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

I'm Amanda McNulty, I'm a Clemson Horticulture Agent.

And I went to Clemson a long time ago, and horticulture was just the most wonderful thing to study in the world.

I was a nontraditional student, i.e.

older.

[laughter] It was wonderful.

And Terasa Lott is my co-host and also a Clemson agent.

Not an agent, but does administrative work for Clemson.

I think you started as a stormwater agent or something a million years ago.

> I did.

Well, it wasn't quite a million years ago, about 16 years ago with Clemson.

But yeah, started working with Carolina Clear, which helps communities meet stormwater permit requirements.

Then moved into horticulture.

And of course, you know, water crosses into every programmatic area.

And, so enjoyed my time there with the Master Gardener Program.

And now serve as an administrator supervising what we call our Midlands District.

So that's nine counties, from Lancaster down to Orangeburg, wrapping around to Richland and Lexington.

Amanda> Heavens to Betsy.

Yeah, okay.

Well, I hope everyone is behaving well.

I'll try to- Terasa> We have very talented staff who serve the citizens well.

Alrighty, okay.

Brad Fowler, you're the Commercial Horticulture Agent down in Dillon, Georgetown, Horry, Marion and Williamsburg.

And do you have a lot of farmers who... do you have some farmers who are, who did row crops, who are now planting some other things as well as the row crops?

> Yes.

We actually do have quite a few farmers that are moving into more specialty, fruits and vegetables and stuff, for sure.

You know, the row crop is kind of what they built the, the business on, but, you know, it's nice to kind of diversify a little bit.

And so, I work with, our Ag agents a fair amount too.

I have a lot of crossover when it comes to that sort of stuff.

So, got a lot of farmers doing that.

Amanda> Okay.

Where I am, some of the big farmers are growing cucumbers.

<Sure> For the pickling market, apparently.

They grow, you know, they grow all these cucumbers and they come in one day and take them all away.

Brad> So, that's actually what my dad did, was one of his big crops, he farmed for a long time before I was born.

But he did cucumbers.

Yeah.

Amanda> Heavens.

Okay, yeah.

For pickles.

<Yeah> Isn't that fun?

I like pickles.

Well, Glen Payne comes all the way up from Beaufort.

I'm glad you're willing to make that trip, because that's not... it's not the shortest trip.

Do you come up on 95 or how do you do it?

> Usually I'll come up Interstate 95 and then make that west turn on 521 and kind of ease into Sumter.

Amanda> Okay, okay.

Well, I hope the traffic won't be too bad going home for you.

Glen> I hope not, but thank you for the invitation.

Amanda> Oh, my gracious goodness.

Yeah, yeah, we're thrilled that you are here.

Also, Brandon Huber, a Research and Extension Specialist over at South Carolina State University and, lives in St.

Matthews.

How about that?

<Yeah> Yeah, So happy to have you here.

> Thank you for having me.

Amanda> And, everybody loves having you in the garden club.

I think you're the first male member of one of our garden clubs.

<I think so.> Yeah, yeah.

They're very happy to have you.

Well, let's see, we're going to go to Forest Lake- Forest Lake Greenhouses is coming to us.

They're going to talk about summer plants and then we, go to see Thousand Oaks Farm.

Ah, honestly, just the most remarkable, wonderful place in the world to me, anyway.

Well, Terasa, should we have some "Gardens of the Week?"

Terasa> We should.

And, for the past few shows, our "Gardens of the Week" have taken a new direction.

We've had montages that incorporate additional photos with a theme.

And so today our theme is Pollinator Week.

This was celebrated back in June, June 22nd to the 28th.

To appreciate and celebrate pollinators, which are so important.

I think there's an estimate that more than 70 percent of flowering plants rely on pollinators.

So let's take a look.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ So much beauty and diversity.

Lots of different types of bees in there.

We saw some butterflies.

I encourage you to visit our Facebook page where you'll see more photos.

We couldn't include all of them.

And when you see our call for "Gardens of the Week," I hope you'll post your photo.

And you never know, it just might appear on air.

Amanda> How bout that?

Well, Terasa some people have problems.

Let's see who we can help.

Terasa> Problems or questions?

This one comes from Johnsonville.

Carson says that he lives near some farmland and has been seeing a large drone flying around the fields, and he says that he's curious.

He wants to know what would that drone be doing around farmland?

Amanda> Well, I can think they might be doing several things.

Brad, what... what are some of the things that you've run into?

> So it's kind of weird.

We're living in the future now, you know.

So it's funny, this happened to me as well a couple of years ago where I heard this noise.

You know, my parents live amongst farmland... had some corn planted.

And I heard this noise, you know, coming from nearby.

I'm like, "what is that?"

And sure enough, I look over and there's a drone, you know, flying through the field and stuff.

And so, they're spraying a lot of times.

They're spraying fungicides or insecticides or something like that.

That's, that's what they're doing.

And, so this technology has come so far that they can do quite a bit of work with these drones.

You know, when it started out, it was- They couldn't hold a whole lot of liquid.

It was kind of finicky and stuff like that.

But the things they're doing now is just absolutely amazing.

And I actually went to a little bit of a demo, a few weeks ago as well.

And one of the biggest things with the drones is one of the things they had issues with to begin with is there wasn't enough downdraft to push that spray.

Because a lot of those insects and stuff live on the undersides of the leaves.

And so it needed a lot of pressure, a lot of wind.

But now a lot of these drones can do that, and it'll push it and make it swirl up under the bottom of those leaves and stuff.

So, it's really interesting technology.

But yeah, you'll probably start to see that more and more often in our rural areas and stuff.

Because they can do a pretty good job.

Amanda> How much do they weigh?

How big are they?

Brad> Oh gosh, I don't know how much they weigh, but- Amanda> If they can carry gallons of- Brad> Yeah, they can, some of them- I think, the one we had the demo with, could carry 20 some gallons of liquid.

Amanda> 20 gallons?

Good Heavens.

Brad> And so a lot of times, they have a whole trailer set up where the drone- you know, they have it mapped out where the drone goes out on its own.

Does the field.

When it runs out of liquid, it comes back.

And then they put a new battery, fill it back up with whatever they're spraying and it goes back, starts right back where it left off.

Terasa> You can be very precise with it.

Brad> Very precise.

You can also get into fields, you know, where maybe it's been raining a lot that you couldn't get in with a traditional, spray setup or something.

Now, I don't think it's going to replace the traditional spray set ups.

There's a place for, both, but it's interesting technology.

Amanda> And I've heard that sometimes they use them to see where hogs are coming in the fields.

<Sure> I mean, you can get all sorts of information.

<Exactly> And then, aren't there some places where they do aerial photographs to see where the crops aren't doing as well.

And maybe and decide where they if the crop isn't doing so well there, maybe they shouldn't put out so much fertilizer because it's not going to, the return would be less or something.

Brad> Right.

A whole lot of different uses for them.

They also use it in forestry as well, to do some spraying and stuff.

So a whole lot of different uses.

And also I want to note too, it's also not a replacement for your... for your aerial, you know, your plane or helicopter applications either.

They can cover so much more ground with something like that.

But, for certain use cases it's really good.

Amanda> It's fun, occasionally I see the crop dusters.

<Yeah, yeah.> And they are just... whoop!

Brad> That is fun to see.

Amanda> That's kind of fun.

I don't know that I'd like to take a ride with them, But I don't know maybe... <It'd be fun.> I think I could do it.

Okay.

Well, thank you.

That was fun to learn about.

The new world.

Terasa> Let's see who's next.

We've got, Kim in Beaufort who sent us a picture and said, "What are these insects on my milkweed?

And do I need to do anything about them?"

Well, they're certainly prolific.

I can tell from the photograph.

Amanda> Okay.

Well, we plant milkweed sometimes for insects to eat, but what's going on here?

Glen> Well, it looks like Kim has got a problem with aphids on her butterfly weed.

And she's done the right thing, she's planting them for the butterflies to have a food source.

What I noticed were there weren't really any monarchs that were present in this area.

And what you might want to start with is, like a lighter treatment of insecticidal soap if you're going to be treating those.

You can also try, your horticultural oils on it, as well as maybe like a biological.

You could order some ladybugs and put them out there.

What you have to remember with your biologicals, a lot of times the ladybugs will eat everything that's there.

<Good and bad.> They're voracious predators, beneficial insects that'll eat the other ones.

But when they run out of a food source, they may move to your neighbor's yard and you've lost your investment.

They're almost too good.

Amanda> I've heard... you know, aphids are, you know, kind of weak bodied and, you know, kinda... and I've heard that sometimes you can just use... not a strong spray of water, but, a spray of water.

And they'll kind of knock them down on the ground and break all their legs, and then they can't come back and bother you.

Is that, have you ever heard of that?

Glen> Yes, I have.

Yeah.

Just using a firm stream of water can knock them off.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Aphids... Are there any beneficial aphids, Terasa?

Terasa> That's a good question.

I don't know.

Amanda> I know there are some beneficial nematodes, I think.

Terasa> That's right.

Amanda> Who the heck knows?

Okay, we'll find out.

That's a question.

I'll send it into you.

<Okay> [laughter] Well, what's next?

Terasa> We'll move to Orangeburg, one of the counties in my district.

J.D.

wrote in and said, "My squash plant is making lots of flowers, but I don't seem to be getting any fruit.

What's wrong?"

Amanda> Goodness.

Well, you're growing- You know a lot about the Orangeburg area, what you think's happening here?

Dr.

Huber> Yeah.

So one thing to note about squash plants or all the cucurbits is they have male and female flowers.

Amanda> Yes.

On the same plant?

Dr.

Huber> On the same plant.

Male and female flowers.

And most of the flowers are, could be a ratio of ten to one, ten males to one.

Or sometimes it's higher a hundred to one.

So you have a lot of these male flowers- Amanda> No lack of dates... for the female.

[laughter] Dr.

Huber> Just a pollen source.

There's no little ovary under there.

But if we take a female... look at that.

And at quick glance, let me put this down at a quick glance you know, if you're looking at these together.

they look the same, right?

<Sure> In the center, but then you have that little- Amanda> Oh, this being the ovary.

Already showing.

Dr.

Huber> Yeah.

So that's, so that's your female.

And so the bees are visiting this flower and going to this flower and so, this will never make a fruit.

It's just a pollen source.

And so a lot of times you think, you're like, "I got all these flowers, but I'm not getting any fruit."

And so that's, that's the whole- Amanda> Do the, male flowers sometimes come first?

Dr.

Huber> They do.

Yeah.

<Okay> And if a plants not, maybe the nutrition is not right.

Sometimes they will just produce a lot of male flowers.

Amanda> It takes so much energy- Dr.

Huber> Exactly, yeah.

So if they're lacking some potassium or nitrogen you know sometimes you'll just get a lot of male flowers.

Amanda> Well and some people eat squash blossoms.

So I guess you could eat the male ones if you wanted to.

Dr.

Huber> Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, I've never tried it.

But I think- Amanda> I'm surprised you haven't tried it.

Dr.

Huber> We have plenty of these.

We ought to try them sometime.

Amanda> Yeah, will have to have a squash munching contest.

Glen> Amanda, in our part of the state of the Lowcountry, something interesting that happened this year... I was at the Gullah Geechee Co-op.

<Yes> And we had a really warm February with some 90 degree days this year.

And what the farmers on Saint Helena Island were noticing was, the females, all the ladies were showing up at the party and there weren't any males.

Which, Brandon, is that usually opposite of the way things work?

Dr.

Huber> Typically, yeah.

<Gosh, really?> Glen> Don't really know the reason why in nature that, that happened this year.

But that was just an observation that they saw.

Dr.

Huber> And they, they have like for example, it's interesting they have varieties of greenhouse cucumber, which are what they call dioecious and they only produce female flowers, all females.

And then they have another trait called parthenocarpy where they don't need a pollinator.

So they just produce cucumbers without a pollinator and they're very productive.

The seed price is a little high, but, they don't need pollinators for greenhouse operations.

So when you buy those little greenhouse cucumbers, they are bred, so they're just all female.

And Terasa, you were talking the other day about how you lose so many squash to the squash vine borer.

But then there's a... one that doesn't need fertilizing, that you could put a net over isn't that what we were talking about?

Terasa> The parthenocarpic doesn't require the external pollination.

So you could put a net over and not worry that you're excluding and have to hand pollinate or something like that.

Yes.

And I have just planted recently Tromboncino squash which, is really, as I understand it, more of a winter squash.

If you let it mature, it will taste like a butternut.

But you can eat it young like a summer squash, and it's supposed to be resistant to borer.

So I'll have to report out how successful I am.

<Fun> Have any of you grown the... No.

<No> Dr.

Huber> I haven't done those, no.

Terasa> I know, Cory Tanner, Dr.

Cory Tanner, has grown them in his garden.

He wrote an HGIC blog.

And, at the time, I had written about borers, and he said, he referred to that and said, you know, "long after my traditional squash have gone, my Tromboncino is still producing."

So I'm crossing my fingers, and hoping for the best.

Brad> Let us know how it goes.

Glen> And congratulations to Cory on being a doctor.

Terasa> That's right.

Amanda> Yeah.

Dr.

Huber> I would just add this particular flower comes from a pumpkin plant.

So with a watermelon you'll have the same mechanism.

Cucumber, the same mechanism, the same looking thing.

And a squash as well.

Terasa> Yep.

Zucchini.

Amanda> Alrighty.

Well, we had a good visit from Forest Lake Greenhouses.

They have so many cool things they're growing over there, and they shared some of them with us.

Amanda> I'm talking to Dakota Nettles and she came over from Florence, Forest Lake Greenhouse.

Thanks for coming.

> Well, thank you.

I'm so excited to be here.

Amanda> So, I know you have a specialty area, as do lots of people, but overall, what are some of the things that you'll do there?

Dakota> So, Forest Lake Greenhouses grows a lot of annuals, but we also have things like perennials and shrubbery.

We have trees.

We even have a native plant section.

<Cool> So that's pretty awesome.

Tropicals and houseplants.

Lots of plants, lots of plants.

Amanda> And what's your specialty?

Dakota> So I deal with a lot of annuals outside.

I do container gardening, help people choosing, their annuals that they want to put in their containers or in their beds.

Amanda> These are things for part shade and shaded.

Dakota> Yeah.

So a lot of people have trouble finding things for shade.

So I just wanted to share, a bunch of options that you can put in your containers or your, your garden beds.

Amanda> This is the coolest looking thing I've ever seen.

Dakota> This is very pretty.

So this is a crocodile fern, and a lot of people use it inside as a houseplant.

Amanda> Look at this leaf.

Dakota> Isn't that beautiful?

Amanda> Have you every seen anything so crazy?

Dakota> The texture is very nice.

Even though a lot of people use it inside, you can put it outside in the shade or in dappled light.

So it's a really good option this time of year in spring and summer, when it's not so cold outside.

Amanda> Okay.

Yeah.

And then, look at the colors in this.

Isn't that fun?

Dakota> Isn't that so pretty.

This is an Ajuga.

And it takes shade.

It's a ground cover.

It's going to stay really low to the ground and kind of creep.

A lot of people use that right in the front of their house.

Amanda> Yeah, it's so pretty.

Dakota> Lots of different color.

Yes.

Amanda> Yeah.

All righty.

"Sedges have edges" as Dr.

John says.

Yeah.

Dakota> I love this grass.

It's a sedge, a Carex grass.

Sometimes we can't find things that bloom for the shade.

Or you need something a little bit bigger or taller.

And a grass is, a really good thing to use.

And this doesn't bloom, but it has this lime green to give you that color variation.

There's usually a lot of greens in shade, so this breaks it up a little bit.

Amanda> Isn't it wonderful?

Dakota> It's very pretty.

Amanda> And the texture also.

Dakota> Oh yeah.

It's very flowy, very flowy.

Add some texture in that garden.

Amanda> All righty.

Let's see who else we have over here.

Ahh... Let's do this wonderful one.

Dakota> So I really like this one.

This is Heuchera, commonly known as "coral bells."

It puts off these little shoots.

The blooms actually kind of look like little bells.

Amanda> Yes!

Dakota> So, Heuchera actually in South Carolina is mostly evergreen.

It can take shade or part shade.

It can take some sun.

And it's mostly used for the foliage.

Amanda> Look at the, I mean the foliage is just beautiful.

Dakota> And it's a different color green too.

It's a little bit more blue-green than your regular.

And then you've got the pink flowers for contrast.

And these come in a... bunch of different colors, lots of different colors.

Amanda> Okay.

Well, I think that is the shady and part shade ones.

Ah, let's go to the sun.

[laughter] Dakota> So, I guess you can start off with this one.

This is a Spanish lavender.

Isn't that beautiful?

So you can use the lavender for medicinal purposes, and then it puts off these great big blooms.

A lot of people have trouble finding heat tolerant plants, plants that will go through the summer here in South Carolina and take our awful, awful sun, our brutal sunlight.

And this is one of them that can.

This can take you all summer long, and might even come back for you next year.

Amanda> Also, it's a great container plant because it does not want to be overwatered.

Dakota> Yes.

It does not want to be overwatered.

So it, it really does do great in containers.

It adds a lot of height, variations of height for the containers.

Yeah.

Amanda> Mercy, mercy, even when it's not flowering, it's very beautiful.

Dakota> And it smells wonderful.

Amanda> Yeah.

Okay.

Dakota> Yeah.

So the next one that I have over here is a Verbena.

<Ah> Verbena is kind of like a ground cover as well.

That's going to, stay real, real low and spread.

So it's good for planting in beds, but you can also use it in containers because once it does spread, it'll get heavy and fall over.

Amanda> Fall over, of course.

Dakota> Yeah.

And these flowers are so vibrant and pretty.

Amanda> And it has a long, long blooming period.

Dakota> It does.

It will go all summer long and pretty much till the cold.

There are some varieties of Verbena even, that are perennial here.

So they'll come back.

Amanda> This was a mighty pretty one.

Oh, wonderful marigolds.

Old fashioned but fun.

Dakota> So everyone knows marigolds.

A lot of people will put them in their garden beds and whatnot.

Amanda> And deer resistant, I think.

Dakota> Yes, I was going to say that's a very, that's a very good quality is them being deer resistant.

They have a really fun texture too.

Amanda> Yeah, they do and they come in- Dakota> Super vibrant.

Amanda> All different sizes and, different colors as well in the same palette.

Dakota> Oh, yeah.

Different varieties will get... different sizes.

This one may stay a little bit smaller while another one gets like twice as big.

So that's fun.

They're really good for containers.

But like I said, a lot of people use them in their garden beds, too.

Amanda> And just a happy, cheerful flower.

Dakota> It really is.

It really is.

Amanda> Okay.

Dakota> All Right.

So this one's really fun.

<Yes> This is a Gaura.

A lot of people call it "whirling butterflies" because of their blooms.

<Yes> Doesn't that look cool?

Amanda> And they do move very easily.

Dakota> If you ever see them.

Like a lot of people have, have them lined up in the front of their house and when the wind blows, it just looks so beautiful.

Yeah.

It comes in a bunch of different colors too.

Gaura actually comes in pink and red.

<Hmm> And their leaves will even be pink and red.

This is a perennial here.

A lot of people use it to plant in the ground, but it actually could be a really good container plant as well.

Amanda> Okay.

Butterfly fly away.

Dakota> Right.

So this one is another popular one.

<Yeah> This is Vinca.

Extremely heat tolerant plant.

And it comes in a bunch of different colors.

So this is, this is a really cute little pinky color.

Kind of matches your shirt.

And it comes in trailing and upright varieties.

So this one's an upright variety.

Amanda> But also when you're... because you like to do containers.

<I do> It's wonderful to put in a container.

Dakota> It is because it'll just spill right over and it has just the same look.

It just kind of falls over instead.

<Yeah> But these are great heat tolerant plants and they don't really like a whole lot of water.

And then the last two things that I wanted to talk about.

We have asparagus fern and sweet potato vine.

<Uh-huh> Which are both kind of trailers, some spillers.

So they're both this green color.

You can add them together, although I wouldn't recommend because this guy gets huge.

And this one also gets fairly huge.

Now- Amanda> So placement is important in the container.

Dakota> Yes.

Placement is very important.

If you were to put these two together in a container, I just feel like... You would never be able to water it.

It would grow so many roots.

The roots are so vigorous on an asparagus fern that, I just think it would just take over if you tried to add anything else in there.

Amanda> Whoa.

Dakota> Yeah.

Amanda> Do you have any tips for watering?

Do people sometimes put ice cubes in things or, or devices that slowly let the water trickle into a container?

Dakota> So it usually depends on the plant itself.

For example, an asparagus fern doesn't really need that much water.

And so you can go outside and water it maybe once a day.

Amanda> All right.

Dakota> On maybe an 80 degree, summer day and it be just fine.

And I... I wouldn't recommend doing ice cubes either, because if you think about it, a lot of our plants aren't used to cold, cold temperatures.

Amanda> Oh, that might shock it.

Dakota> Like an ice cube is, yeah it would burn its roots.

Amanda> Okay.

Dakota> Yeah.

But a lot of people do use, these tricklers or like a sprinkler system to stick in their pots to help them water throughout, throughout the season.

Amanda> If you gonna go out for the weekend, what in the world are you going to do?

Dakota> You can't let them die.

So, yeah.

Amanda> You don't want to.

Dakota> Yeah.

Amanda> All right.

Well, I think it's really fun to think that people can come over and you'll help them select a container and you'll walk them around, and they can pick out some things that they really love and would enjoy at home.

Dakota> Yes, we love doing that.

Yeah.

It's, it brightens my day.

Amanda> I bet it does.

Thank you, so much.

Dakota> Thank you.

Amanda> We enjoyed seeing the wonderful things that you can grow at your house as well.

Well hats, hats, hats.

I went out and got some ironweed, which is the purple one.

Isn't it just beautiful?

Veronia.

And it's native, but there are lots of different... I mean, varieties depending on where you live.

I just think it's- And it's big and tall.

You don't have to pull it down to get some because- Terasa> It feels like it's flowering early.

Amanda> Well, I mean, the world is changing.

Terasa> That's true.

Dr.

Huber> It's been really warm.

Amanda> You know, we talked about... <Drones> I mean things are changing.

Yeah, so there it is.

Because it's considered like an autumn source of, for pollination and stuff like that usually.

But here this one is just going.

And then Patrinia is, not from here, it's from way off somewhere.

But, that's the yellow one.

But it's just pretty.

And... from what we can tell, it's not giving anybody any trouble.

So, yeah.

Yeah, like roses.

They're not from here.

Yeah, anyway.

So, we are going to, for a while, talk about peaches.

Peaches are coming in and, I went and got some and they are just- South Carolina peaches [biting sound] Ahh.

[laughter] And... if you get, a basket of peaches.

Take them out of the basket.

It used to, you'd put them on newspaper, but nobody has newspaper anymore.

So I've just put down a couple of towels on the dining room table and separate them because, if they touch, they're going to start rotting.

And, anyway.

But South Carolina peaches- So when you get them, get some South Carolina peaches.

I mean, they're from here.

You know, they were picked, you know, yesterday probably.

And they're just and there are varieties that do so well here.

And they were grown for our climate.

And they are just going to be the best tasting things in the world.

And my friends gave me this electric fly swatter Glen> Oh, my.

Amanda> So if I can find a fruit fly... [laughter] [buzzing sound] How about that?

<Hey!> Isn't that fun?

[buzzing sound] [knocking sound] I guess they're... anyway.

Because I've had houseflies coming in and dang, I can't get them with my fly swatter.

So this is a great way to get them.

But you cannot touch it.

And you got to be careful if you got kids.

Because you absolutely cannot touch it.

So, South Carolina peaches.

Ah.

Glen> Yes, and Clemson's got a great resource with the Musser Research Farm, which I think is now number one in the world for peach research.

Amanda> No.

Come on!

Glen> So they say.

The new Guardian rootstock that Clemson has developed with the team of doctors and Musser Research Farm is now kind of leading the way.

Amanda> Somebody said that they were saving a peach seed and planting it and I went... But backyard peaches are extremely difficult to have success with.

And they... peaches do usually require spraying.

And the people who spray them have the right equipment, and they can get up in the tree and see that it's done properly.

And, so, you know, help out the farmer.

You know, you can grow plenty of small fruits, you know, at home.

But, I think the peaches, you want to get them from somebody who is growing them in South Carolina.

They used to say that Georgia grew more peaches and that we were the tastier peach state.

Glen> Much sweeter.

Amanda> Yeah.

[laughter] Anyway.

Terasa> What's interesting to me is how beautiful a peach orchard can be in flower, right?

We think of it for the end result, the fruit that you get.

But when they're planted en masse like that and in flower, it's breathtaking.

Amanda> And we all cross our fingers to not get a late frost, right?

Terasa> That's right.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Anyway.

Ahh, glorious peaches.

Yeah.

And you said, I think you were telling me your wife had made a cobbler.

Glen> Yes, ma'am.

She did.

She made a peach cobbler last weekend.

So, that was, a special treat after supper.

Amanda> And I've got one of those deadly... Cuisinart Ice Cream Makers.

Because you just make ice cream, like, you know, like, nothing.

And then you've got ice cream in the freezer.

So I thought I could make some peach ice cream.

Won't that be fun?

Yeah.

Okie dokie, okie dokie.

So let's see where we are now.

I guess questions Terasa.

Terasa> Back to questions.

Let's see what we have up next.

How about Patricia... from Loris?

"I just moved down from up north, and I want to grow vegetables, but I don't know what to grow, and I don't have a lot of space.

Can you help get me started?"

Amanda> Whew.

Well, Brad that's your part of the world, help this transplant.

Brad> Yeah, so this is kind of combining what I was doing with residential, you know, landscapes and kind of the commercial vegetables and stuff.

Yeah, we have a lot of people that contact us with this exact question.

You know, they were, they lived up north and they grew things up there and they did really well with it.

And they come down here and either they don't know where to start or they try some stuff and it just doesn't go real well.

And, then they're kind of frustrated by that.

And what I tell people, one of the first things I tell people is just experiment.

And if something doesn't work out, don't get frustrated.

There are plenty of different vegetables and fruits out there to try.

You will get something that works for you, eventually.

Another thing to consider too is a lot of times, especially in, in, you know, our more populated areas, the Myrtle Beach area, things like that, we might not have a whole lot of room.

You know, everybody can't go out, and you know- Amanda> Fill up the back forty.

Brad> Exactly, and row up a full area.

So use containers, you know, use as many containers as you can.

You can do, just pots.

You can do raised beds, you know, whatever the case.

But, plant a lot of your vegetables that way because it's easy to change them out that way as well.

You can make sure you've got really good garden, mix a growing medium.

Amanda> Yes.

Which you're not going to get just digging up the yard.

Brad> Exactly, exactly.

And so, you can create a little bit better environment and you can keep things changed out seasonally.

And so that's a really, really good way to go about it.

Also, we have a really great factsheet on the Home and Garden Information Center website.

"Planning a Garden."

It tells you everything you can grow.

Amanda> Planning, not planting.

Brad> Yep, planning.

Amanda> Planning.

Make a plan.

Brad> Exactly.

And so, it tells you everything you can grow for kind of the Coastal or Upstate regions, year round.

And so you can make yourself a plan that way, you know, what to keep changing out.

Amanda> And Terasa, when Davis Sanders came on last time, he had, you know... you got a pot this big, but you don't need to fill it up with soil that much.

It would be kind of a waste of time.

And so he said that what he does, is he gets the styrofoam peanuts that are the real styrofoam ones and puts them in some kind of bag, like a, you know, mesh bag, and puts that in the bottom, <Sure> to take up a lot of space, which I thought was a good idea.

Brad> Yeah.

Definitely, definitely.

The other thing people can think about too is utilize some of these vegetables as annuals in your flowerbeds.

You don't have to just plant it traditionally, in rows or even in containers.

You can utilize vegetables as annuals in your, in your landscape.

I always thought it was a, pretty neat design tactic, because it adds something interesting that you're not going to see in most landscapes.

Amanda> When I was a kid, We grew tomatoes in the flowerbeds around the front of the house.

<Exactly> I mean, you know, why not?

Brad> Why not?

Exactly.

Amanda> You got full sun- Brad> Instead of going out and planting a bunch of just annual flowers that really probably aren't benefiting a whole lot- Amanda> Well, and I'm just gonna say these weren't flowers but, yeah, you know, it was kind of fun having.

Okay.

Alrighty.

Well... onwards and upwards.

Terasa> Good advice for sure.

We've got one from Joe in Darlington who sent in some photographs and would like us to identify the grassy weed that is growing in his lawn.

Amanda> Okay.

People take their lawns so seriously, but anyway, go ahead and help us.

Glen> So it looks like this weed may be what's known as Paspalum.

Very similar to it.

Also, with the bull Paspalum, you can notice the thick root and the two- <Ah> At the base of it.

You notice the seeds that are on there, how it's gone to seed.

Amanda> So next year- Glen> Very difficult weed to get rid of and control.

Maybe something that you're going to have to control on the front end.

You know what you're dealing with.

And so it may be something that, next spring you're going to have to deal with.

In the meantime, we can always get a sample of this weed, if you want a positive ID, of what type of Paspalum and send it in to the Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic at Clemson.

Positively ID the weed and then get some strategies on managing it for next year.

Amanda> And sometimes, if you're going to have to do a whole lot of spraying if that's what it comes down to.

You may want to hire a professional because they have the, the equipment to do it.

And can calibrate it more easily than, than I could probably.

Terasa> Yeah, and talking about spraying, I think, grassy weeds can be particularly difficult because you're trying to control a grass within a grass and to find something that's going to kill your nondesirable species, but not affect the desirable species.

So identification is really important.

<ID-> And I will be the first to admit I am not good at identifying grasses at all.

Amanda> Well, that's why we have experts who do.

Glen> That's right.

Amanda> You don't have to do it all, right?

Glen> Take you to the resource.

And I know it's tough medicine to swallow, but a lot of times, hand pulling that weed and you remove the root is going to be your best bet.

Once you remove the root, you know that weed is gone.

Amanda> Okay.

Alright.

Well, thanks for that... good reason to get out and be in the 95 degrees temperature.

How bout that?

Wear your sunscreen.

Terasa> And drink plenty of water.

Amanda> Yeah.

Okay.

Terasa> We ready for another one?

<I am.> We have another, kind of a transplant question.

Greta from Walterboro said "I recently moved from New Jersey where I had a successful garden, but it's much more difficult here.

What do you have... what advice do you have specifically for growing tomatoes?

The elusive, elusive tomato.

Help us Brandon.

Dr.

Huber> Well, kind of like what- You know, this kind of piggybacks on what Brad was just talking about.

But variety.

Variety is going to be key.

You know, I'm originally from the northeast and varieties that worked up there just... I struggled trying to grow them here and then- But if you look at resources like the Southeast Vegetable Handbook, you'll see varieties that are suited for our nematodes, our sand, our, diseases ...heat and all that sort of thing.

Amanda> And you say that's available online.

Dr.

Huber> It's online, the Southeast Vegetable Handbook.

Yeah, a really great resource.

And so I brought some tomatoes.

There's a few, really good varieties that we're researching that are recommended, Amelia and Jolene.

<Okay> And then this is, if you like a Roma, Plum Regal.

Plum Regal seems to do really well.

Amanda> Amelia's an old one, isn't it?

Dr.

Huber> Yeah, I think it's been around a little while.

And, then the newer one, Jolene, seems to do well with heat, as well.

We're having good luck with it, it's a little bigger.

But, yeah, this is Plum Regal.

It's a good Roma.

Things like San Marzano, which is a classic sauce tomato seems to struggle, succumb to different things.

Amanda> And the Romas aren't... as good for eating, but- Dr.

Huber> Yeah, they're good for sauces.

<Yeah> And so that's, why I like Roma, for sauces and, ketchup and stuff like that.

<Okay> But yeah, check out those resources.

And, you know, variety makes a night and day difference.

You know, just having the right variety for your region and try different things, you know.

And unfortunately, you know, when you get to, like, box stores and stuff you don't see the right varieties being sold.

<Yeah> And your garden centers are typically gonna have the varieties.

<Okay> You know, so definitely check them out.

Amanda> Because they're local.

<Yeah, they are.> And the box store, is somebody in Chicago- It's the same varieties everywhere.

And you know, it's going to be your... you're going to see things like Big Boy tomatoes.

And people like these, but they may not grow well here.

Amanda> Well and also Terasa, I was in one place and they were selling all these grapes, I mean, like Concord grapes and all.

<Oh, yeah.> So obviously they didn't know anything about grapes down here.

Terasa> Yeah, buyers need to be aware- Amanda> And I felt sorry for the... you know, for the people who were taking them home.

<Yeah> Terasa> Just because you see it doesn't mean it's suitable to grow.

<Yeah> Amanda> Okay.

Well, Thank you a lot.

Dr.

Huber> No problem.

Amanda> Yeah.

Alrighty.

I guess we've got time to help somebody else.

Terasa> I suppose.

But I think we should make a tomato sandwich with those beautiful tomatoes.

Amanda> And then we can talk about, the type of mayonnaise.

Terasa> No, no, we don't talk about that.

From Wilford in Aynor, we have, "I found some plants on my property at the edge of the woods.

They look a whole lot like blueberries.

Are there any resources to help me identify them?"

Amanda> Gosh, I think blueberries are native here.

Brad, what can this person do if they want to eat some of these?

Brad> Yeah.

Definitely, so first of all, yeah, we do have some native blueberry, blueberry varieties.

They might not be all the same species.

Amanda> I mean, I'm sure they've been bred you know, to be more commercially- Brad> Exactly, exactly.

But yeah, we have plenty of edible blueberries out there, but we do need to make sure what we're eating before we, before we start eating it.

And so, you know, positively, IDing, kind of like the weeds.

We do have some resources for that, too.

I mean, we can send plants to the lab and stuff.

There are also some, tools out there that, you know, apps and stuff that you can use with your, with your phone that can help quite a bit.

I, hesitate to recommend, fully trusting stuff like that Amanda> On something you're going to eat.

Brad> Exactly.

Yes.

But to get you started, you know, maybe use one of those plant ID apps.

And, you know, a lot of times they'll get you close.

It might not get you exact, but it can get you close.

So that might give you an idea.

And then you can reach out to an extension agent or something and get some better ideas.

But yeah, there's plenty of edible wild blueberries out there.

And... you know, they're going to be a little different than something you would buy at the grocery store or something that's being commercially produced.

They're probably not gonna have the same flavor and texture and all that sort of stuff.

But at the same time, it's pretty cool that we can, you know, sometimes just go out in the woods and, you know, find a blueberry.

Amanda> That is kind of fun.

Brad> But yes, just make sure to positively ID this stuff before eating.

Amanda> Okay.

Thanks a lot.

Andy Brady is just a truly remarkable person.

And what he has done with his family's farm, making it... a massive contributor to the health of our area and food for the birds.

Let's go out to Thousand Oak Farms.

♪ Amanda> I'm in Calhoun County, on the banks of the Congaree River, talking to Andy Brady, whose family has been in this area for generations and generations.

And we came down today to talk to you about the incredible commitment you've made to planting oak trees, in particular.

> Well, thank you for coming down.

Yes, this, this place, this land has been in my family for many generations.

We've done a lot to protect it.

Even now, you know, we are, we're in the middle of a conservation easement.

Amanda> This property down here, is just fascinating in that the soil is very rich because when the river floods, all this wonderful silt is deposited.

Andy> Yeah, we get all the good soil from up around Greenville and Newberry when it... when the river floods, it brings all that rich soil and nutrients down here and it deposits it right here.

Amanda> And y'all used to have just kind of a whatever came up forest down here.

And I think it was after Hugo that there was a real change in what you wanted to do with it.

Andy> Instead of going back and cleaning the place up and trying to plant pines in this rich land.

We decided, we need to put something there that's going to be more suitable to the land, like hardwood, because this land will grow hardwoods in abundance.

Amanda> And also, the ones that you've selected, I think, are incredibly good for the ecosystem around here.

Andy> The one I really like is the, the swamp chestnut.

That's one of my favorite trees, that and a bald cypress.

Amanda> Yeah, they are beautiful.

Andy> And a red mulberry.

[laughter] Amanda> That's true.

And, so the nice thing about these trees is they have a big old acorn.

And who all eats that acorn?

Andy> I think about everything in the woods likes a swamp chestnut acorn.

Because my trees, they produce very large mast and it's low in tannin.

That's the material that gives a acorn its bitter taste.

Amanda> And that would be with the red oaks and the white oaks- Andy> Red oaks have a large amount of tannin, the white oak less.

And it makes them more tasty for animals the squirrels, the turkeys, the deer.

And when the deer chew them up, there are little grains that fall on the ground, the turkeys come in and get that.

<Cool!> A turkey, it's hard for a turkey to swallow an acorn that's as big around as a golf ball, but the rest of them will, you know, break them down.

And then the turkeys come in and clean up.

Amanda> Isn't that something.

So it's just, keeps going down the food chain.

Andy> That's right.

Amanda> Yeah.

A lot of the acorns you've planted have come from local sources.

Andy> That's correct.

My family used to own 400 acres in Richland County, which is right across the river from us.

It's now the Congaree National Park.

Amanda> Yes, sir.

Andy> It came into my family's hands in about 1870.

Over there we raised cows and we raised hogs and crops.

The cows they thrived on the swamp chestnut oak acorns.

Matter of fact, in the old days, they called a swamp chestnut a "cow oak."

Amanda> Come on!

Andy> Absolutely.

They called them a "cow oak" because they have a low tannin, the cows could eat them and they wouldn't, they wouldn't harm the cows.

A lot of oaks that a cow would eat at would harm the cows but not, not a swamp chestnut.

Amanda> Okay.

So you get acorns and then you have a process by which you end up planting them out here.

So let's go through that process.

Andy> I go to the woods in the, in the fall of the year, sometime after October 15th.

That's when the swamp chestnuts start dropping their mast.

And that's a hard mast.

A persimmon or mulberry like back here is a soft mast tree.

I find the trees that, that I look at and say, "Well, that's a genetically superior tree because it's got a straight bough, strong central leader, tremendous robust crown that can hold acorns."

And that's the one I want to select.

Amanda> And so, you don't bring the acorn out here to plant, I think you grow those and then bring the little tree out.

Andy> Yeah, I have some large pots that I secured off the internet.

And they have walls about this high because when I plant my trees in the pot, I want to make sure the roots have plenty of room to grow down, so they don't "J" root.

<Yeah> And I put enough distance where they're not overcrowded.

And I grow them for about a year.

And I plant them in a soil that allows me to extract the trees when they get ready to pull without tearing the trees up.

The old people call it "isinglass" soil.

<Okay> It comes up- You get it from the back of a sandbar.

It's well-drained, and it's got enough organic matter in it to give them the nutrients.

But it's well drained and it's a loose soil, that allows you to extract the trees without tearing the roots up.

Amanda> Okay.

When do you want to get that little rooted thing in the ground?

And how do you go about doing that?

Andy> Well, when you're planting a hardwood orchard, there's different approaches you can take.

You can use the random arbitrary approach.

But when it comes to planting hardwoods at scale... I like to use a, approach where I got my trees in long, straight rows so I can utilize equipment to manage my forest.

And, how I go about doing that is, I got several tools like you see, laid out here, and all this was learned through experience.

For instance, to draw the rows off to get the long, straight rows with the trees that are equidistant at a certain, certain distance.

And in my case it's 30 feet in the drill, 30 feet from this tree to that one.

I use a... of all things, electrical wire, like they put around a horse pin.

And this wire is heavy, is robust.

It's got stainless steel braiding in a poly cord.

And you, when you stretch the wire out for sometimes hundreds of yards and you pull it really taut, a string would pop.

It couldn't stand that tight force.

And if the wind is blowing, it will it won't stay straight.

It'll whip one way or the other, and you can't get a straight row.

But this, this material is heavy enough to where it will withstand wind.

And when you get it taut and straight, you lay it on the ground.

And then you use this material, it's nothing but garden, you can get it from a garden house, dolomitic lime.

You put it on the string on the ground.

You drop a pinch of it, right where you want your tree to go.

You get your toe, you put right there on the mark.

And you walk ten steps as wide as you can walk, and that's about 30 feet.

<Okay> And then when you walk ten steps, you put the next drop of dolomitic lime at the end of your toe.

And that's your second tree and your third and your fourth and so forth, and so on until you get the whole row done.

And then, since you got it all laid out... You get the drill, I got an arbor here I made with a spool with a wire rolled up.

And you wind it up real fast, so it doesn't take you all day, and then you're left with dolomitic limestone marks, in a straight line.

That's when you bring your tractor in with a auger.

<Yeah> And you drive up and you center the auger right over the dolomitic limestone markers.

Drop it and bore your hole.

Next one bore your hole, next one bore your hole.

Don't have to get off the tractor.

So now you got all your holes, all your holes dug.

And then you come back with your seedlings and you got your seedlings, in a bag.

You know, it's impervious to sunlight getting through it because you want to protect the root from wind and from the ultraviolet rays of the sun.

So you take your bag, you pull one seedling out, you put your back turned to the sun, so that the sun doesn't hit the roots.

You got your back turned to it.

Put the tree in the hole, kick some dirt in it, and then you use this... I call it a "packer."

The packer is made out of conduit.

It's light.

It's got a ball bearing, a large machine ball bearing welded to the pipe.

And that spherical form there allows you to pack the roots of the tree without damaging the tree roots.

That spherical form will slide past the roots without harming or damaging them.

If you used a flat washer or something flat with a radical edge, it would cut the roots, which would eventually stress the tree, which is one more thing that might lead to its not making it.

Next thing you have to do is apply your stake.

<Yes> You got the tree in the hole it's tapped, it's packed right.

<Yep> And you use a, I use a... This is a one by two stake.

Put it down and you put it on the... on the side of the tree that's away from the sun.

So you want the sun... In other words, you don't want the light from the sun to cast a shadow on the tree.

So you look, see where the sun rises, <Gah!> and you put the stake on the opposite side.

So the tree gets sun all day long.

You put it on that side of the tree.

And then you use this device that I made, it's called... I call it a "chinger" made out of an old drive axle with a power take-off end.

I like that because I can get my hand around it.

And I got some hand holds on the side and it's not real tall and it's not real short.

It's just the right weight to get that stick in the ground with no problem.

You put it over the stick, you make sure it's good and straight.

You grab that with both hands and you... [thumping noises] Like that.

<Okay> And when you get the stake driven, then you come back and you, you apply your tree shelter.

The tree shelter, always put it where the solid end is toward the ground.

<Yes> And, these little tie wraps... got two, put it on the stake, slide it down.

Make sure the tree is going up in the tube.

Amanda> Oh, because the tree is right- Andy> It's right there.

Slide it down.

Tap it a couple times with your hand.

Pull the strap, the tie wrap tight.

<Oh!> Tight.

That one's done.

Same thing to the next one.

Amanda> Okay.

Andy> Good and sturdy.

It'll hold up, the wind won't blow it over.

You know, in my case, if you do it right, the flood, when the river floods the water, the water won't damage them too much.

Sometimes you got to go back and straighten them up.

But that's how you do it.

And you do that repeatedly for the length of the row.

And you'll have long, straight rows with trees that are equidistant apart.

Amanda> You plant some things like the mulberry, I think.

Who likes a mulberry?

Andy> I don't know much that doesn't eat'em a red mulberry.

That's one of my favorite trees.

Raccoons, cedar wax wings, turkeys.

Just about everything I know of, likes to eat red mulberry.

And they are a wonderful, nutritious fruit for humans, too.

Amanda> And one thing you do, because you want to attract the raptors and all, is you pile up some trees that you've had to push up, and you put them on top of a dike, so that the little moles and rats and things can go in there.

What's the point of that?

Andy> One thing you do to attract birds like bald eagles and hawks, the red-shouldered, the red-tailed hawk <Owls?> owls... is you provide an environment that makes it friendly for them.

Those are limbs that I cut, when I prune my trees.

I prune my trees in January and February, when they're dormant.

I have a tractor with a big blade and I push them out the orchard on to the dikes.

The dikes are elevated, earthen structures that we built back in '73 on this property, 1973.

To control flooding from the Congaree because we had crops in all these fields, corn and soybean.

So, I pushed those limbs up on the dike and the little rodents, the rats and that type would go in those piles and use those piles to create holes for themselves.

And then that they on an elevated, earthen structure, and when the river gets up, it doesn't kill them all.

So they can, they can survive and thrive.

And when they survive and thrive, here comes the raptors.

That's their food source.

<Yeah> So, that's how that works.

Amanda> Gosh, you've been... I think you planted these trees, you showed me a picture you were a good bit younger.

Andy> Yeah, I was 52 years old when I planted these behind us.

Amanda> And, you put all this work in it, and you don't want somebody to come in and destroy the work you've done.

So I think you've taken steps to protect this property in perpetuity.

Andy> In perpetuity.

That means forever.

This area, it's a special place.

I mean, it's got so many features that you just don't find anywhere.

And it makes it special.

It makes it unique.

So, you know, one thing that will destroy that is too much human incursion.

And, the conservation easement, put certain restrictions on the land that limits that.

For instance, nobody can ever cut my swamp chestnut oak.

They'll be here forever.

Amanda> That's pretty exciting.

I want to thank you for your contributions to the environment.

I mean, this is massively important.

We know that the oak trees are the best things you can plant for the caterpillar larva.

And so everything you're doing is trying to keep the wonders of this landscape that your family has enjoyed for several hundred years there for other people as well.

I want to thank you for your efforts.

Andy> Well, and I appreciate those comments, but I had a lot of help down the road.

It was not just me.

I got a nephew, my nephew Robbie, my dad, who just passed away a month ago, Jack Brady, he helped me a lot.

My Uncle Larry, his brother, helped me and I got other nephews, Jackson and John and Stuart.

that help me.

So... I got to give a lot of thanks to a lot of folks that give me a hand to help all this come about.

Amanda> It takes a village doesn't it?

Andy> Yes, it does.

Amanda> And your village is, a lot of them are relatives, which is even more special.

Andy> That makes it all the more special.

Amanda> Well, thank you again for letting us come and sharing us, this beautiful, beautiful site with us.

Andy> You're welcome.

♪ Amanda> I want to thank Andy so much for what he's done.

And for letting us come and visit with him too.

Brandon, I think you've brought something that we can put up here.

Dr.

Huber> Yeah.

Amanda> It's not gonna- It's not bad today.

Fortunately, it didn't open yet.

But this is another one of the corpse flowers.

I've visited before with these- Amanda> Keep it still.

Dr.

Huber> Yeah.

So this is, Amorphophallus lewallei.

And it's another one of the species.

There's over 200 species of these corpse flower.

And this one just happens to be about open to bloom.

And I was hoping it would smell today because... it is very strong.

It draws flies and- Amanda> Well, I could have used my fly swatter.

Dr.

Huber> There you go.

Amanda> That'd have been fun.

Dr.

Huber> But it's a short smell.

Only about 12 hours typically, on one day.

And it can take many years to produce a flower like this.

So this is the first time this one's actually flowered for me in my collection.

Amanda> How bout that?

Dr.

Huber> So yeah, yeah.

And they can be a little to six foot tall or ten foot tall flowers depending on the species.

Amanda> Okay, well, I'll stand outside and smell it.

Okay.

Well, thank you all so, so very much.

And thank you for watching at home.

I hope you'll be with us next week.

Night night.

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

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

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

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

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

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