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

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

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

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

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

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

♪ ♪ ♪ Amanda> Good evening, and welcome to Making It Grow .

We are very happy that you can join us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty, I'm a Clemson Extension Agent, and I come over with my co-host and friend Terasa Lott.

And, Teresa, I think that, people can sometimes, post questions on Facebook, but as you said, they may not get a real quick answer.

(laughter) Terasa> That's right.

For the most part, it's just me that's managing our Facebook page.

And I'm also not an expert in all things horticulture, but we have a wonderful resource, our Home and Garden Information Center that you can reach Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. You can either call or email.

So, (888) 6-5-6-9-9-8-8 if you'd like to call and speak with someone or email hgic@clemson.edu Amanda> Well, you know that number very, very well.

Terasa> I have given it out a few times.

(laughter) Amanda> Sometimes, I used to say I was going to get my telephone number tattooed on my arm because sometimes I'm like, "What is my telephone number?"

Anyway, thank you, for all you do for us.

And Cory Tanner, you're the head of the Horticulture Team, and we occasionally are able to get together, which is wonderful because we can, get to know each other because people come and go.

Cory> Well, that's right.

And we've got 26 agents spread all over South Carolina, so we don't get to see each other in person a lot.

So we try to come together several times a year to do something fun and have a meeting and have a meal together and, just get to know each other.

Because we do, you know, we have new faces on the team all the time.

And occasionally we have folks retire and, so it's just, great to keep everybody in touch.

And we've got a great, fun loving team.

Amanda> We do.

It's a lot, everybody's really, really nice and so helpful if you call them.

And, usually you get lunch for us, and we appreciate that too.

(laughter) Cory> Happy to do it.

Amanda> Oh, goodness.

Well, Brad Fowler, you're down at Georgetown and Horry County as the Hort.

Agent.

And boy, are people moving to that area.

Whoo, goodness.

Brad> We got, we got people...

Yes, a lot of people moving in constantly.

So, I'm always talking to, you know, people that are, you know, pretty new to the area and trying to figure out what to grow and how to grow and that sort of stuff.

So definitely help a lot of new gardeners, at least to the area anyways.

Amanda> And do you have a master gardener program?

Brad> We do.

We have a master gardener program and they do a ton too.

Anything from farmer's markets to... we have a home show every year that they have booths at.

Amanda> Do you?

Brad> Booths at plant sales.

So, got a really good master gardener group that does a ton of work, as well in the community.

Amanda> I think those people usually, make friends with each other.

It's a great thing to do, not only for the knowledge, but for the friendship.

Brad> Yeah, exactly.

I mean, that's part of it is kind of the social aspect.

So they get to know each other and that makes the work funner.

Amanda> Yeah, it sure does.

Yeah.

And, and they love to answer questions.

Sometimes they'll come to the office and help won't they?

Brad> Yeah, exactly.

Amanda> Okay.

Well, we're going to have some fun things for you to watch during the show.

Wabi Sabi Farm.

And Zack went down there and talked about strawberries.

And one of our fellow agents, Terasa, Cassie Castleberry, did a litter sculpture.

This is fascinating.

You're just gonna love what they put together for that.

And then, Forest Lake Greenhouses which is over in Florence, did spring containers.

And Katie Phillippi came over and she did some lovely things that you will enjoy seeing.

Well, Terasa, I bet people would also enjoy seeing "Gardens of the Week."

Terasa> I suspect you are right, Amanda.

"Gardens of the Week" is your time to shine.

I like to say it's a virtual field trip around the state, where you get to show off what you're growing.

That might be something in your yard or garden, or a house plant.

Or perhaps you've captured a beautiful space in our great state.

We begin today with Janet and Richard Taylor, who sent the vibrant flowers of Kelsey's Glow Azalea.

And that's a cross of the native Rhododendron austrinum.

From Andrea Schecter, golden alexanders.

They happen to be in the parsley family, so if you see a resemblance, that is why.

From Deb Austin, forget-me-nots growing in Longs and the seeds were given to her by her sister.

One of the, my most favorite aspects of gardening.

those connections and memories.

From Terri Looper, prolific pink blooms on an azalea that looks like it is beside the driveway.

And last but not least, from Amy Harpool, atamasca lilies or also called rain lilies that bloom in her woods every year.

They have an affinity for wet areas, and I think you can see that it does look like there might be a stream, in the woods in her yard.

We appreciate all of the submissions.

Remember that this is just a random sampling of what was sent in to our Facebook page.

I encourage you to go there and see them all.

I always find it quite inspiring and uplifting.

Amanda> And sometimes people send funny things too, don't they?

Terasa> They do.

In fact, we recently posted a picture of a cat, taking a nap in a fern and...

I posted it on our Facebook page and asked people to caption, caption what they thought.

And so there were some cute things about, "Perfect place for a cat nap."

Or so on.

Amanda> Well that sounds fun.

Anyway, thanks.

Thank you, for doing that for us.

Well, we're going to now, Wabi Sabi Farm.

And talk about strawberries.

Zack Snipes, one of our agents, went down there and interviewed the gentleman.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ > Hello everyone, my name is Zack Snipes.

I'm a County Extension Agent for the Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service, and today I'm in beautiful Cordesville, South Carolina.

For those of you that don't know, that's near Moncks Corner, South Carolina.

We are at Wabi Sabi Farm.

I'm here with Mr. Jimmy Livingston.

He's the farmer, owner, and operator of this beautiful farm.

Jimmy, welcome to the show.

Jimmy> Thank you.

Thank you for having us.

Zack> Yeah.

So, as I mentioned, we're Wabi Sabi Farm.

What in the world does "wabi-sabi" mean?

And why did you guys name it that?

I thought I was going to get ramen the first time I got introduced to y'all.

> Well, when we were beginning to farm about 15 years ago, we knew just enough to be dangerous at it.

And, our rows might have been a little more crooked, and our fruit wasn't quite just right.

And, we read about wabi-sabi, and it just means you embrace life imperfections, and, it suited us at the time.

And so, here we are.

Zack> So now that y'all have perfected everything, I guess we need to change the name of the farm.

Jimmy> There's no perfection.

There's a lot of misshapen fruit and a lot of crooked rows out here.

It's... it suits us just fine right now.

Zack> Alright, so tell us a little bit about the farm and what you guys do here.

Jimmy> Well, we primarily grow strawberries, but we also offer, other vegetables that grow at the same time.

Lettuce, onions and a little bit of garlic, radishes.

Just whatever we can grow, simultaneously with the strawberries.

We find that people arrive for the strawberries and enjoy the, the day out.

Well, they love to support a small farm and they love to eat fresh vegetables.

So it's a win for everyone.

Zack> And folks when they come out, you know there's strawberries and other vegetables, but earlier we were looking at one of your trails.

Can you tell us about your, what did you call it, a "contemplative" trail?

Jimmy> It's a contemplative trail.

It's just, when you leave the strawberry field, it's just a field of wheat and oats, just cover crop.

But we just cut a long, winding trail through it so you can just enjoy... just the walk.

And the listening and, you know, just enjoy while you're here.

So it's just, it's just a trail.

And kids enjoy it.

They play, have fun.

Zack> Sure.

So we've talked a little bit about cover crops.

Can you tell us A: What a cover crop is?

And why, why should we care or why do you grow cover crops?

Jimmy> Well, if you leave soil bare, nature will fill it with weeds or probably something you don't need.

What we found is just by growing, say, sunn hemp and oats and some other, you know, maybe some peas.

You increase your nitrogen greatly.

You increase your organic matter.

Your tilth is so much healthier.

Your soil is so much healthier.

It'll carry a better crop like sunn hemp, for example, has about...

It can have two tons of organic matter per acre.

So that's enormous.

I mean, that's like two tons of mulch in your garden.

Zack> Right.

Absolutely.

Jimmy> So, we believe in it.

And, we grow it.

Zack> And that's evidenced by y'all's crops.

You know, I've worked with y'all ten, twelve years now.

And I remember the first couple times I came out here, man, I was, I was worried because it was beach sand.

Jimmy> It was.

Yeah, you're right.

Zack> And now, you have a lot darker soil, healthier soil.

And I've seen it at different times in different seasons where we'll have a flush of growth.

And you're like, "Well, I didn't fertilize or anything."

And, and I think it's because of just the goodness that's in the soil that y'all have built and cultivated over time.

Jimmy> Yeah.

Thank you, we... we feel like that if you create a healthy soil, the plant is going to be healthy.

It can defend itself from the, the enemies of the plant, you know, so whether that's disease or pest.

And you, you just have a healthier environment.

That's kind of how we want to grow stuff.

Zack> Absolutely.

Jimmy> We enjoy it.

Zack> Yeah.

Well, we're in the strawberry patch now.

I know... there's a lot of issues around strawberry production, particularly last couple years with some major diseases.

And we're all, at Clemson and other universities are working on that.

And, so it kind of makes us nervous.

But I mean, this is probably one of the best crops I've seen you grow.

I mean, what did you do different this year?

Jimmy> We did a lot.

First of all, we followed Clemson, we really leaned on you guys.

So, we appreciate, we appreciate you answering our questions.

And, we bottom plowed, which is something we don't normally do.

We tried to pull those nutrients up.

We also tried to bury any existing disease that might have been in there because disease is, ever present.

<Yeah> And, it's, you have to try to stay in front of it.

Zack> You have an interesting pest, that I think a lot of folks don't have.

And what did you call them?

"Ninjas."

Jimmy> Yeah.

They're possums.

Zack> Possum ninjas.

Jimmy> Yeah.

They're terrible.

They, you can't, you can't even see them.

They sneak out here and they...

They'll take every strawberry, every strawberry off the field.

So, we had to put this electric fence in.

And this is the "great wall of Cordesville."

Zack> The "great wall of Cordesville."

Jimmy> You know, and it stopped the possums.

So, so... <Sure> But that's our biggest, I guess, thief of strawberries.

You know, he, they sneak in at night and, they just walk down the row and eat every red berry they can.

Zack> Definitely hurts, when you're trying to fill a bunch of buckets, right?

Jimmy> Yeah.

Well, it's, it's more than you think.

You know, they might get 20 or 30 gallons a night out of a field this size.

And if they do that for a week, Zack> It's a lot of berries.

Jimmy> It's a lot of berries.

And, you know I'm not growing them for them.

Zack> Yeah.

Another thing you, you've done differently this year and something I admire a lot about y'all is you don't ever do the same thing over and over and over.

You're willing to change and willing to think things through and think a little differently.

And something that y'all have done differently this year is your spacing on your strawberries.

You want to talk about that a little bit?

Jimmy> Yeah, we did.

We increased it to 18 inches.

We've always spaced them 12 inches apart and they crowded a little bit but not too bad.

But on the advice of Clemson we separated by six inches and it was a huge bonus.

I think the plants have more room to grow, more room for their roots to spread.

And as you can see, the breeze is blowing through these right now, which is exactly what you want.

You need a airflow to keep them nice and dry.

<Yeah> So it worked out great for us.

We're actually decided that we're just going to go to 18 inches from here on out.

We'll just space them- Zack> It makes it a little easier to pick because y'all are primarily a U-pick.

Jimmy> Yeah, much easier.

People can see every berry, stuff doesn't get lost.

<Yeah> So yeah, it's a much better operation.

Takes a little more space, but it's okay.

Zack> So y'all have strawberries.

You have vegetables available, seasonally.

But recently you, you turned your little covered shed area into a studio.

Tell us a little bit about that.

Jimmy> Well, I enjoy painting and I enjoy creating prints, and, I needed a space to do it.

So, we just closed in a little bit of our vegetable shed, and, and I make prints.

I paint, you know, acrylics and oils and, it's my own little escape and my own little, just...

It kind of started out as a, as a way to... use the plants that were out here to show people just really how pretty they were and how nice they were.

<Yeah> And so we just started making prints of them and just physical prints, and it really, they really turned out nice.

We love them.

Zack> So Jimmy, now that you have this studio and you have art in the studio, it's a cool segue and to talk about Clemson's Ag.

and Art Tour that they have that's around the state.

And I think Berkeley County is going to be a part of that And y'all... are one of the farms on the Ag.

and Art Tour.

Jimmy> We are.

We're a farm, I think there's maybe six or seven in the area and people can travel around and visit all the different farms, and they'll be vendors and, artists set up.

We enjoy it.

We're really excited about it.

And we can't wait for it all to happen.

Zack> So you're nephew got married recently?

<Yes> And they didn't want to get married in a traditional space.

So what did y'all do?

Jimmy> Well, they were just looking for a place that they could, bring the family and their friends and... they, they love our farm.

So we invited them, and we... put a new cover on our greenhouse and turned that into a beautiful little venue spot.

And so, you know, they had a grand time.

We had a lot of people out there.

And it was, very different because it was on a farm.

I mean, there were crops growing in the field.

So, it was kind of, it was fun.

When they ate some of the food, it was just from right there.

So it was really nice.

Zack> Yeah.

And it's a true authentic experience.

Jimmy> It is, I mean it was, it was a fun day.

It was a good farm day.

Zack> And I see a lot of farms doing that sort of thing, the agritourism type thing.

Can you talk a little bit about maybe how small farms can diversify and things that you have to think about because, there's good seasons and there's bad seasons.

Jimmy> That's right, yeah.

It's not always good.

Zack> Right.

Jimmy> But, you know, just, a farmer once told me, I was telling him how things were going really well and stuff was growing, and he said, "well, that'll pass."

(laughter) And that's both ways, you know, when the bad stuff comes, it passes.

But what you have to do now, farming what we see is you really have to figure out how to, allow the land... to help you live on it, you know.

And if that's opening up another spot that you can make available to people... you just have to diversify.

You just have to figure out where you can... where you can create opportunities for your farm.

So that's kind of what we're doing.

And we farm full-time.

And sometimes, you know, winters get long.

Zack> Winters get long, and 1:30 in the morning covering strawberries gets old.

Jimmy> That's right, that's right.

So, yeah.

So, you know, we try to find available options and people enjoy coming out here and they enjoy going to other small farms.

And so we figured we'd open up an area, and it's actually met some really good response.

So we, we're happy about the way it's going.

Zack> That's great.

Jimmy> Yeah.

Yeah.

Zack> Well, thanks for having us out today.

I'm getting pretty hungry, and I know normally when I come, you know, I have to block off at least half, three quarters of a day because we look at every plant, we do the contemplative... you know, cover crop tour.

We get to see everything.

And, I'm just really thankful for our friendship and- Jimmy> Me too.

Zack> You know, all the, times we've had together.

The good times, the bad times.

And I'm especially thankful for all the, all the lunches that you have.

You always tell me to come around lunchtime.

Jimmy> That's right.

Zack> We always eat good.

Well, it's a long ways out here, and we appreciate you coming out.

And we really do lean on your advice.

And, when you come out, we might not appear to be paying attention, but I'm paying attention every time, so I appreciate it.

Zack> I can tell, it's very evident.

Jimmy> Yeah, well thank you.

It's been great.

Zack> Well thank you, Jimmy, I appreciate you, coming on the show, and, I wish you the best of luck.

Jimmy> Thank you.

♪ > Zack is a great help to his clients.

And also a lot of them, provide him with a lot of joy.

And that... Wabi Sabi Farm did that for us as well.

Well, Terasa, whom can we help?

Terasa> We are going to start with Bradley in Marietta, who said, "Carpenter bees are driving me crazy.

They are all in my deck railings and fence panels.

Help!"

Amanda> Uh, they are really a nuisance.

And I don't even know if they're particularly good pollinators.

I think they'd like to... chew holes in the side of the flower.

Terasa> Yeah, they kind of rob the flowers.

Amanda> Yeah, they're too lazy to even go down.

Give us some help here.

Cory> Well, Amanda, I have the same problem.

And in fact, I've just completed a project to replace a bunch of deck railing at my house because of carpenter bees.

So, they are a native pollinator.

They're a bumblebee, a tree bumblebee.

Just instead of nesting like other bumblebees do, they like to carve into wood to produce their nests.

And so- Amanda> That's where they, they make galleries in there and lay their eggs.

Cory> Correct.

And they do this, you know, in nature in dead, dead trees, standing dead trees and other things that are out in the woods.

But when they come into our environment, they can do a lot of harm.

And so, I've had a deck that's about 13, 14 years old now.

And, the way it was designed, we inadvertently created the perfect carpenter bee habitat.

So one of the ways that you can prevent carpenter bees is to have well stained or painted wood.

They don't like that.

So they'll avoid well stained and painted stuff.

And so you can see on this side of the railing where it's got stained, there's not much damage.

But if you turn it around, this two-by-four.

The backside, the way it was designed, I was unable to stain the back.

And if you look closely there- <Whoa> I've got it upside down.

There are quite a few carpenter bee holes and you can see kind of the residue from that carpenter bee damage.

What's really fascinating though, is when you open it up.

And so I split these on a saw and you can see the galleries <Ah> inside this standard two-by-four, piece of lumber here.

Again, that's only, you know, ten or twelve years worth of activity, which is a long time.

But they- Amanda> Yeah, but houses are supposed to last a lot longer than ten or twelve years.

Cory> That's right.

And they reuse the same galleries over and over again.

But each year they'll extend it a little bit longer.

Right?

And so they've almost completely consumed the inside of these two-by-fours.

And so they spend the winter in there.

They overwinter inside their galleries.

And I have a video, (loud buzzing sounds) where you could hear them earlier this spring, when I was cutting the, the railing off.

(loud buzzing continues) You can hear them inside as I'm agitating them.

Amanda> So the, the eggs are laid in there, and then the female overwinters in there.

Cory> The female and the males, I believe, overwinter in there.

At least that's been my experience.

But yes, the females lay their eggs there during the summertime and then provision that with pollen.

<Yes> For the, for the larvae to feed on.

And the larvae overwinter or pupate at some point.

I'm not sure exactly- Amanda> And then all of a sudden you got more and more- Cory> And in the spring they come out, and, the final straw for me was last spring, it was just so many carpenter bees that we really couldn't even sit on our deck and enjoy it.

So I've, I've been replacing the, the railing with a different design to make it less appealing to the carpenter bees and easier to stain.

Amanda> They're not particularly dangerous though.

They're not aggressive about stinging.

Is that, and only the females could- Cory> They, the males, and you can tell the males because they have white spot on their face between their eyes.

But they are territorial, particularly against other male bees.

But they will feign an attack, but because they're male, they can't sting.

The females could technically sting, but they rarely do.

Amanda> So that's at least one... positive.

Cory> Right.

So, they're really not harmful to us other than the damage they do to the wood.

And in a severe infestation like this, I haven't really had it at my house.

But if there's wood, if they're woodpeckers nearby the woodpeckers will come and try to access the carpenter bees.

Amanda> So they would... they would make holes, more holes going after the bees.

Cory> Right.

Amanda> Shoo-wee.

Terasa> I think it really exemplifies kind of the human-nature conflict.

So, in the wild where there stands of dead trees, everybody's just doing what they're doing and it doesn't really have any harm but can harm our structures.

Cory> Right.

So, you know, there are in severe cases, there are insecticides that can be used.

That's usually not recommended.

The best way is prevention by painting or stain, you know, a dark stain on the lumber, or painting.

Basically, so that the bees don't recognize it as wood, is one of the best ways to avoid the problem.

Amanda> Do people sometimes plug up the hole?

Cory> You can plug the holes and, you know, then paint over them.

<Okay> Like I say, my problem was I couldn't access the holes to even plug them.

So, I basically had to just tear everything down and start over, but- Amanda> With a different design.

Cory> With a different design.

Exactly.

Amanda> Whoo, I've never seen anything.

Cory> It's pretty impressive, really.

Other than the economic damage from having to buy all these new two-by-fours and lumber.

It's really kind of pretty and... very- Amanda> It's fascinating.

Cory> Fascinating that an insect can do that.

I mean, and these, you know, these, I can fit my finger in there.

These are not small tunnels.

Amanda> Whoo.

(laughter) Well, Thank you.

And, I'm sure your family thanks you that now they can go sit on the porch this summer, the deck, and not have to listen to all that... (imitating bees buzzing) Cory> Exactly.

Terasa> Maybe you could be entrepreneurial and do- I mean, it's very, I think it's appealing the way that it looks now.

So you could repurpose it.

Amanda> Yeah all the ones you are replacing, maybe you should put them on the internet- Cory> Most of them ended up at the landfill, but... Because there were literally hundreds of bees inside the wood.

And so I didn't want it to stay on my property.

And for them to all, just to... <Oh> So, I ended up hauling them off to the recycling center.

Amanda> Golly pete.

Goodness.

Well, thank you for that wonderful example.

Okay.

Terasa?

Terasa> Next.

I'm still just thinking about how industrious those bees are.

Let's try to help Jena in Aynor, who said "I heard coffee grounds keep mosquitoes away.

Is that true?"

Terasa> You know, that's not something I have ever heard.

Amanda> No, I've heard lots of things.

I'm not sure, if it were true, I think we would all be using coffee grounds all over the place.

What's your take on this?

Brad> The world would smell like coffee, at least here in the South.

Amanda> You know, that's the truth.

Brad> Yeah.

We get a lot of questions like that as extension agents.

You know, there's a ton of of what we call "home remedies" out there.

And as extension agents, we really try to concentrate on things that are research, fact-based, scientific information- Amanda> That work.

Brad> That work.

Exactly.

So, I'm not real prone to talking about these home remedies and stuff.

I don't know anything about the coffee grounds, whether or not they keep the mosquitoes away.

But I do know that it's not researched or anything like that.

And so, there's a ton of those types of home remedies.

I had a guy ask me one time, "If pouring gasoline around his house would keep snakes away?"

And I, encouraged him not to do that.

I know it was, I was very shocked when he asked me that.

Amanda> And he probably smokes a cigarette while he does it.

Brad> You know, it might, take the house away, you know so then you don't have to worry about snakes.

But, yeah, so there's a ton of of stuff like that out there.

Anybody can put anything on a blog or a Facebook post.

And so we need to be really, really careful, and make sure that we're getting good information.

Using information from not just Clemson, but any university, Amanda> Especially ones that are near us, if it's for a specific plant.

Brad> Exactly.

Yeah.

Like, you know, I don't, I tend to stick with our southern universities because they're dealing with the same things that we're dealing with.

But yeah, I use stuff from NC State and Florida and Tennessee and Georgia, you know, all of our universities.

Amanda> And I, when I was at Clemson one time and this is actually the most wonderful thing I've learned since I've been associated with Clemson.

And a woman from the library said, "When you look something up, put site s-i-t-e colon e-d-u Brad> I tell a lot of people about that very trick.

And yeah, when you do that on, whatever your search engine is, it will give you... university related information.

And so, hopefully you can trust that.

Amanda> Yes, thank you.

And, maybe somebody, maybe sometime you can come back and talk about if you should have your whole yard sprayed, which I think is a positive...

I mean, it's a popular thing now.

Brad> Yes.

It can be.

And so, you know, we have to be careful with a lot of that stuff.

Amanda> Thank you so much.

Well, the litter sculpture that Cassie Castleberry, designed and came up with and got all sorts of collaboration from the city of Sumter and various people around, is a delightful story to learn about.

I'm talking to Cassie Castleberry, and she's the Water Resources Agent for Sumter County Extension.

What are your responsibilities as a water resource agent?

> So, that was a good question that I had when I first started this job.

But understanding that I am the education, kind of liaison between stormwater, our stormwater people here in the city and the county and the community.

So we really want to provide materials, workshops and information about stormwater runoff and why we have it in our community and why it's important.

Because in the almost two years that I've been here, it's been very surprising to see how many adults don't understand.

And not just children, but the adults that don't understand what the storm drains are and where they lead to.

Amanda> Well, tell us what they are and where they go.

Cassie> So they are there during storm events to collect all that runoff that comes off hard surfaces that we have all over the place.

And it takes that water directly to our waterways, the ditches, streams, lakes, you know, and those all eventually lead to the ocean.

So we don't want anything else going down those drains.

Amanda> It's not going to the water treatment plant.

Cassie> It is not going to a treatment plant.

Amanda> So what you put in there, the water's not going to be improved in any way before it just goes right to the nearest waterway.

<Correct> And from there to the next waterway and from there to the next.

Huh.

So you wanted to bring awareness of this out and you reached out to our... statewide anti-littering organization.

Cassie> Yeah.

So Palmetto Pride is that organization that you're speaking about.

And they do litter pick ups.

They also offer grants.

You have to apply for them of course and get approved.

But that was something that I applied for with the help of Katie Collins, who is my predecessor.

And one of the ideas was to bring awareness about litter in our waterways.

And so we applied and I wanted to do a litter sculpture for our community.

Amanda> And Sumter has a pretty extensive waterway that a lot of, that's being connected, I think.

And will be a walking trail.

Would you tell people about that?

Cassie> So, Shot Pouch Greenway, which a lot of people may know about and have walked.

It has been, a much needed, I think, system in our, in our community.

And a lot of people are using it now, but we're as a community, we're taking it a little bit further, and the city is doing a great job of making improvements to it and making it more accessible.

But we knew that we wanted to display this litter sculpture somewhere prominent and along a waterway, and that is our prominent waterway, here.

And so with the help of Kyle Kelly in city planning, he got us approved to have the litter sculpture to have its final resting spot at that park.

Amanda> Well, how did this litter sculpture come about?

Who helped you with it?

Cassie> Well I just had the idea and I went to Axel Reis at Central Carolina Technical College.

<Yes> He is over the welding department.

<Ah> And I knew that he and his students had done other projects in the community.

And, when I first asked him about it, he said, "What is, what is a litter sculpture?"

But after some communication and some brainstorming, he was very excited.

And we just started brainstorming and jumped on in.

Amanda> Yeah.

So you came up with the idea of a fish.

Cassie> He knew that I wanted something aquatic, and I wanted his students involved in the design process.

And they came up with this bream and the design, and we just went- Amanda> Which a lot of them have probably fished for.

Cassie> Exactly.

Amanda> One of my favorite.

It's just, the shape is great.

Everything about it is great.

The different textures of the metals on it.

Cassie> He and his students cut every one of those scales, Amanda> Oh, the students were involved.

Cassie> Mhm.

And welded all of that, and the tree trunk part of it on the bottom was actually a design element that the students came up with.

And it's amazing.

And then I had some help with another professor at Central Carolina Technical College, Lisa Callihan, who's also an artist.

<Uh-huh> I needed her help with mixing the paint colors, and it had to be automotive paint.

So, she and I got together there at the end and spent quite a few hours mixing paint and colors and getting it right and making it look, sort of close to what it would look like.

Amanda> Well, and it's two sided.

I mean, that's, and it's big.

That was a lot of standing on a ladder and painting.

Cassie> Yes, yes, it was.

(laughter) Amanda> What size is it?

Cassie> It is about nine feet by eleven feet.

So nine feet tall by eleven feet long.

Amanda> How 'bout that?

Cassie> It's pretty big.

Amanda> And then, although it's been painted with automobile paint, which is supposed to be weather resistant and all, I think you even took it a step further.

Cassie> We did, because it's going to be outside all the time.

So we had, another local person, Wiliam Sumter.

He typically does cars and things like that.

So when I approached him about clear coating this fish, he was very intrigued.

But he was also very excited to add this to his list of things that he has done.

And he did a great job.

It looks like it just swam out of the water.

It's so shiny.

Amanda> Just swam out of the water, love that.

(laughter) And I just think it's a wonderful way to approach people with a, a reminder of what happens with litter.

If all of us, would pick up a couple of pieces of litter a day.

It's not just, somebody who's got that as his designated job.

<Right> Which I do in my life.

And I think Palmetto Pride encourages Everybody to pick up a little bit of litter every day.

Cassie> Yes, because it's our community.

It's everyone's problem.

It's not just one person's problem.

Amanda> And even blowing, I see people blowing their leaf litter and all into the road.

And I believe that can have a negative impact as well.

Cassie> It absolutely can.

And I would love for more people to be aware of that.

And your grass clippings and your leaf litter.

Yeah, I know, you don't want it in your yard, but blow it into a wooded area or even blow it into a pile and maybe rake it up if it really bothers you.

But try not to, try not to blow it into the roadways, because those roadways are connected to storm drains.

And when it rains, that washes right into it.

And it, that causes problems in, in our waterways.

Amanda> And we just live in such a beautiful state, I think it behooves all of us to take care of, our beautiful South Carolina.

<Yes> Thanks for coming and telling us about this.

Cassie> Thanks for having me.

Amanda> What a wonderful collaboration.

And, we all need to be reminded not to litter.

And the water team does a great job.

Terasa> They really do.

And like the horticulture team, there are kind of different niches within the water team.

And our Carolina Clear folks work specifically in stormwater pollution prevention.

And I think, when we think about litter, most people associate it with, it just looks bad.

It doesn't, you know, it's not aesthetically pleasing, but it's far beyond that.

When it gets into our waterways, animals can ingest it, become entangled in it, and it can also serve as a breeding ground for bacteria.

So, it's good to see these creative ways, like Cassie's project, with the litter sculpture that are encouraging people to be good stewards.

Amanda> And, you know, everybody's worried about microplastics now.

And I just figure everything kind of in the ocean, and you can laugh at me, but I try to pick up three pieces of plastic a day and put it in the trash can.

Because, some people think, well, picking up litter is just somebody who gets paid to do that, their job.

Well, we could, we're all citizens.

We should all take an interest and care for our environment, in my book.

And you wash your hands a lot.

And I didn't get a cold this winter, so there you go.

How about that?

Well, once again, I've had fun trying to find things for my hat, and I went out and this is amsonia.

And they're, it's a native and I think there are two species that are, that we can have here.

<Yeah> Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

And the pollinators love it.

Some verbena.

And then this one is fun.

Rag, ragwart- Cory> Golden ragwort.

I don't know why it has that name, because it's very beautiful.

Amanda> Isn't it wonderful?

And it grows in ditches.

And, you know, I find some of my favorite plants growing in ditches.

I mean, there's nothing wrong with a ditch if you ask me.

And then this is our native honeysuckle.

And I want to show... And it has fascinating aspects to it.

It has a, the upper leaf is perfoliate, which means that the vine goes through two leaves that are joined... in the middle.

So I think you can, maybe you can see that perfoliate leaves.

And then the back is a beautiful glaucous, I believe, color.

Which kind of is a whitish-gray.

And just like the important awful honeysuckle, you can get a sip of nectar out.

So you, get one of these.

And you gently, gently, gently pinch at the bottom and slowly... pull out the, (sipping sound) Mmm.

And take a sip.

Ah, I just, I wish I could have a glass of it sometime, Wouldn't that?

(laughter) Terasa> We'd have to take apart a lot of flowers.

But it's a favorite of hummingbirds, for sure.

Such a magnificent... And it'll flower, <Beautiful> I mean, over the, long, long period of time.

Amanda> And such a lovely, lovely color.

Terasa> It flowers on new, new growth.

So you can also cut it and not worry about it not flowering.

Cory> That's right.

Amanda> It's just fabulous.

Yeah.

Okay.

Alright, Terasa.

Whom can we help?

Terasa> I get sidetracked and get excited about the things in your hat.

Let's see.

How about Micah in Fort Mill, who said "There are little bugs on my irises.

But they seem to be blooming fine.

Should I do anything?"

I'm glad Micah asked, because sometimes people just make assumptions before they really know what's going on.

Amanda> I'm glad too.

Yeah.

Well, what do you think?

Cory> Well, she sent a picture in, and, it's pretty easy to tell from the picture that they are aphids.

Which is, you know, a small, piercing, sucking insect- Amanda> Nuisances.

Cory> They have little mouthparts, like a straw.

They stick it in the plant and they, withdraw the sap from the plant.

They can do harm.

They can damage flower buds.

They can damage new growth in some cases.

Of course, they sometimes produce honeydew, which is a sticky substance that can be, annoying.

So, she says it hasn't impacted flowering.

So it may be that she doesn't need to do anything.

There are a lot of beneficial insects, "natural enemies" we call them, that love to eat aphids.

I call aphids "nature's jelly beans."

Seems like everything likes to eat them.

So it could be that, you know, she just leaves them alone.

Some sort of predator or parasite will come in and take care of them.

But if it does get bad or it starts to impact bloom, you could use something like even just a strong stream of water can knock them off, dislodge them and they're so small they have difficulty, climbing back up or...

If you need to take more extreme measures, you could use something like insecticidal soap.

<Ah> Which is, basically a soapy solution- Amanda> Dry them out.

Cory> Designed to, dry out their skin.

Amanda> Because they're soft bodied.

Cory> That's right.

Amanda> Okay.

Thank you so very, very much.

Terasa?

Terasa> Let's see what else.

How about we move to Murrells Inlet, Anthony said, "My grass isn't greening up very fast this spring and some of it isn't coming back at all.

What is going on?"

Amanda> Ah, well.

Terasa> That sounds like my yard.

(laughter) Amanda> Well, those people who love the perfect lawn.

Have lots of things to worry about.

Brad> Right, right.

Yeah, it can, it can be a lot to think about.

So, I have a feeling we're going to see a fair amount of this, maybe across the state.

Definitely in my area.

You know, we had that, snow and ice down in our area- Amanda> Unusual.

Brad> This winter.

So kind of a weird, cold spell for us.

And so, at times we have this kind of catch all term called "winter kill."

Where essentially, it's some really negative winter time.

You know, we get, go into drought for a while in the winter, or we have some extreme temperatures and stuff like that.

And so that can really harm some of our lawn grasses, our warm season, lawn grasses, especially something like a centipede or a Saint Augustine.

It really likes for it to stay a little bit, warmer.

And so sometimes you can have that.

Plus, you may have some other conditions.

Maybe you had some, some fungal disease hold over from the fall.

Probably got pretty poor soil, most of the time we do at least in our area.

So you can, you can have a combination of different things and essentially that grass can die out or really suffer through the winter time and, and just not, come back out very well.

Trying to fix that can be a little bit tough.

You really need to improve the soil.

It's all about improving the overall health of the plant so that it can withstand any of these negative conditions.

But, I mean, I tell people all the time, growing grass in South Carolina is not necessarily the easiest thing to do.

So... we have to be patient and understand that we can have some, some issues like that.

Amanda> And improving the soil is just, I mean... the amount of things you'd have to bring in is just, you know, it's overwhelming.

Brad> Right.

Especially if somebody has like an established lawn already.

And they say, "Well, how do I improve the soil?"

Well, you can till in three or four inches of compost and completely start over.

And, but, you're talking about thousands of dollars to do that.

And so, you know, aerating, top dressing maybe with some compost or a compost sand mixture or something like that.

It's not going to be a quick fix, but maybe doing that over time can help.

But it's tough.

Amanda> Do you think sometimes this is, most, happens most prevalently in areas that aren't just like the perfect place for grass to grow.

And could you maybe just concentrate on the best place in your yard for grass?

Brad> I tell people that all the time, like especially if they've had years year after year, where they just they're having a hard time, they're having to put so much into it to get that grass to grow.

Just get rid of the grass.

Let's think about planting something else.

You know, maybe we turn that into a mulched area, especially if there are trees in the area you want to mulch around those anyways, instead of trying to grow grass.

So, you know, plant some, some other things that would like that area.

Think about some native plants that can grow easily <Yes> in some of these, less than ideal situations for sure.

Amanda> And I don't think grass does much for anybody.

I mean, in the, in the natural environment.

Brad> Right, right.

So, and I have a little bit of a turf grass background and I can appreciate a really nice lawn for sure.

But at the same time, yes, there are other plants that may be... more ecologically, beneficial for sure.

Amanda> Okay.

And then, when I was at Clemson, Mary Beverley Taylor Haque was teaching us and she talked about view step dichotomy.

Which means you see something and you can't quite see it, it makes it more interesting.

I think people who have planted the edges of their properties with maybe natives, some smaller shrubs and some small trees, if there's room.

Not only are, if they're choosing natives, are they helping the environment, but then also you slow down and look to see what the house looks like and what the lawn looks like.

I mean, otherwise if it's just all out there, you know, you just zip on by.

Because we're all kind of curious, don't you think?

Brad> Exactly.

There's some design technique between you creating, you create rooms essentially in your garden, you know, that yeah, it leaves a little mystery.

Amanda> Yeah, I hope people will do that.

I think you need enough lawn for a picnic with your children and slip and slide.

That's just me.

Okay.

Forest Lake Greenhouses in Florence and they cover a variety of topics.

And one of the things they do is containers.

Katie Phillippi came over and talked about spring containers.

We had a good time having her with us.

I'm talking to Katie Phillippi who came over from Florence from Forest Lake Greenhouses.

Thanks for coming.

> Absolutely.

I'm so excited to be here.

I have lots of pretty things to show you.

Amanda> Well, tell us what all goes on at Forest Lake Greenhouses.

Katie> Absolutely.

So Forest Light Greenhouses is a really nice wholesale retail greenhouse in Florence.

We provide plants for the Florence area and surrounding communities.

We grow really anything you can imagine for your garden.

And then we also have house plants as well.

Amanda> So you have woody perennials as well.

Katie> Oh yes, we have perennials, annuals, trees, shrubs, really...

I mean, anything you can think of.

Amanda> And then all these wonderful, colorful... plants, flowers.

And so you have one thing that you particularly like to do.

Katie> I do, I love making the arrangements.

So we provide arrangements and create arrangements for, really any occasion you can think of.

I feel like some people don't think about giving plants as gifts for certain occasions.

But birthdays, weddings, baby showers...

I mean- Amanda> Anything.

Yeah.

Katie> The opportunities are endless.

Amanda> And I imagine also for, sadly for funerals and things like that as well.

Katie> We do get a lot of sympathy arrangement orders.

Amanda> And one thing, if you, if you do something with these living plants, they'll last longer than just, cut flowers.

Katie> Exactly, and that's what we hope people really get from that idea that, this is something that will last for a long time.

We have customers come in and tell us that they have had a peace lily from their grandparents funeral- Amanda> Oh.

Katie> For a really long time.

They've kept it.

Amanda> Watered it correctly.

Katie> Exactly.

(laughter) That's just something, so that's something they can have.

Amanda> That's one of the downfalls.

Katie> Exactly.

Amanda> So, you love to do this and y'all, from what I'm seeing, if you wanted to, y'all also, offer containers that people can... make their own arrangements in, <Right> or they can have one that you've prepared.

Katie> We do have baskets that are empty that you can get creative with.

I love talking to customers about what they really want so they can pick out the basket, and then we can pick out the plants together and create them together as well.

Amanda> And some ceramic containers as well.

Katie> Exactly.

We have empty pots all over the place for people to choose from.

And they can pick out a pot and then we can fill it.

We have someone else, Dakota is great at filling containers with all of your outdoor plants as well.

Amanda> Well, let's start over here with this charming little bird in the birdhouse.

Katie> Yes.

So I made this one the other day.

This one is, I was kind of taking from the season, getting excited for all sorts of color in the garden.

So we've got dahlias, which are gorgeous.

We have many different colors.

And then I did use, since it's a little bit taller of, of a container.

I did use a Mandevilla because the Mandevilla will climb.

Amanda> You gave it a start.

Katie> I did, I did.

And then, some ivy up front, which is just a great spiller for over the front.

Amanda> And then you've tucked in something, moss around it I believe.

Katie> Yes, that is sheet moss.

I like using sheet moss sometimes when the container is a little bit lighter in color.

That way it gives it some contrast.

<Ah, yes> So the sheet moss looks really nice.

It fills the space.

Amanda> And so you have put these in, in their containers though you did not unpack them.

Katie> Right.

It depends on what I'm doing.

A lot of the times I will just leave the plants in their containers.

That way, whoever takes the container home can enjoy it for a little while in the container.

You know, in a pretty spot as a display piece for parties, you know, anything like that.

And then, once they're kind of done with that, they can take out the plants individually and put them around in the garden.

Amanda> Okay.

And you said some of these that you like to combine have different watering needs.

And that way people can give them what they need to keep them healthy.

Katie> Exactly.

That way you can kind of keep them separated for a little while and then, kind of take them to... Because if I was planting, I would probably pick things that all take the same water.

Amanda> Okay.

And then you've got a lovely basket down here.

A big one.

Katie> Yes.

That's one of the baskets I brought to kind of show... That's what I like to do for sympathy arrangements a good bit.

Because it's, you know white is usually used for arrangements.

<Of course> A lot of people ask for, white bows.

So I like to add in a little bit of white to kind of match it together.

A lot of those are houseplants.

That's kind of more of my houseplant basket type.

Amanda> But of course this hydrangeas, some of the hydrangeas can also be taken outside once the season gets warm.

Katie> Yes, exactly.

We grow specifically those hydrangeas in our back greenhouses, we call them our florist hydrangeas.

So, you can enjoy them on, like, a table in your house for a little while.

Enjoy the blooms.

A lot of people use them for weddings, parties again.

And then you can cut the blooms off when they're a little spent and then put them in the yard in a shady spot.

Amanda> Isn't that fun?

Katie> It is fun.

That's just something really cool about, <Okay> all the different plants.

Amanda> Well, let's talk about some of the things that you use.

Katie> Yes.

Amanda> The fillers.

Katie> Yes.

So I was going to, I brought some baskets to kind of create with you.

And I was going to go through kind of what I've picked out.

Amanda> All righty.

Katie> So I planned this one ahead a little bit.

I, I'm using a caladiums.

Caladiums are great for the yard, but I love using them in arrangements.

Just because they're- Amanda> They're lovely and come in all different colors.

Katie> Absolutely.

They don't, they don't really bloom, per se, but the leaves are the showy part.

<Absolutely> The leaves are the showy part.

So.

And then you've got a, a kalanchoe.

A lot of people call it different things, I think, my coworker calls it kalan"KOH-ee", <It's fine> but I like kalanchoe.

I don't know why.

But this one's a really pretty pink.

It's not quite blooming out yet, so that's really nice.

Has some buds.

Yes.

That's more of a succulent.

<Yes> So you'll put it in a bright, sunny spot in the house, enjoy the blooms.

Amanda> Eventually.

Katie> Yes.

So that's, that there.

And then this is really neat.

This is, this is a begonia.

<Ah> It's a, it's a really neat variety of begonia.

But it does have a cute little pink bloom, so I thought that would pull nicely from the kalanchoe.

Amanda> Yes, and also you've got such different, foliage textures here.

<Exactly> Cause this one's got, like, scalloped leaves and such a great deep green.

And this one is just its own- Katie> Light.

Amanda> Fun, wonderful way.

And then this one.

Good gracious, almighty.

Look at those.

Isn't it beautiful?

Katie> I love begonias.

Begonias come in so many different- Amanda> They really do.

Katie> Different varieties.

It's, it's really cool.

And then I kind of choose the moss.

I think for this one I was going to use the Spanish moss.

Just because I like the frilly look with the- Amanda> Which is actually a member of the pineapple flower, ...family.

<Yes> And it has flowers.

Katie> Yes.

Amanda> And makes seeds.

Katie> I know a lot of, a lot of people, especially in the South, have all seen Spanish moss hanging in the trees.

So the Spanish moss we get from a vendor, and they, they dry it and treat it so it... free of bugs.

So I just kind of put it around to make it really nice.

Amanda> How lovely!

Katie> And then usually, especially if it's a gift.

I'll put, either a bow, I think for this one, I might do, might do a little bird because the bird is, <Aww> something sweet.

Amanda> Oh, and the colors in that bird.

Katie> I think this one matches pretty well.

Amanda> Yes, I think wonderfully.

Katie> Because it matches, the Caladiums spots.

Hide him a little bit, make him blend in.

But, you know, he's there.

Yeah.

Amanda> I feel happier already.

Katie> I know.

Something really cute.

Amanda> Isn't that just fun?

Katie> Something simple.

Just something fun to have in you know, in your house.

Amanda> Well, I think that's charming, but I think you have a larger basket which gives you some different choices of plant material.

Katie> Yes.

So the larger basket has a handle, has a plastic liner in it, and then I added some plastic to lift up the plant a little bit.

<Yes> So for this one I was going to use a large hibiscus.

Amanda> Whoo, what colors!

Katie> Yes.

This I mean, this plant is great for that summer heat.

So I've got the hibiscus in the back.

<Yes> And I have lifted it up because I really wanted the blooms to be over the handle.

<Of course> And then in the front, probably do...

I like the orange pretty good because it almost matches- Amanda> I like that, yeah.

Katie> So I'll probably do the- Amanda> It's such a different shape of blooms.

Katie> It is.

A little bit smaller bloom give it some different texture.

Katie> So, now I'm going to put in this little clubmoss.

<Yes> It's got that lime green look that really brightens up the front.

Amanda> Oh, it does.

<Yes> And the texture's so different too.

Katie> I know, I love the texture of clubmoss.

And then I think if you'll hand me that really cute little tornado... Amanda> I'll let you pick the one you want.

Katie> Well what do you think?

Amanda> You're the expert.

Katie> You think the lime green that kind of hits?

I'm thinking that.

Amanda> Oh, I like that.

<Yes> I think we've still got this one although it's perfectly beautiful.

It's very dark.

Katie> It's a little dark.

Yes, exactly.

See, you get it.

I love it.

And then I think, just add in another little color.

I'm going to use that same begonia.

<Gracious> Amanda> You're really packing them in.

Katie> Yes.

I was just about to say, really packing it in there.

Amanda> I know sometimes you like to go a little over the top.

Are you going to do some more?

Katie> Absolutely.

I'm going to make a bow, I think, I'm going to... brighten it up a little bit with a bright yellow bow.

If you want to start mossing that.

Amanda> I can certainly do that for you.

Katie> I will start making the bow.

Got this beautiful yellow ribbon right here.

<Ah> That I think is just going to look really, really nice.

Amanda> And it's a wired ribbon.

Which makes it so much easier.

Katie> Yes.

That's definitely a plus.

Makes it really easy to... twist and it stays really well.

And then, you can fluff it, kind of bend it however you want.

Amanda> I was never very good at bow making.

(laughter) I'll have to take lessons from you.

That'll be fun.

Katie> I teach all the, the newer- Amanda> Oh, you do?

Katie> We have, like, a little bow class.

Amanda> I bet at Christmas you really had to make lots- Katie> Oh, yes.

Yes.

Amanda> Oh, my gracious goodness Okay.

Well, I think... Made a big mess over here.

Katie> That's okay.

Amanda> Which will be easy to clean up.

Katie> That's the, that's the goal is to make a mess.

That's what I say.

Amanda> Try to hide this back container because he's raised up a little bit.

Katie> A little taller.

Amanda> Oop.

Katie> That looks very nice.

Amanda> I think we got it pretty good.

Yeah, yeah.

Katie> I'm finishing the bow over here.

Amanda> All righty.

But then you got to figure out where to put it.

And you've already got a pretty full... container.

So, we'll see how you like to place those.

How does that sound?

Katie> That sounds perfect.

Amanda> Okay.

Katie> So usually I'll find a spot where- Amanda> So you got it wired.

Katie> It is wired.

Amanda> Which makes it easier to put in.

Katie> Right.

Sometimes if it's kind of a deeper plant.

I will put this on a wooden stake.

<Yes> But I don't think we really need that today.

I'll probably just cut off a little bit of the excess.

Amanda> Yes.

With wire cutters?

Katie> With wire cutters, yes.

And then I'll probably put it right here with the, with the clubmoss.

Kind of tuck it in, make it blend in so it doesn't look... as forward.

Make it just, really blend in.

Amanda> Well, perfectly lovely.

Katie> And that's kinda it.

Amanda> Perfectly lovely.

And I like that color.

<Yes> Which is a nice contrast and in the same family.

Yeah.

Well, if people want to know more about Forest Lake Greenhouses, what's the best way to find out what y'all do?

Katie> Absolutely.

So our website is a great, place to go, as well as our social media.

We're very active on Instagram and Facebook.

Keeping everyone up to date with the new products that we get in and all of our plants that we grow in the back.

Amanda> And, you got plenty of parking.

So it's easy to come and see you.

Katie> Yes, lots of parking options, front and back.

So we're set.

We're set.

Amanda> Well, thank you so much for coming.

I hope you'll come back sometime.

Katie> Absolutely.

This was awesome.

Thank you for having me.

Amanda> We enjoyed her visit, and, I hope she'll come back another time and talk about maybe things for the winter.

Thank y'all for coming.

A long drive for you.

Cory> It's my pleasure.

Amanda> Not so terrible to you.

Brad> Not too bad.

Terasa> And right across the street for me.

Amanda> We appreciate it.

Come back soon.

Cory> Happy to be here any time.

Amanda> Please, please.

And we'll say good night to you.

And I hope you'll join us next week.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ 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.