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

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

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina.

Family owned and operated since 1916.

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

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

♪ opening music ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ <Amanda> Well good evening, and welcome to Making It Grow.

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

I'm Amanda McNulty.

I'm a Clemson Extension Horticulture agent, and I think Terasa Lott will agree that we just get continuing education every time we do this show.

Don't we, Terasa?

<Terasa> We sure do.

<Amanda> Yeah, it's just wonderful.

and Terasa Lott, of course, is in charge of the master, coordinates the Master Gardener program statewide.

Also, she's our co host, she's just indispensable to many.

and the master gardeners are just such an asset because they extend the reach of our agents who are stretched.

<Terasa> Exactly.

<Amanda> There's so many things they can help people with.

Some of them come to the office and help some of them go out and do things and people's respond to people's queries about their yards.

Each group kind of works differently, don't they?

<Terasa> They really do.

They are a wonderful group of volunteers that help extension in serving the people of South Carolina, so providing that research based information and they are under the guidance of a wonderful group of Master Gardener coordinators across the state.

<Amanda> Yes, they are, and Stephanie Turner from Greenwood is the Master Gardener coordinator up there and your group up there has an unusual name it's not the Greenwood County Master Gardeners.

<Stephanie> No it's the Lakelands Master gardeners.

So we incorporate a little bit wider net than just only in Greenwood County.

Yes.

<Amanda> How long have you been up there doing this now, Stephanie?

<Stephanie> It's about two and a half years working on three years this year.

<Amanda> How bout that!

yeah, and it's been fun for us to learn more about you and your family, and all those great things and your special kitty now you'll have another kitty besides special.

Yeah, <Stephanie> we have special and kiwi and so our young kiwi is terrorizing our older cat, (laughing) some growing pains going on.

(laughing) <Amanda> Well, and you also have a very accomplished artists for a son.

<Stephanie> Oh yeah.

My son, Jett.

He's in 8th grade.

He's loving his art studies.

Looking forward to high school <Amanda> I like it when you bring things and show us what he's up to.

Thank you, and then last time you brought us such a surprise, you brought Tom Nelson, who is one of your Lakelands master gardeners, and Tom it was just great, great, great fun to get to know you as a friend, and we're so glad to have you back again.

<Tom> Thank you.

<Amanda> I think you're gonna bring back, You're going to talk about things that you talked about the first time you were here.

>> Yes.

<Amanda> Okay.

I think squirrels have been somewhat <Tom> of an issue.

Yes, they have <Amanda> tree rats is another... <Tom> Yes.

(laughing) <Amanda> Oh, goodness, anyway, they I'm sure they have their place, right?

<Stephanie> Everything does.

<Amanda> then Jimmy Mcinville >>Mcinville.

<Amanda> Okay, um, I just think this is so much fun.

You retired from a job at BMW, I think, and you liked plants and took the Master Gardener course.

>> Yes.

<Amanda> Tell us what that has led to now this is just so much fun.

>> It has led to a job as horticulturist with the city of Greenwood and now back to get the horticultural degree at Piedmont Technical College.

<Amanda> That is that so much fun and I just going to say when we've come to Greenwood, what the city, what the city horticulturists do, because I think that got great support from the city of Greenwood is pretty remarkable.

There's always something beautiful to see, and then we're going to you're going to enjoy the things we have to bring to you today.

We're going to go down to Rooting Down Farms and that, which is at Edisto with Harleston Towles and you're going to enjoy that,, getting to know and see what he's doing there.

Terasa we usually start off with Gardens of the Week.

Do you have some for us?

<Terasa> I sure do.

Gardens of the Week is so much fun.

It's a chance for you to show off what you're doing in your yard, your garden, perhaps with some indoor plants.

We begin today's sort of a virtual field trip to speak with S.G. Graham who sent in containers that are adorning Main Street in Pinewood, South Carolina.

From Ralph Snow, an orchid that he said is a cutting from the plant of his wife's mother I believe bought in Florida in 1972.

It's been repotted a few times in the past 20 years.

He said it normally has six blooms, but this year has a 11.

Absolutely gorgeous!

From Barbara Kucharczyk, a lovely bi-colored azalea white with pink stripes.

Donna White shared with us her magenta flowered Thanksgiving cactus all the way from Mooreseboro, North Carolina.

and she was so surprised that it was flowering again, and it's not uncommon, but such a fun way to enjoy their beauty more than one time per year.

and then we wrap up with Sue Flynn who shared the dainty flowers of blue eyed grass and that genus is a little bit of a tongue twister.

Sysirinchium, I believe is how you say that.

So thanks to everyone who shared their photos, I encourage you to visit our Facebook page, to see all the submissions that were posted there.

<Amanda> So do you have to cook another turkey if your Thanksgiving - (laughing) <Terasa> I don't think so.

<Amanda> Stephanie, I think the Sysirinchiums, I think there's some now that are in the trade, and I just...love that.

<Stephanie> Oh, they are <Amanda> but actually I don't think it's I think it's got a yellow eye with a little blue flower.

<Stephanie> blue flower.

<Amanda> It's a funky name.

It's just wonderful, beautiful plant.

Okay.

Well, let's see where we are now.

I think, Stephanie, Terasa, you've got some questions for us to start with, don't you?

<Terasa> I do, and this one, the first one came with a photograph and probably not as beautiful as those flowers we saw in gardens of the week.

The question was from Barbara in Greenwood, who said, What is this black slimy stuff in my lawn?

<Amanda> Oh, goodness, it's so hard to have a perfect beautiful lawn, and then something like this comes along, and you really have to I mean, even somebody like me, who doesn't care about lawns will probably want to know what's going on and what I should do.

What what do you think is going-, happening?

<Stephanie> So in this case, in the back corner of her lawn, in a wet low spot is this growth, it's very dark black, blue, green looking, jelly like and slimy.

It just looks like it crawled out from another, another planet or something, and it's actually a blue green, bacteria, cyanobacteria.

It's called Nostoc N-O-S-T-O-C. <Amanda>...and I was thinking it was probably going to be a slime mold, which is something we just ignore, and it goes away.

But in this case, this is something that is really unsightly, and what do you think?

What did you think-do you think we should tell him to do?

<Stephanie> Well, in this case, it likes wet spots.

So- <Amanda> it's just not a great place for turf grass.

>> Right, right.

So, if you can't moderate the amount of moisture that's going to that area, it also likes compacted soils and excess phosphorus so you can aerate the area and reduce the amount of fertilization you do on the rest of the lawn probably in this case, it's in the lower area.

So the waters kind of rolling off the lawn bringing any excess phosphorus with it, making a perfect little condition for that cyanobacteria to grow right there, and then when it dries out, it'll make like a little crust underneath the surface of the grass.

So it's not necessarily detrimental.

But it can be troublesome, especially when it's wet, it can be slippery, and so that can be a big problem as well.

And, you can use those products that are made for controlling mosses.

That active ingredient will have potassium salts, fatty acids in it.

<Amanda> You could also decide to plant something there.

That would like that spot.

<Stephanie> Oh yeah, you can put some mulch make a little garden bed with some moisture loving plants.

Yeah, sure.

loving <Amanda> plants.

Yeah, which you know, I think that would be add some diversity and would be something that you could you know, enjoy looking at, would change throughout the year.

<Stephanie> Yeah, and to your point if it's going to stay moist though grass is not going to do well there anyway.

<Amanda> Then you'd be out there every whipstitch trying to put some product on it.

Why not just go with nature... <Stephanie> Exactly!

(laughing) <Terasa> I don't think we'll convince anyone to leave it for this property.

But it's pretty interesting that it's similar to a legume.

It can fix nitrogen.

So, yeah, kind of just neat little trivia.

Okay.

<Amanda> and again, if people, you know, phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium tend to leach out with irrigation and rainwater, but phosphorus tends to stay.

and I think a lot of our soil tests come back with excess phosphorus, and so if you aren't fertilizing your turf, according to a soil test, you may be just bought if you're just buying a product, you may be increasing the excess, the phosphorus load.

<Stephanie> causing other problems when you're trying to do good for your lawn.

<Amanda> Don't guess.

Soil test.

<Stephanie> There you go.

<Amanda> Okay, thank you so much.

Terasa, what's next?

<Terasa> I believe we may have a show and tell of how Greenwood uses plants in their topiaries.

<Amanda> Okay.

So, Jimmy, I know that you like to work on the topiaries.

<Jimmy> Yeah.

I'm the topiary artist for the city of Greenwood.

<Amanda> Oh, you're the topiary artist?

<Jimmy> Yeah.

I designed the topiaries and I bought this with me today.

This is - common names African spear plant, and it's a Sansevieria cylindrical.

<Amanda> So most people there's another Sansevieria that's called mother in law's.

<Jimmy> Yes, <Amanda> That's the one most of us are familiar with.

<Jimmy> Yes, that's the one most people are familiar with, and this is one that we use in our dinosaur topiary.

<Amanda> Whoa, I can see why.

>> Yes, and when I saw it, that's the first thing.

This looks like spikes on a dinosaur so.

<Amanda> So what dinosaur is it?

Is it just kind of a mishmash of dinosaurs?

<Jimmy> T Rex.

<Amanda> Oh, it's Tyrannosaurus Rex, my gracious goodness, roaming the streets of Greenwood.

<Jimmy> Roaming the streets of Greenwood.

(laughs) <Amanda> Which normally is- <Jimmy> He's over six foot tall, <Amanda> Easy.

<Jimmy> and he has spikes all the way down his back.

<Amanda> So when you start as assembling these topiaries when do you start putting the specialized things in like this?

<Jimmy> We...base our on a metal frame and it's stuffed with sphagnum moss, and they all have irrigation, drip irrigation throughout the entire frame.

That's how we're unable to keep them out.

Because they stay out normally it's from the middle of May, third week in May, through the end of July, but this year they're going to be out all the way through September.

<Amanda> Whoa, goodness gracious.

<Jimmy> So this year, they're gonna be a long time.

There's 50 of them out.

That is individual topiaries <Amanda> Do you recycle a few that are just absolute favorites?

You don't make a new 50 new ones every year?

<Jimmy> No, it's the same topiaries <Amanda> I see.

<Jimmy> and but we redesign them every day, <Amanda> So that plant material changes.

<Jimmy> Yeah, we change the plant material every year.

and I will say that a lot of downtown Stephanie.

Look kind of sad.

But downtown Greenwood is just bursting, I think with excitement and all kinds of great places to shop.

<Stephanie> Really in the last 20 years it's been a huge revitalization, breweries, restaurants, shopping boutiques, boutique hotel, all sorts of gardens and interest in you know, community development and the arts.

It's really gotten- It's quite vibrant.

<Jimmy> We try to make it a place that you want to come and spend some time to walk around and look.

<Amanda> Have some delicious meals.

<Jimmy> Yes, if it's a place you want to come and visit, then, it's gonna be a place you want to hang out a little while.

<Amanda> Yeah.

Well, I just think this is so much fun, and I can see why you got really excited about that, and Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Thank you so much.

All right, Terasa, whom else can we help?

<Terasa> Oh, you know, sometimes we have master gardeners that are very creative, and I think Tom's gonna tell us about a project by one of the other Lakeland master gardeners.

<Amanda> Well, Tom, what in the world have y'all been doing up there?

<Tom> Well, Master Gardeners need to do something when we have so much rain, which we've had a lot of lately, and Stephanie certainly knows as I'm sure you know, as well that Master Gardeners across the state are incredibly talented in all kinds of ways, and one such master gardener in Greenwood, Glennis Cannon when it's rainy, or she just needs a little break, makes what she calls face flower pots, and I have an example that I have brought today.

of a face flower pot that she has made.

She says this is her equivalent of a child playing in the mud.

She plays in the mud in this way, and she said that to make these, it requires about two and a half to three pounds of clay, and she starts by rolling out the clay here flat, right, and then she rolls this cylindrical part around a form of cardboard form and then cuts out the appendages and puts it together dries it first, air dry, then she does a first firing.

She paints it, and then does the second firing, and voila.

Here it is.

<Amanda> Isn't it fun?

<Tom> Isn't that something?

<Stephanie> It would look cute with one of those Sansevierias.

(laughing) <Terasa> Is there drainage in the - <Tom> Yes, there is.

<Amanda> Oh, good drainage.

<Tom> She puts holes in the bottom of it and there's her name.

Glennis.

Yeah, <Amanda> We'd love to see some other ones that she's done.

<Tom> This one is, and this one is really I think one of her first ones and was not as <Amanda> Oh, I didn't see the beauty spot until you turned it.

(laughing) Let's turn that to the camera so they can see.

<Tom> This was not as highly decorated but I brought a couple of others that are ones that she did after this one.

<Amanda> Oh, we get - Oh my word in heavens.

<Tom> Yeah... (laughing) <Terasa> Oh my goodness <Tom> You know something.

<Stephanie> They look kind of familiar.

<Tom> They do.

<Jimmy> Yes.

These are really, really awesome.

<Tom> I think, this one looks.

In fact, it is.

It's Amanda <Terasa> Uh huh!

<Amanda> Oh my word!

(laughing) <Stephanie> Look at your flower crown <Tom> with your necklace, <Amanda> I do wear lipstick on the show.

<Tom> And your hat and then the other one is Terasa.

Oh.

(laughing) <Terasa> I see the resemblance What do I have on my nose?

<Stephanie> You have a froggy on your nose.

(laughing) <Amanda> Well, Terasa is quite an animal lover.

It is true.

(laughing) <Tom> and these are caricaturistic if that's a word.

Caricatures <Amanda> Rather than (laughing) <Terasa> So much fun.

Thank you for sharing and thank you for Glennis she's quite talented and we really appreciate her sending that along with you, and she again is part of the Lakelands Master Gardener Association right?

<Tom> Yes.

<Terasa> and this is just a personal endeavor?

Is it just for fun for Glennis?

<Tom> It is just for fun.

She loves doing pottery in addition to master gardening and she saw this I think on Pinterest and picked it up from there and these are gifts to you from her.

<Terasa and Amanda> Oh, Awe.

How sweet.

(laughing) <Amanda> Well I wonder if she has them in her yard or her house with plants in them?

<Tom> No, she just gives them makes them give some away.

<Amanda> What a sweet person.

Well, I hope that being that sweet isn't necessarily a prerequisite to be a master gardener.

Sometimes you need a little spice mixed with the sweetness.

(laughing) Tom, I'm not gonna assign you... (laughing) Gracious goodness.

Well, we want to take you on a trip now to Rooting Down Farm, and I think you're going to be wonderfully enchanted by what's going on there.

♪ music ♪ ♪ <Zack> Hi, everyone.

My name is Zack Snipes, and I'm a county extension agent for the Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service.

I work with farmers in the Low country of South Carolina, primarily fruit and vegetable farmers.

I work with them from before they plant the seed to after they sell the plants and everything in between keeping their plants healthy.

I also get to work with researchers from all the southeastern states as well as Clemson University's researchers from our research stations.

My job there is to disseminate the information that they're learning from their research trials and get farmers to adopt it on their farms, and today we're going to meet one of those farmers on Edisto Island Mr. Harleston Towles with Rooting Down Farms.

♪ music ♪ ♪ <Zack> Harleston, thanks for having us out today, and welcome to the show.

<Harleston> Man, thanks for coming.

<Zack> Yep.

So as a lot of folks know, farming is not for the faint of heart.

So how did you get into this and how have you been successful so far?

>> It's definitely not for the faint of heart.

It's a lot of fun, but it comes with its challenges just like anything, but we got our start on John's Island.

I started working with Sidi Limehouse and Louise Bennett of Rosebank Farms.

That was two, almost three years of invaluable experience.

My family was involved in farming throughout the 1800s, early 19, and mid- to late 1900s, on Young's Island, Edisto, Wadmalaw, etc, and, but they kind of got out of it, as my... dad was coming in, he didn't care to do it.

So it kind of skipped a generation, and I learned most of what I know now, through trial and error, and my experience there.

So.

<Zack> Sure, and what a great mentor who sought out was our 2019, South Carolina Farmer of the Year.

So <Harleston> That's right, and he's still a great mentor I...call on him from time to time he and Louise for growing questions, market stuff, equipment issues, or improvements.

So and there's a handful of other guys around here too.

Darren McCoy, Sr., the late senior and the junior.

They're also wonderful resources, and I'm very, very glad to know them And, and rely on them from time to time.

<Zack> Sure.

So tell us a little bit about what you grow.

<Harleston> It can be upwards of 25, 30, upwards of maybe 40 different things.

<Zack> You're growing year round.

<Harleston> Oh, yeah.

Yep.

We, operate a CSA if you're familiar with it, I know you are, but the listeners, the viewers.

The CSA program is where the farmer picks out a selection of whatever's fresh that week on the farm, and delivers it to his customers around town, we operate something similar.

Traditionally, those are purchased in advance of the season, and people will sign up for a whole season, the 20 bag, which is our model, the customer can go week to week.

<Zack> So if you're out of town on vacation or something like that or are committed to getting vegetables that week.

<Harleston> That's right, nothing goes to waste, and we do try to keep that rolling throughout the year.

We encourage people to eat seasonally, I think it's good for your... health, your mind, and it's just it's that natural progression that I think we should always kind of flow with.

<Zack> So feeding people, especially in the local community is important and I know you're a big supporter of supporting local and that sort of thing, and one of your missions is keep ag on the islands.

What does that mean to you?

<Harleston> It means a lot, but you know, the Sea Islands have a long history of agriculture.

The soil is perfect for it.

In a lot of cases it's a sandy loom or sandy soil, which allows the plants... the plants roots to drain excess moisture.

It's not usually filled with clay of any kind.

So it's always been suited soil wise, climate wise, we, as you, as we said, grow all throughout the year.

It is, it's cooler in the summer, we have the sea breeze that kind of keeps it cooler than... <Zack>...it gets warmer earlier in the season <Harleston> and warmer earlier.

I've got squash back here on black plastic to kind of get a jump on the season, but you know, again, such a long history here in the Sea Island, cotton, indigo, of course the Native Americans were were growing plenty of what they needed to survive and then truck crops, as they call them vegetables, they came about in the latter part of the 1800s, early 1900s and had a heck of a run there.

<Zack> Yeah, Charleston was like the breadbasket of, you know before a lot of production was in California most of U.S. production was here and we shipped to the northern markets.

<Harleston> That's right.

Yeah, so it's...I'm a history buff and love history.

So it's, kind of a shame to see.

See it all fall by the wayside.

You still see old sheds with old equipment from days gone by but what will never leave is the soil that is perfect for it all.

The drainage ditches are still here and they can be cleaned and renovated.

So, as we often say, the bones are still here.

So really, there's no reason that...it all shouldn't be used.

We're so happy to be able to provide the, you know, what you see here to folks across the country every week.

<Zack> Well, you mentioned a little bit about you know, how the climate here allows us to grow things in the soil, and you mentioned this black plastic.

What is this black plastic, and can you tell us why you're using it?

<Harleston> Yeah, several different reasons, but early on in the season, you know, mid-March and early March, when we laid it out, it's to warm the soil, and when you've got warmer soil, you've got warmer microbes, and the plants can more easily take off, and...get that jumpstart that we want.

Obviously, it keeps the weeds down, almost non-existent, and it keeps a nice even moisture throughout the bed.

It doesn't...evaporate as it would without, which saves us water, and also soils splash, if you've got a bare ground plant that's just planted straight in the dirt, rainfall hits and you have that soil splash up underneath the underside of the leaves.

and that can obviously lead to <Zack> diseases <Harleston> diseases, <Zack> food safety issues.

<Harleston> Right.

So we've got, you know, a lot of the products we use are biologically and naturally based anyways, but we have even less of a reliance on <Zack> inputs.

<Harleston> fungicides and even insecticides an unhealthy plant is always more, more open to insect pressure than a healthy one.

<Zack> The spring, we use the black plastic to heat up the soil, but in the fall last time I was here, I believe that plastic was white.

<Harleston> That's right.

<Zack> What's the difference there?

<Harleston> The black warms the soil, the white cools it.

and that kind of I wouldn't...say it gives you a jumpstart in the fall, but it - <Zack> You can plant in the dead of summer when it's probably too hot.

<Harleston> Right, and you can always again go bare ground but it leaves you with some of those issues that we had already talked about.

Yeah, cools the soil.

Again, that even moisture in the summertime when there's so much evaporation happening, you just have that nice even bed just kind of stays consistent throughout.

<Zack> Sure, so we talked about the black plastic, but here we got some stuff direct seeded in soil, and you're telling me about a technique that you were trying that you picked up from another farmer.

<Harleston> Yeah, so obviously we don't grow everything on plastic.

There's certain crops that are spaced, so close that it's not possible to put it on plastic.

Anyways, this is a lettuce mix.

It's gorgeous.

It's just coming out, but it's generally pretty fast, and we need a drive row to pull the truck down to harvest squash and harvest cucumbers, but until that happens, it's just wasted space.

<Zack> So it adds value in a space that you wouldn't have gotten otherwise, but you would have had to weed it otherwise, <Harleston> Yeah, and you're just tilling the soil, you know, obviously, keeping the soil covered with something is always a good idea.

<Zack> So what's one crop, you get one crop the rest of your life to grow, what are you growing?

<Harleston> Collards!

<Zack> Collards?

All right.

Why?

Why, collards?

<Harleston> Well, I love to eat collards.

It's such a nourishing - collards or kale, any of the big leafy greens like that.

<Zack>It is our state vegetable.

<Harleston> That's true.

<Zack> I thought that's what you were going for.

<Harleston> I'm from here, and I've grown up with collards and eaten them my whole life.

So, and they're fairly easy to grow.

They do well here, and they're gorgeous.

<Zack> We've talked a lot about vegetables, but you recently received in a competition an award from the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to grow another interesting crop.

You want to tell us a little bit about that?

<Harleston> Yeah.

That was through the ACRE program.

That's...an entrepreneurial division of the Department of Ag.

What we submitted was the art of growing citrus, under an over story of any kind, really, but we chose pine trees.

<Zack> What's the advantage of growing it under pine trees versus growing an open field situation?

<Harleston> Yeah.

Well, the pines just what I had on this new piece of property.

So we've kind of worked with what we've got but it works out perfect because pines...they're, they're full foliage is obviously evergreen.

So it keeps... foliage on through the winter, and which provides overhead cover for the citrus trees.

You know, we are using the colder hardy varieties, Meyer lemons, satsuma mandarin oranges and grapefruit.

They're fairly cold - fairly cold hearty, but every little bit of protection and assistance helps.

<Zack> Every half a degree matters.

<Harleston> No doubt.

and they do benefit from some bit of shade <Zack> It's all about that plant health.

The healthier the plant is, the more we'll be able to fend off diseases and insects and just be healthier.

<Harleston> Right, in Florida, as you know, maybe some of the viewers do too, but Florida is having a really hard time with their citrus crop and their tree health.

<Zack> Citrus greening <Harleston> Citrus greening has affected over half of their...trees throughout the state, and it's probably even more, so, it's probably more than that now.

It's killing trees left and right and they are searching high and low for a solution.

One of their researchers at University of Florida has found that shade treatments do provide a whole lot of benefit, and trees have rebounded almost instantly within a year, and so whether you can implement that on a large scale in an existing grove, with shade cloth and stuff like that, I don't know, a fast growing over story tree.

I don't know if that's possible, either, but new plantings should certainly be looked at.

<Zack> Sure.

So that's what you're doing, and we also have some research trials on citrus in our Coastal Research and Education Center, and we're also looking at cold hardiness, you know, what varieties do better in the cold?

and I know you and I talk a lot.

We nerd out about citrus a lot... together, so I'm really excited to see where this project goes.

<Harleston> Yeah, well, we're very thankful for your efforts during the last freeze too, Zack, because... <Zack> or lack thereof.

<Harleston> Some of your stuff did fine and others got walloped.

So we know that now and we know what to maybe first protect in the event of a extreme freeze like that.

So, thanks.

<Zack> Harleston, I know, you've been a big supporter of Clemson Extension, and you host a lot of on farm trials for us and it really helps us out but it in turn helps you out and the other growers that you worked with, so we're appreciative of that, but one thing that you and I have talked about a lot in your career and my career is how do we incorporate a farm-scape or a landscape into the farm to help you be a better farmer?, and so, I know you leave a lot of flowers in your field, you purposely grow flowers, for what reason?

<Harleston> to kind of create that natural farm-scape?

You know, so often, I guess, chemically intensive farms can just look so sterile and so barren.

Even with all the green they have growing.

There's no, you know, it's just that one thing or two things, whatever.

So in from a pest perspective, that's like, easy pickings.

<Zack> Pest can really hone in on that all you can eat buffet there.

<Harleston> Correct.

The majority of the time we're leaving it for those natural predators... <Zack> to keep them here.

<Harleston> Right, the beneficial insects, the pollinators, the natural predators.

I mean, that's, that's free pest control.

<Zack> Do you have any advice for any homeowners that want to encourage natural enemies in their home gardens, <Harleston> You know, you can kind of just let stuff go wild and you know, if it... starts to become a problem, then you can... can manage it, but your native grasses a lot of times, your clovers, and stuff that are coming up.

People are diehard about getting rid of clovers in their yard and lawns and stuff, but man, it's a great ground cover.

It's a fertile, it's a... legume crop that actually feeds the - your lawn.

So, working with what you got so often is, is kind of seems to be the way to go.

<Zack> Enhancement, rather than argumentation.

<Harleston> Right.

It's just another input.

Whereas we've got the inputs right here that, you know, that God has provided.

I mean, why not work with that first?

<Zack> Well, cool.

Well, thanks for your time today and showing us around and we wish you the best <Harleston> Thanks for coming <Zack> All right.

♪ music ♪ ♪ <Amanda> I want to thank Harleston so much for letting Making It Grow come, and Zack Snipes for going down there and doing the interview.

They've been working together for a good while, and I want to remind you that agriculture is the economic driver, major economic driver of South Carolina, Terasa and the community supported farms for those of us who like to have tree frogs on their back door at night and or little things like that going on.

Animals need space, and so when you support community supported agriculture, often you're helping the small farmers stay in business, and so we want them to stay in business <Terasa> We sure do.

>>...also if the footprint the carbon footprint you're getting things grown locally and not shipped in the freshness, nothing's finer or nothing's fresher.

Okay.

Again, thank you so very much and then thank you for helping me have a hat that is partially dinosaur like.

You laugh, because I told you earlier, my husband was painting my portrait and I said do I have horns yet?

You said the verdict is out.

So, I my guess the verdict is now in.

(laughing) Oh, my goodness.

We have a good time though.

I hope you'll come back.

<Jimmy> Oh, yes.

(laughing) Then I have a real hat too, and, oh, the native azaleas are just the most remarkable thing.

Tom and Thea Dodd, who have moved up here.

Thea was from South Carolina and they had a wonderful native plant nursery down in Alabama, and he has done a lot of hybridizing of native azaleas and we're going to have him come and talk to us about it one day soon.

Oh, the fragrance is just spectacular.

Yeah, I think y'all passed a big one coming down.

Did you tell me that?

<Jimmy> You couldn't miss it from the road?

It was so beautiful.

<Amanda> Yeah.

Yeah.

Just a wonderful addition to people's gardens.

All righty.

Well, Terasa, I think we are going to try to help someone else with a problem or curiosity.

<Terasa> Sherry from Georgetown wrote into the Making It Grow Facebook page and basically wanted our advice or suggestion.

She said, I would like to plant a miniature blueberry bush in an outdoor planter.

Can you recommend an easy one to grow?

<Amanda> Uh huh.

Well, blueberries vaccinium is a native species to South Carolina.

and I bet you know one that she could use in that purpose.

<Stephanie> Yes, sure.

There's several, and there's some older standbys that I've grown myself.

There's a couple of varieties.

One's called Top hat, and that's a really tight, short growing one so you want to keep it in a container, and then there's one one called Sunshine blue, which if you have a little bit of a larger container, it'll get a little bit more beefy, and so it'll take up a little bit more room, but then there's some new breathing too, there's a whole series of actually fruits that are kind of bred for containers called bushel and berry, and so there's a bunch of different cultivars in there, there's even a blueberry that's got a berry bux and the bux is B-U-X, like Buxus.

So it kind of reminds you like a box would.

<Amanda> Come on.

>> Yeah, but you know, when you grow anything in the container, you have to make sure you have drainage and use that nice soil-less mix, so it's got a good composition for you, and then you're gonna have to worry about potting it up or root pruning, you know, maybe every other year at least, to make sure you have enough room for your for your plant.... <Amanda> Or, you know (laughing) <Stephanie> Playing in the garden.

(laughing) <Amanda> But again, you usually we think of blueberries, just needing a pollinator of another variety, but you say some of these will set fruit without that, just not as much but you could plant if you wanted one in a pot for a special reason, then you could put another one in the garden.

<Stephanie> Yes.

>>...and that would... <Stephanie> Yeah.

Other varieties in the garden and that will help you with your getting better fruit set.

<Amanda> It's a really wonderful native fruit isn't it?

<Stephanie> Oh, yeah.

<Amanda> They're just delicious.

<Stephanie> Oh, yes.

<Amanda> Do you know the muffin man?

Do you remember that song, Terasa?

<Terasa> Oh yes.

<Amanda> who lives on blueberry lane.

(laughing) Thank you so much.

That was fun.

Well, Terasa.

<Terasa> Last time Tom was here, He talked about propagating Amaryllis from seed.

So I'm hoping that since he's back, he's going to give us an update on how the process is going.

<Amanda> Well, Tom, how's it going?

My Amaryllis that I had in pots all froze on back over the holidays.

Did your outdoor ones these ones you're working on?

<Tom> I had moved them under a covered area so they survived.

What has, what has not survived are the squirrels.

The squirrels have gotten into them and dug them out and thrown them around and I just replant them and hope for the best.

<Amanda> So they haven't eaten the bulb?

<Tom> No, they have not eaten them but they've... been dug about.

That's for sure, and the last time I was here, I had brought one that was about a year old, which is what this one is and in fact you had to ask me to show the ball <Amanda> Yes, because we were curious as to how it was coming along.

<Tom> You're not going to have to ask this time.

(laughing) <Amanda> I'm going to do it.

<Tom> I wanted to just show you the size of this particular bulb just one year old and I'll put it out....so that's <Amanda> That's pretty impressive.

<Tom> That is pretty impressive.

<Amanda> It certainly is.

<Tom> Then I've got one that is three years old and I just repotted these in a larger pot... <Amanda> That's a nice container.

<Tom>...to grow them out.

They've got about two more years to go before I can expect a flower on them, but I'm going to attempt and probably make a mess.

<Amanda> Well, we have a bird <Tom> and show you just how beautifully.

<Amanda>Oh, isn't it doing well?

<Tom> This has grown.

<Amanda> That's mighty healthy looking.

<Tom> I don't know what <Amanda> Oh, that's fine.

So, yeah, <Tom> the difference in those two is pretty stark.

<Amanda> Yes, yes, yes.

Now, have you ever...?

I know that... you've been doing this for a while, because this one's three years old.

Have you had been doing it long enough to have one bloom yet?

<Tom> I have not.

<Amanda> Or is this kind of a new venture?

<Tom> this was - the seeds came on and I thought, I've never done this before.

I'm going to give it a try, and apparently I've been somewhat successful.

<Amanda> Yes, yeah.

So how many little pots do you have sitting there?

<Tom> I've got about 20, and I'm looking forward to seeing what surprised they have in store I have no idea what color they'll be.

<Amanda> This year, I noticed that a lot of people's Christmas Amaryllis kind of came in a wax ball or something.

and it just looked pitiful to me.

Did they usually survive?

I mean, you can't Amaryllis, you generally do find in the garden.

We had some particularly <Tom> They do.

<Amanda> stressful winter this year, but generally they do, but I wonder if one that had been treated that way, do you?

Is it worth trying to put those out?

Do you think?

<Tom> probably so, <Amanda> ...once the weather is warm.

<Tom> Once the weather is warm?

Yes.

I would not try to put them out in the cold.

<Amanda> No, no, no, no.

Yeah.

>> But once they get established, they should over winter reasonably well, assuming that we don't get eight degree freezes.

I don't know how my Amaryllis in the ground have faired.

<Amanda>I don't either.

I was looking the other day and I didn't, I'm afraid it's gonna be kind of bleak.

So I wish something going like you did, but Jimmy in the garden, usually we take the seed head off because that keeps the ball from growing.

Is that correct?

<Jimmy> Yes.

<Amanda> Okay, unless we now want to start doing this.

<Jimmy> start to seed out, let them see what happens.

<Amanda> Yeah.

<Tom> Now's the time to remind viewers that as those Amaryllis begin to bloom, don't cut those blooms off, if you want to try this, <Amanda> you want to try it.

It does take patience to get them to bloom, about five years, but I think it would be well worth it.

<Amanda> I think it will be too.

I can't wait to hear.

So now when you come back with one in bloom, won't that be fun?

Okay, thank you so much.

Okay, Jimmy, I think you've got a show and tell for us too.

<Jimmy> I have wrote this book.

It's been about (laughing) <Amanda> Red clay and The South.

(laughing) <Jimmy> I published it last year.

<Amanda> You wrote this book?

<Jimmy> Yes.

<Amanda> My word in heavens.

<Jimmy> It started as article I was actually writing for the paper.

<Amanda> Yes.

<Jimmy> It's based on the questions that I'm asked working uptown.

Oh, because you're outside working and <Jimmy> people come up and ask me, I just moved this area, and where I come from the soil is black and rich.

I moved here from California I moved here from Connecticut, New Jersey, Michigan.

What do I do with this?

Okay, this, this clay.

This...clay.

I can't dig.

My lilac, what do I do?

I can't tell you how many times people have told me they brought a lilac from up north.

(all awe) <Terasa> I can share that because as a transplant from upstate New York, really about this time of the year, I guess I can just close my eyes beautiful, like a hedgerow of lilacs somewhere, like a lilac color- <Amanda> Are they really that fragrant?

<Terasa> Oh, they are.

<Jimmy> I hear that so often, and I say I want to go there and see these things.

(laughing) <Terasa> We have equally great plants, just different planted here <Jimmy> First of all, send your lilac back home because it's not gonna live here.

If you want it to live send it back.

<Amanda> Because we do.

I mean, one of the things we have are our native azaleas.

Yeah, and so what?

So these are things that people have asked you.

<Jimmy> Yeah.

So, it started out, just asking the questions.

<Amanda> Tell us the questions that you were answering in here.

<Jimmy> It was like, how do I start?

What do I do with this soil?

How do I mend it?

<Amanda> Okay.

<Jimmy> So, I started with answering that question.

<Amanda> Okay.

I think you're just a wonderful representative <Jimmy> And then what plants would do well here?

So I have a list of plants sent.

<Amanda> Okay, <Jimmy> It's the plants that are proven plants that we have grown downtown that I know would survive.

<Amanda> Yes.

Except they've to survive downtown situation too.

That's a stressful situation.

<Jimmy> Yes, it's a lot of concrete and <Stephanie> a lot of heat reflection.

<Amanda>Okay, well, that is so much fun.

<Jimmy> About deer.

Asking about what do we do with deer.

A lot of suggestions in there, basically, whatever, you don't fight them, because if they're hungry, they're going to eat.

<Amanda> Yeah, and they are losing habitats.

Of course, they have to come into areas.

<Jimmy> We keep moving into theirs.

So they're going to come into ours.

<Amanda> Okay.

Red Clay and The South: a package deal (laughing) by Jimmy Mcinville thank you so much, Jimmy, and I'm gonna get you to sign this for me.

I'd like an autographed copy.

<Jimmy> Of course.

<Amanda> Okay.

All right.

So Terasa, where are we now?

<Terasa> Well, we're going to attempt to help Sandy who has a question, she sent us a photograph to the Making It Grow Facebook page, I think, or maybe my email.

She said, I bought this plant.

It's in a large container.

There's another hydrangea in the ground nearby that has no signs of anything eating the leaves.

So she's wondering if we can help her identify the culprit?

What is creating the holes in the hydrangea leaves?

<Amanda> My goodness gracious.

Ah.

<Terasa> Things eat plants.

(laughing) I mean, really, that's one of the main purposes that plants are around, right?

<Amanda> Yeah It's just a cycle of life.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, Stephanie, what do you think if she's concerned about this?

Is the damage that severe?

And if she's got it in a pot, she may want to use it as a focal?

In which case she might want to control the damage?

<Stephanie> Yeah.

What's fun about being an extension agent in this kind of scenario is like You're like a little investigator, right.

So you have to ask all the questions.

But this particular question does give us a good bit of information about, the plant in question is in the container, and so she's noticing it in this containerized plant and not in her landscape plants.

And so to me, without even seeing the whole, the picture of the damage, you start thinking about, okay, well, what likes to live underneath a container and eat your plants?

And so, slugs are very, are really common pest, different containerized plants, because it's a nice habitat for them.

Wherever that container is sitting on the ground, it's moist.

They're sheltered and so they hang out in there during the day, and they come out and eat at night, and then when you look at the picture that she submitted, the holes do kind of correlate with a slug damage.

They're sort of irregular and sort of spotty, here and there.

and that kind of does suggest a slug, and so there are some very safe products to use having an iron phosphate product.

And you can use that for the slugs or just try to raise up the pot, keep it a little bit more dry up underneath there so they're not having the perfect little party habitat.

But you know, like I said, you have to kind of sleuth it out and figure out what are the other things that could be eating, you know, the leaves <Yes> because there are leaf cutter bees.

If you've noticed that your leaves are almost perfectly circular, or whatever they're cutting is almost perfectly circular.

<Amanda> And they're using that, their nursery?

<Stephanie> Yeah, they're using that to wrap that up.

So you know, we're not going to want to treat for that.

We don't want them to be damaged.

We're just going to say, okay, you know, enjoy your little leaf blanket there.

And, or there could be caterpillars.

Lots of different caterpillars feed on all sorts of plants in our landscape.

and you know, if you like butterflies and moths and pollinators, sometimes we have to tolerate some of that, but I think we've brought a cute or fun activity to go caterpillar hunting, if Tom would like to show and tell <Tom> I will.

One of the things that I understand that blacklights were very popular back in the 70s.

I don't know that from experience.

(laughing) <Amanda> These wonderful posters you get to glow.

(laughing) <Tom> But one of the things that we can use black lights for in the garden is to scout for pests, and I'll turn this on and I don't know if you're able to see them.

<Amanda> Can you, do you buy, do you get a flashlight specifically for that purpose?

<Tom> Yes.

I'm going to try to show you most people know how black lights work, but it causes fluorescence.

<Amanda> Yes.

<Tom>...in this case, the fluorescence of the white piece of paper, but if you take that, this out of my garden, I didn't have this last year and I wish I had, it would have helped me to locate two very large tomato hornworms on my plants.

Now, of course, you would have to go out in the evening to do this, but, they're very helpful in simply lighting those pests up.

They just fluoresce green, or yellow, <Stephanie> Very brightly, yes.

<Jimmy> They just glow.

<Tom> They do glow, and so, you don't have to work nearly as hard to find the pests in the plants.

<Amanda> Because often they're, have just kind of a natural camouflage because they want to stay there and not be eaten.

<Tom> Exactly.

<Amanda> Yeah.

<Tom> And it will also fluoresce the eggs.

<Amanda> Whoa!

<Jimmy> Aphids glow.

<Tom> and since Greenwood is also a Monarch Waystation one of the positive uses of it is to take this out and to locate your Monarch eggs and caterpillars.

I spent, I know that my neighbors around me wonder, in fact, some of them have actually stopped to ask what are you doing?

(laughing) <Terasa> Just a crazy man, out here with my flashlight.

<Tom> Well, this was during the day and I was just looking at the plants, and now I can confound them even more going out at night with my blacklight.

<Amanda> What a fascinating idea.

That is just a wonderful tool.

<Tom> It's very easy.

<Amanda> Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

(indiscernible) <Terasa> You're right, the tomato hornworms, I mean, it's very hard to see them until you have so much damage that they are very large, and then you can spot them because there's no more foliage on your tomato.

You just have this very juicy worm.

<Tom> And this allows you to be much more proactive in finding them before that happens.

<Terasa>...like Stephanie was referring to kind of the irregular shape, and so we can have clues, but it's really hard to just look at a hole and say, Oh, I'm sure it's, you know, X, Y or Z pest.

So, this is a super easy way that I think anyone could go out and be a little detective in their yard or garden.

<Amanda> Well, and I think if you've got, <Jimmy> You can get your kids to do it.

<Amanda> I was going to say children, that might actually get them away and out... <Tom> I will give you a warning, if any of the viewers decide that they want to buy one of these, don't turn it on in your house.

You will realize very quickly, just how much dust there is.

(laughing) I made a rule, only outside.

(laughing) <Amanda> Well, my children were coming home recently, and I realized that you could write your name in the pollen that had come, because we'd open, we, you know, we don't have central air and heat.

So we've it's a nice day, we opened the front door and have a screen, and I didn't realize how much pollen was coming in, (laughing) and of course, my daughter has hay fever, and I was just like, you know what, I told her to get one of those things that pills that you could take so your nose won't run, and you won't be sleepy because there was no way I was going to be able to get all that out of that house.

(laughing) <Terasa> I'd be remiss if I didn't mention, so we're talking about caterpillars as pest and I think you mentioned you like butterflies and moths and even if we don't like them, and they're creating damage, we must remember that things are interconnected, and caterpillars are a huge food source for baby birds.

So, if you enjoy having birds in the area, that's the primary source even if the adult bird doesn't feed on insects, because they're nice soft, juicy things to feed to the young.

<Amanda> And baby birds need protein, a lot of protein.

They got to grow fast and fledge and so, almost all birds, I mean I saw a hummingbird one time catching an insect and I thought what in the world is going on and then I was talking to you and you told me that all, almost all baby birds have to have protein so birds that normally don't eat, <Terasa> Yeah, the seeds eat, the berry eaters, they're going to need it for their developing young and it is a lot of work for the birds to raise their young.

They're feeding like continuously... throughout the day so they're going to a lot of effort and the smaller the space they can collect those the more efficient it's going to be for them to raise their young.

<Amanda> That is a lovely thing.

<Tom> One of the things that I did to that end is when I found the tomato hornworms on my tomatoes, I pulled them off and I put them in a sort of a bare spot in my yard and then sat back and watched the birds find them.

<Terasa> I put them in a platform feeder.

<Tom> Yeah, exactly.

(laughing) <Terasa> Everything has to eat, right?

<Tom> Exactly.

Don't waste a perfectly good caterpillar.

<Terasa> Chickens I heard enjoy them, too.

<Amanda> Well thank you all.

This has been... (laughing) I think maybe I'm going to start looking for a new house up in Greenville.

(laughing) You're having way too much fun up there.

Thank you all so very much for being with us.

This was just a delight, and thank you at home for being with us and we'll see you next week.

Night night.

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

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

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina.

Family owned and operated since 1916.

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

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