.

Well, thanks.

Well, Terasa?

Terasa: This question came in via Face book.

Okay, Larry sent us a message with a photograph from the 1970s.

He said these moms grew back in the 70s.

And they always came back.

Where can I get mums these day that will come back every year.

And it just so happens that I have some mums and I thought this would go nicely at this time of the year see if I can grab them.

So in the photograph, we saw Larry's mums were yellow, or they looked yellow, but you know, the old photographs sometimes fade so I don't have any yellow but these pink are from my yard.

And we normally refer to these as old fashioned garden mums and then you shared some that are red those come from Hank and Ann's garden I think that this one is called the Ryan's pink cultivar from my yard and Barbara Smith from our home and garden Information Center.

Gifted that to me, so you'll, these look a whole lot different than what you normally see as the fall.

You know, fall decorations that have the more compact flowers where you don't really see the center's and these tend to be taller two to three feet.

But I thought maybe we could get more of the botanical perspective on on how these flowers are arranged and what maybe what family they belong to from our herbarium botanist.

Amanda: And these have a center so they've got disk flowers?

<Disk flowers.> Dr. Herrick: So mums are another fall favorite that, like all the other sorts of things that we have blooming this time of year are in the sunflower family.

And those centers are actually, the whole thing that you're looking at what we might typically call just a single flower is actually an inflorescence.

It's like a whole bunch of little flowers tightly packed into this little head.

and the center is a group of smaller flowers that we call disc flowers.

and they are, if you look real closely, they look like little star shapes, they'll have five little points on them.

And those big floppy things that are around the outside are what we call Ray flowers.

And in that case, two or three of those petals are enlarged and elongated tremendously.

So it looks like the actual petals of a simple flower.

Yeah and so with moms that they've been hybridized, and their genetics are really we just talked about genetics, so try to dissect this, but they've been hybridized to a point where a lot of the ones you'll find in garden centers now don't have this sort of heirloom look to it, where you have a visible center of disk flowers and ray flowers, but you have everything's replaced with just ray flowers.

So they look real cushiony and... Amanda: And does that mean that I mean when I see these Terasa, they're just covered of pollinators even though It's not a native plant, because you don't have to be a native if you're producing pollen and nectar.

So and so these I guess, are doing that, but what about the I call them ones that are so... Dr. Herrick: Kind of mop top sort of things.

I don't really know, I have seen bumblebees visiting some that I have in my yard.

And I don't know if they're actually getting much out of it, but I have them planted next to some other things like golden rod too.

Yeah.

But uh, the, the ones that I have in my yard are these those cushiony kinds and I, you know, just kind of found them out on the side.

Yeah, they buy them for the season, and then toss them to the road and, <And you've had some come back year after year.> They're bright, west facing sort of sandy soil.

And they're, yeah, they just keep, keep going.

Terasa: I had good luck, too.

So they're, they're often treated as annuals, I think good soil drainage is one of the keys.

And if I'm not mistaken, you know, we talked about fall as being a great time to plant but I think they say to try to keep the mums until the spring before putting them in the ground.

Amanda: Okay, so and then if you get one off the side of the road, I think there's been a good many little plugs put in there.

So you might need to separate them, so they won't be too crowded.

Dr. Herrick: Yeah.

And once they're established, too, they tend to be rhizomatous.

So they might spread a little bit.

<Not the end of the world.> Terasa: Yeah, we have a fact sheet on HGIC that Barbara Smith wrote, I think and it has some of the named cultivars.

So Ryan's pink was named for Ryan Gagne, who was the person who developed that one, but there are others that are known for doing well.

Amanda: So we, I always thought that it was just the disk flowers that had that produce things that attracted the pollinators.

But I've heard that sometimes ray flowers do as well.

Dr. Herrick: Yeah and it could vary based on which genus within the sunflower family you're looking at and sometimes some of the flowers don't serve any function other than just attracting a pollinator to the flower the flowers that actually produce seeds.

Amanda: Or attracting people like Teresa and Ann and Hank accentuate really 10 Gardens beautifully.

Thank you all.

Okay.

We went to Hickory Top Farm outside of Colombia and it was a wonderful experience and I think you will find that to be so as well.

♪♪ We're in Eastover, South Carolina and I'm talking to Amanda Malanuk and we are at Hickory Top Farm.

And you have an interesting aspect to this farm.

We do Do Amanda our therapeutic riding program is so honored to be the new stewards of this 50 year old farm.

It's just a great place to have a permanent home for therapeutic riding in our community.

This is certainly different from what people think of as therapy.

Why horses?

You know, Amanda, I used to work in the children's hospital and spend a lot of time with families and children coping with illness and emotional difficulty with trauma and, and things of that nature.

And I quickly realized that horses have an amazing capacity to help with wellness and to help people heal.

So I took my work from the Children's Hospital in took it outdoors to a farm, and began in a therapeutic riding program in Charleston.

And we're now we're doing here at Hickory Top Farm.

It is exciting.

And so from physical difficulties, how can a horse help?

So the horse provides a wonderful input so the stimulation from the horses movement and rotation helps people work on core strength and balance and alignment.

As well as strengthen their motor skills.

You have a young person who started with you, who I think has made tremendous progress.

Yes young Ansel Bunch started with us when he was three years old.

And Ansel has charged syndrome, which has really affected his vision and his hearing, but mostly his his muscle tone.

So he was unable to walk without the help of a walker.

And when he began riding with us, the three dimensional rotation of the horses movement provided input into his body.

And so he had muscle to muscle contact with the horse's back and started creating muscle memory.

And then his brain began to understand that forward rotation of his pelvis, which mimics the human walk, and in a short time, Ansel was able to stand up by himself.

And then he began walking.

and now Ansel runs, It's just amazing to see what his relationship with the horse has not only done for his body, but also It's taught him some communication skills.

He spent a lot of time in his early, early years riding with us being very quiet.

And now he gets on that horse.

And he says, Walk on, and he's just so he's found his leadership skills through the horse, It's been really great.

You want little boys to be boisterous.

and now we have a wonderfully joyful horse, boisterous, little friend.

<We really do.> But also the emotional benefits for certain people.

It's just amazing and so can you share some of those stories with us, please?

Yes, you know, it seems these days, especially since COVID, there's a lot of anxiety and people are worried a lot of the time, or they're depressed, and they're kind of withdrawn from all of the isolation.

And so learning to have a relationship with a horse who offers a very trusting, present, being with with someone with anxiety, helps them learn to slow down their breath cycle, how to relax.

And we always encourage not only our riders, but our staff and our volunteers to leave their worries at the gate.

And that's actually the first thing we do when we arrive before we get with the horses.

Everyone leaves their worries at the gate.

And then they become in partnership with the horses.

And autism, which is being diagnosed and recognized more also seems to respond.

It has, you know, autism, social skills, horses really do a wonderful job of helping people make eye contact, you've got to understand how to approach the horse from the horse's perspective, which means you come to the side and you walk into their personal space.

But you also have to wait and let the horse come into your space as well.

And someone challenged with autism can really gain those life skills in working with the horses.

And from there, then they learn to ride and so we start at the ground, and then we get up on the horse and it transfers into other communication skills and using your voice and especially your intention.

You know, intention is a word we use a lot here at this farm, because we want people to have a picture in their mind of what they're trying to accomplish.

And so if you can use the power of your mind, to convey your intentions, you can accomplish a lot, especially on the back of a horse.

Amanda it is Hickory Top Farm because you want this to involve the community and not just be a program for people who have the therapeutic needs.

Yes, we are re-establishing Hickory Top Farm as a community resource and we are really excited to work with different community partners such as our local elementary schools.

We're going we're starting a literacy and horses program where school groups can come out and engage with the horses and when they're reading stories to the horse.

They're really having to find their confidence and project their voices and find fluency and rhythm in their storytelling capacity.

And when doing that horses are drawn in to things that feel good and they have has nice calm energy.

And so the horse will come all the way down to the page of the book and be very interested and be the best audience an emerging reader has ever heard.

I think I know about Children's bedtime storybook so I'm gonna go and get one and come back and practice my reading with the horses.

But right now I want to go and meet one of your riders who's here who has a very interesting story of his own.

Yes, Winston Ridley began with us two years ago and he started his horsemanship experience by learning how to approach the horse and has gained so many skills since that time and has really developed a long lasting relationship with Rain his horse and so I'm very excited for you to witness his his ability to communicate on the ground and while he's riding with Rain.

Well, thank you for the work.

You're doing.

Therapeutic Riding out here at Hickory Top Farm, thank you for letting us come today and learn about this fascinating and extremely beneficial program.

Thank you, Amanda.

It's been wonderful to be with you.

♪♪ Amanda: Winston, thank you for letting me watch your workout with your horse today.

Winston: Your welcome.

<What is her name?> Her name is Rain.

Amanda: Well, she's a lovely gentle animal.

Winston: Yes, ma'am.

She is.

Rain and I now have a pretty good friendship.

Amanda: And we're at Hickory Top Farms.

What do you like about coming out here?

Winston: Well, like about going Hickory Top Farm is that it is beautiful, Peaceful.

and it has a lot of Pretty land, and arenas.

So gorgeous.

Amanda: And today you were working out in the arena.

Tell me how you first approached Rain.

And then how y'all got into the arena.

Winston: We first approach Rain by preening the horse.

By petting the mane, withers and smelling the hands as a greeting to say hello and Rain loves that's so much.

Amanda: So that y'all can establish a feeling between each other and remind each other of how much I like each other maybe.

Winston: Yes, ma'am.

This is called love and affection of horses.

Amanda: Well she's easy to love, I agree with you.

And then when you got inside the arena, you need to check some things before you begin, tell me some of the processes you go through please.

Winston: Before riding the horse we had to get check the horse equipment by checking the stirrups and to match that on length if they're the same.

<Oh.> And that they're the same.

And now we looked at this surface to see if it's even.

So it's straight and even.

Amanda: So you've got all the equipment check done.

But now you've got to get on the horse.

How do you do that?

Winston: We get on the horse by using the reigns and mane first on the left hand.

Amanda: Did you use the mounting block first?

Winston: Yes, ma'am.

I use the mounting block first and then climb up on to it.

But first, I put my left feet on the left stirrup.

And holding the mane and reins and in the right part of this seat, and then that's swiftly swing the leg backing onto the horse and in the right foot into my stirrup by squeezing both legs to make the horse walk.

And now we start the warm up lap by using upper body warm ups like spinning the arms twisting the arms and swinging arm circles five times.

And so after the warm up lap, we practice the horseback riding lessons by using two point precision.

Amanda: What is two point precision?

Winston: Two point precision is when the horse rider holds on to the reins tightly and squeezing the neck and making the leg spend and it makes an extra leg stand up.

This is called balance and coordination.

Amanda: You look like people some people think you just do things by kicking the horse and using the reins.

But it looks to me like you use your body weight and the insides of your thighs.

Tell me how you try to how to get a good seat on the horse.

Winston: Get onto the good seat or the horse by sitting tall, nice and straight.

Like, like a tall person by using great posture like this.

This is how we sit tall.

Amanda: Your instructor Lindsay was helping you get started with some of the warm ups.

Winston: Yes, ma'am.

Amanda: And y'all have had a good relationship, what are some of the things she was encouraging you to try today?

Winston: She encouraged me to try to take a walk all 10 sessions by playing red light green light.

And it was my favorite part of horseback riding lessons.

Amanda: But what is so much fun about that?

Winston: What is so much fun about playing rd light, green light is that is that I get to repeat patterns of, of a walk called Walk called transitions.

Amanda: At one point you were doing some trotting on the horse.

And tell me how you prepare for that.

And what you do while you're trotting please.

Winston: In order to... in order to prepare to trot a horse have to squeeze both legs and make a clicking sound and say trot.

And then the horse trots, which is awesome, my favorite part of horseback riding lesson.

Amanda: So that part is fun too, because you get to do a lot more activities.

And again, you're explaining to me that using different parts of your body, It's not like just telling the horse to do something, you're using your body to talk to the horse I think.

Winston: I'm using my body to talk to horses back with with my arms and legs and the voice as a way to communicate the horses.

Amanda: You went in and out of cones, and you had to really get Rain to cooperate tell me how you did that.

Winston: I used direct reigns, I used direct rein steering to weave the cones so so that so that Rain can turn Left on the cones and the left hand is the inside hand and the right hand is the outside hand.

And when to use the right hand as an inside hand.

The horse turns right in and in the left hand will be the outside hand.

Amanda: You have a lot of thoughts to keep straight in your mind while you're doing this.

I guess you really focus on what you're doing and don't think about other things perhaps.

Winston: Yes, ma'am.

Amanda: I can see that.

That's important.

But then I think both you and Rain earned a little bit of relaxing.

Tell me about cooling down.

Winston: It's important that we had to do the cool down lap by by making the body relax.

Right like resting the ankles, pointing the toes up and down.

Just to make the feet relax right in a twist in my arms.

Just to make arms relax as well.

Amanda: Do you think Rain is relaxing too?

Winston: Yes ma'am.

Rain is always relaxed.

Amanda: After you get off I think you want to use positive reinforcement to thank her.

How do you do that?

Winston: I use positive reinforcement but petting the wither's to tell Rain good job.

And she appreciates that.

And appreciate Rain by by their hard work paying off.

And I'm grateful for that.

Amanda: Thank you for telling us about coming to Hickory Top and I hope you'll get to come back and keep on enjoying it for many years.

Winston: You are so welcome.

My pleasure.

♪♪ Amanda: Equine therapy is becoming more and more recognized as an important part of mental and physical health.

And the things happening at Hickory Top certainly do make you understand why on so hats hats hats once again want to see Hank and Ann the solutia on this one.

We were at the flower bridge in Lake Lure which was a decommission bridge.

They turned into a flower garden the master gardeners out there do and they have a trash pile and they say have anything you want.

So Ann got a little piece of solutia and she brought it home and now she has it all over her yard of nev...

When you look at it.

It has seeds galore, and pollinators galore, which is just kind of fun.

But uhm, anyway, and then I've also got a dahlia Because uhm, and Terasa, you said that, of course, when, where you grew up, dahlias, they could grow those big dinner plate dahlias.

Terasa: Yes, yes.

But it's a lot of work because they have to be dug up every winter and then replanted.

So that would be I feel like too much effort for me.

I'm glad we don't have to dig them up.

Amanda: And Herrick, I think dahlias is some things we've can just divide.

hith... wither wither.

but I think if dahlias, you need to get some of the actual tissue from this real bite... base of the stem?

Dr. Herrick: Yeah.

So you have like a crown that's right there at the soil surface.

Okay, you want to make sure you get some.

Amanda: And then I put some a cardoon is in this, which is that grayish green colored thing, which is related to the artichoke, which you pull through your teeth I think, and I just love them.

They look like feathers and roosters to me.

So if you can grow cardoons in your yard, that would be fun.

And I put in a piece of Sassafras for fun.

And anyway, hats sometimes can be fun.

Well, good, gracious almighty.

So I think since it's fall, we're going to talk about oaks.

Dr. Herrick: Yeah, so an important group of plants that we have here in North America and South Carolina's in particular.

And there's a book that's out recently that talks about all the various forms of life, that oaks support throughout their own lifetime, from tiny little birds and insects to larger things like deer and squirrels.

And so I'm just kind of, I don't know, on that sort of oak vibe right now and thought, well, our campus at USC has done a very good job of diversifying the canopy and planting bunch of different oak species.

And so why not talk about some of those today?

<Well, let's talk about them.>.

So okay, well, first up is this whopper of an acorn that I caution students and other folks that come to our botany walks to not walk beneath during this time of year.

<Because it might hit you in the head.> It's about the size of a small apple.

And the largest acorn that I've seen, from this particular species of oak, which is swamp chestnut, produces these rather large leaves that have sort of a crenulated or wavy sort of margin.

And you can count the number of bumps that it has here, you might get somewhere between 13 to 17 or so.

Yeah, you know, in that ballpark, upwards of 10.

And you know, the shape is kind of broader towards the apex near.

Amanda: Now you said swamp chestnut oak you just said, Could it grow in a regular situation like this?

Dr. Herrick: Well it can I've seen it actually, I've seen it become more widely planted as a roadside tree even it does typically would inhabit floodplain forests like Congaree National Park.

But it does quite well, if you plant it, you know, and your yard as well.

Amanda: The acorns always this big are these the exception?

Dr. Herrick: This one's exceptionally, I would say, you know, probably a little bit smaller than what you see here normally, but it is one of the largest Native acorns that you'll find.

Okay, by contrast, and the other neat thing about swamp chestnut oak is that it has real light grayish tan exfoliating bark, so It's not like one of the red oaks where the bark is real tight.

and furrowed.

Amanda: We ought to talk about white oaks and red oaks.

Dr. Herrick: Yeah, so okay, so one of the ways you can tell that It's in a white oak group, same genus now, but we just kind of split them out into different groups is that these little bumps along the margins tend to be just sort of rounded and soft, they don't have a bristle tip.

By contrast, something like Southern Red Oak would have nice little bristle tips to it.

So this would be.

Amanda: what I might call a spine or something.

Dr. Herrick: Yeah, it looks it almost looks like a little extension of the tissue is kind of pointing off to the edge there.

And so that would be in the red oak group, if you see those points to it.

So another one in the white oak group that we have on campus is white oak.

And acorns not not quite as big as chestnut oak.

<Awesome.> Yeah.

and probably a little more palatable for squirrels and that sort of thing.

This is I don't know how they'd have to do a lot of gnawing to get into the swamp chestnut.

Yeah.

The leaves are a little more distinctive, though.

They have very what we call deep sinuses.

So these the lobes are more accentuated.

They're not just like a little series of bumps, and you can see these... Amanda: And is this the one that people used to make, white oak baskets and all that kind of stuff from?

Dr. Herrick: I believe so.

Yeah.

Very important economically.

and even, you know, I'll tell you this are plant presses that we use in the herbarium are made out of white oak harvested from North Carolina.

Yeah, very strong wood as well.

Amanda: And I think, Terasa think, isn't it right?

The red oaks there acorns have to be like two years old and washed with water before you can grind them up and make flour from them or something?

Terasa: That is something you the best... [laughter] Dr. Herrick: Yeah, I mean, I've heard that too.

Yeah.

So I think the red oak grouped tends to produce acorns every year.

But it takes two full growing seasons before the acorns mature and they fall to the ground.

White Oaks, they're dropping acorns, year after year.

Let's see what else we got some other interesting things.

This is one that's not necessarily native to South Carolina, but more associated with the Mississippi drainage and its dramatic kind of species.

Large leaves look similar to white oak.

but what you'll notice is that towards the apex, It's kind of looks almost like a separate part to the leaf.

And if you if you will, grant me that interpretation.

This.

So these larger leaves are something called Bur oak, which is really amazing tree it has really stout twigs.

So if you think of the, the Tippie little lens of the branches, there, twigs tend to be almost half an inch diameter.

It looks you know, very fingery when you're when you're looking at these things up close, and it produces a large acorn, probably about the size of the swamp chestnut oak, but the cap on Bur oak has a lot of bristles around the edge and it almost over laps that comes.... Yeah.

So again, this is something that would be more commonly encountered and Mississippi drainage.

<Got one on the campus.> We've got one on the campus is a very large one right next to the statehouse in Columbia.

Amanda: Wonder when they put that one there?

Dr. Herrick: I don't know It's got some age on it for sure.

Bur oak and so named because the edge of that cap has a little burrs on.

So that's a neat one.

Amanda: Okay, bunch of push some of these and pull other things up.

Dr. Herrick: Focus on what we're doing here.

Let's see another one that that is I'm seeing more commonly planted in roadsides and stuff around the state is this which is called Quercus bicolor.

That's a scientific name, It's common name would be swamp white oak.

And the first collection of this was by my colleague, Dr. John Nelson, somewhere around Chester County or so.

And not very common naturally in the state, but it does quite well in planted, you know, landscapes and whatnot.

And I think he gets its name bicolor from the fact that the underside of the leaf has that bright white contrast to the upper surface.

Two colors bicolor.

Amanda: Not found naturally, or at least not frequently.

Dr. Herrick: Not frequently but again, you know, I think some cities might be planting them on roadsides, I've seen them around town.

And then It's another one that has very stout twigs like the bur oak, so It's kind of easier to recognize in that way.

What else we want to talk about, got some other weird ones planted on campus.

And these are pretty neat.

I don't know if you can zoom in on these acorn caps here.

But by contrast to the swamp chestnut oak, you notice that these caps have these concentric rings, whereas the swamp chestnut Oak has sort of overlapping scales.

And the well, the reason for that is that this one with us overlapping rings is not native to North America.

This is an Asian species of oak that we might call a Japanese oak.

And it tends to be evergreen has smaller leaves and produces these odd looking acorns.

Amanda: That's weird looking little acorn.

Dr. Herrick: It's pretty, pretty distinctive.

And so I guess since we're getting close to Thanksgiving, another really important oak to talk about would be Turkey oak.

And this is one that really likes deep sandy soils.

It's still got some leaves this time of year.

Amanda: I go over to Camden on 601.

Yes, turkey oak, turkey oak.

Dr. Herrick: And probably longleaf pine, and you might see some persimmon in there too.

You can notice It's got a nice sized acorn, It's not quite as big as that swamp chestnut oak and not quite as small as the Asian oak.

One of the distinctive things about this species is that it is adapted very well for growing in those deep sandy soils and high light environments.

And what we'll notice is that when you approach one of these trees, all the leaves are kind of held sideways.

and so the base of the leaf stem here has a little bit of a twist in it.

That takes the leaf from a normal flats to the sunlight and turns it this way.

And that helps it deal with real bright sun.

Amanda: Wow.

Okay.

Wonderful.

Thank you.

We just scratched the surface.

Yeah, we'll do it again sometime.

All right.

There are so many things that people are doing now to try to improve the quality of water.

And so that water goat is a fascinating new device.

♪♪ Terasa: Across the United States, Keep America Beautiful affiliates are supporting efforts to keep communities healthy, clean and beautiful.

Today, I'm in Timrod Park in the heart of Florence to learn more about South Carolina's efforts with Joseph Berry of Palmetto Pride.

Joseph, what exactly is Palmetto pride?

Joseph: Yes, Palmetto Pride is a statewide nonprofit that helps to raise awareness and impact of litter in South Carolina.

Terasa: So litter being the key word I remember as an elementary school child learning about putting trash where it belongs and not being a litter bug.

Why is litter such a problem?

Joseph: So litter is a pretty multifaceted problem.

Actually.

It can range everywhere from population growth to what we're actually using day to day consumption.

But also, it really just boils down to behavior and people making sure that they're doing the right thing, putting away their trash.

Terasa: and when we don't put it where it belongs, it ends up on the land.

But It's not just a problem on land, whenever it rains, anything left on the landscape can then end up in our waterways.

Joseph: Exactly yeah, we've seen a growing issue with litter in the waterways, and then that water travels through the water system and then even into the ocean and then impacts wildlife in the ocean.

Terasa: That's right.

So today, here in Timrod Park, we are seeing a water goat, which is a unique way to stop litter from making its way to the ocean.

Tell me a little bit more about that.

Joseph: Yeah, so Palmetto Pride works with water goat is a company out of Florida and they have a system that deploys out on waterways, to help trap litter in the watershed that it's in and keeps it from going through keeping on going to the ocean, or even just downstream.

Terasa: So it's not an ultimate solution.

It's not that it makes the litter go away, but It's going to trap it and then people can effectively remove it.

So It's going not going to go downstream or enter the ocean where it could impact wildlife.

So here in Timrod Park, I think the system has been deployed about a year and already collected a little less than 70 pounds of trash.

Joseph: That's about right.

And we've there been cleaning out pretty regularly, they've seen a decrease in litter throughout the watershed from my understanding, but they had It's been really effective for them.

Terasa: Fantastic so a lot of the items that are are collected are kind of that single use a lot of plastic bottles.

And when that makes its way into the ocean, it really lingers.

You and I were talking some things are biodegradable, but plastic just kind of stays around, it gets smaller and smaller and smaller.

But then things can ingest that.

and that is problematic not only just because there are pieces of plastic, but it can contain toxic chemicals as well.

Joseph: Absolutely.

The Microplastics are becoming a larger issue and there's been a lot more studies done on the impacts us having on the ecosystem and also just directly on wildlife.

And so this is kind of acts as a system to help prevent that from continuing on stopping it.

Best way to put it as this is almost like a garbage can in the stream.

It collects everything.

So you can empty it out pretty easily.

Terasa: What a great analogy.

And now this is part of a larger effort across the state, right?

Joseph: It is so Palmetto Pride's committed to putting 25 Water goats throughout South Carolina.

We currently are about 13 out right now all throughout from the up state and down to the coastal areas.

They've been working with partners to just make sure they're deployed, maintained and then cleaned out.

Terasa: That is fantastic.

And I think I read that the Water Goat system was deployed originally in about 2006 and has collected over 300 tons of debris and prevented that from entering the ocean.

So collectively part of a much larger effort.

You know, the Water Goat system is not really something individuals can do.

So how can individuals get more involved in preventing litter issues?

Joseph: Yeah, so the three main easy ones that anyone in South Carolina can do, number Number one, making sure they put their trash in the right place, making sure it goes to the appropriate receptacle or the appropriate place that needs to end up.

Number two is making sure planning a cleanup and working to help address litter in their community by actually cleaning it up a lot of times if you can clean it up and you can maintain it a little bit easier than if It's continued to be trashed.

And number three, if you see someone littering on the roadways, you can always report them on our litter buster hotline.

Terasa: That's right and I know the number 877-7-litter.

Joseph: That's it.

It's a great resource.

We're able to take that information and then send that offender letter saying hey, you were caught littering And please don't do that.

And these are the fines if you were to get caught again.

Terasa: And what about if someone did want to plan a cleanup?

How can they get in contact with their local affiliate group?

Joseph: Absolutely.

So we have 38 affiliates all throughout South Carolina that help work with local groups to help plan cleanups, the easiest way to get their contact information is to go to our website, at "palmettopride.org" Under our county information page, there's all the counties are listed out and you can click on your county there where you want to do a cleanup, and you can find their information or you can call our office and we can try and help you get that information as well.

Terasa: Sounds very easy to get involved.

Remember, litter trashes everyone you can do your part and make a difference.

♪ Litter whether intentional or unintentional can be problematic in so many ways, much more than just being unsightly.

How exciting to see that there is a new device in play across the state designed to help take out litter from our waterways and prevent it from getting to the ocean where it can cause more problems.

I had so much fun doing that segment and I look forward to seeing more water goat installations throughout the state.

Amanda, it seems like we have a little bit of a mess going on on the floor.

Amanda: It does because of the Xerces society, and please tell people about the Xerces society.

Terasa: Yes, they are a group that is dedicated to the conservation of invertebrates.

So a large group of organisms insects are a group in the invertebrate category but that is their primary mission and It's a group of insect or a group of organisms that is very important, but we don't often probably think about them they're not as showy maybe as some others.

Amanda: Well pollinators fall in that group and yes, for the most part and so they had a posting recently called leave the leaves so I bought it and some leaves because oh there's so many tidy people and I know I should be somewhat tidier but there is a happy medium, I think.

And so what are some of the advantages of leaving the leafs Terasa?

Terasa: Well, we call it leaf litter, and you can sort of think of it as a blanket that helps to insulate the ground and many invertebrates are going to be in there.

So woolly bear caterpillars will be tucked into leaf piles you probably remember playing with a woolly bear.

Yeah, the great spangled fritillary, that's a butterfly they will their caterpillars will be in there.

Other cocoons will be disguised as leaves as methods of protection.

Bumblebee, Queens, for the winter, they will nestled down underneath the soil right underneath.

I mean, so, so many uses for that, that blanket of leaves.

Amanda: But Rob, if you have if you're one of those turf grass people, you do want to rake the leaves off your turf grass, I understand.

<Rob>: Yes, absolutely.

A thick layer of leaves will will really impede on turf grass development.

What you can do, which is going to be beneficial is just mulch those leaves, not really finally leave them in place.

That's going to have the benefit of recycling those nutrients that are still left in those leaves and provide a little bit more organic matter for the for the turf grass as well.

Amanda: Okay, Terasa, I just love to see brown Thrashers thrashing around, love seeing, things kicked around.

So, I mean, there are things to eat in there.

Simple, right?

Terasa: That's right.

So in vertebrates make up the diet for many other organisms as well.

We do want to be cautious and it doesn't mean you have to leave them all.

And you don't have to leave them in the same place.

Like Rob mentioned, you might use them, move them and mulch in certain areas or compost them as well.

And then you can have a nice soil amendment as a result.

Amanda: Oh goodness.

Yes.

but and for God's sake, don't burn them.

No, because that just adds to the pollution.

Right.

Okay.

Well, I want to thank you all for being here.

I learned so much from I love y'all.

And I hope y'all did too.

We'll see you next week.

Night night.

♪♪ ♪(Captioned by: SCETV)♪ ♪♪ <Narrator>: Making it Grow is brought to you in part by Certified South Carolina is a cooperative effort among farmers retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to help consumers identify foods and agricultural products that are grown harvested or raised right here in the Palmetto State.

The Boyd Foundation supporting outdoor recreational opportunities, the appreciation of wildlife educational programs, and enhancing the quality of life in Columbia, South Carolina and the Midlands at large.

McLeod farms and McBee South Carolina family owned and operated since 1916.

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

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