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

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

I'm Amanda McNulty, and I'm a Clemson Extension Agent, and I get to be here on Tuesdays with people who come down to share information with y'all and with us, Terasa Lott, because I just love to learn from people, don't you?

<Terasa> I do, too.

It's my goal to be a lifelong learner, and I feel like I accomplish learning at least one new thing every time I come.

<Amanda> And, of course, Terasa, you are so kind to come and help us out.

And you're our co-host and then you're also the Statewide Coordinator for the Master Gardeners.

And how many of them are active right now?

<Terasa> That is a great question.

Somewhere around about a thousand usually report hours each year, but they provide a tremendous service to our horticulture agents and to the citizens of the state.

Like, Mary has some wonderful Master Gardeners in the Greenville area that help her to answer questions in that area.

<Amanda> Yeah.

And then in Swan Lake, they have some specialty gardens that they've established and work on all the time.

So and I think in different counties, they often have little pet projects that they work on.

It's just wonderful, isn't it?

<Terasa> It sure is.

<Amanda> And I think they make so much friends and you don't have to wear stockings or high heels ever in the Master Gardener Association, which I think is just about the best club you can ever join, belong to, don't you?

Well, Rob Last, you are a hort agent, and I guess vegetables and fruits are kind of your specialties, is that right?

<Rob> Absolutely correct, Amanda.

I do help out with urban horticulture as well as that's part of my job and I thoroughly enjoy going and visiting people's yards as well.

<Amanda> Oh, do you?

Okay.

And you are serving people in Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Hampton.

And I just know that those are places where we get incredible watermelons.

And you said there's a good bit of diversity down there with some other crops as well.

<Rob> Absolutely.

I mean, yeah, we're coming into strawberry season now, so that's really cool.

Peaches, blackberries, blueberries and a whole range of other vegetables as well.

<Amanda> I guess it's kind of fun to forage when you're out checking out, checking with people, visiting.

Are you a forager?

I'm a forager.

<Rob> Yes and no, Amanda.

Yes, I like to forage, but I do like to know what it's been treated with.

(laughter) <Amanda> Well, I just figure that people like you make sure they do everything just the way they're supposed to.

And, so if it's, you know, there's not a sign up that says, you know, don't do it, it's probably okay.

<Rob> If there's not a sign up, it's probably okay.

But I don't recommend members of the public do that.

<Amanda> (laughs) Oh, my goodness gracious!

Well, thanks so much for coming up and being with us today.

<Rob> My pleasure <Amanda> And Mary Vargo, you came all the way down from Greenville and you're the horticulture agent up there.

And I've always thought, you know, I think the weather's a little bit less severe in some ways, and I think that's such a pretty place.

I've always liked Greenville because you can actually grow hemlock trees as hedges in Greenville.

<Mary> Yeah, I've seen that done a couple of times.

You don't see it too much, but there's some yeah, there's some beautiful hemlocks we have in Greenville.

But yeah, things are really popping off right now.

And spring is such a beautiful time to walk around and see what's blooming and just pay attention a little bit to what's going on.

<Amanda> Really, and your place down by the river, honestly.

Whoever maintains that- the gardens are so beautiful.

<Mary> Yes, the City of Greenville, yeah, they do a really great job, a lot of care and passion into that job.

And it obviously shows because we have great parks.

<Amanda> I was there once when it was prom season.

I've never seen so many people out in evening gowns, standing out, trying not to fall in the water in their dresses.

They're all getting their picture taken.

<Mary> Near the falls?

<Amanda> Yeah, so they don't slip in.

<Mary> Yeah.

<Amanda> You know, my daughter got to go to the Governor's School for the Arts.

And so, Rob, she came, you know, we live in this tiny little town, and she came home one night at Christmas and she said, "I need a latte."

And I said, "Well, Lil, I think we can make you a cup of coffee, but that's about as far..." Greenville's just fabulous.

<Mary> Oh, it's great, and it's growing so much.

My Master Gardeners there are just absolutely wonderful.

So I feel super supported, super busy county, get a lot of phone calls, emails, a lot of projects come up, but my Master Gardeners are there to help me kind of take control of all that.

So I definitely appreciate the work that they do.

<Amanda> I know you do.

And we're going to come back and show later on the 2022 South Carolina Beekeepers Association Summer Conference.

What a learning experience and the people who were there were so generous with their time and enthusiasm.

It was a great place to go.

And then Grass Roots Yard Supply down in the Aiken area has it's a relatively new nursery and greenhouse, but they are just right up there with the best.

We had such a grand day going down there.

Terasa, usually we can start off with some Gardens of the Week before we start worrying about problems.

And it's so much fun because you don't have to have your whole yard be nice.

You just take a picture of one thing.

<Terasa> That is right, and we love seeing what you're doing in your yards, in your gardens, maybe with your indoor plants or perhaps you've captured the beauty of one of the wonderful places in the great state of South Carolina.

So today we begin our virtual field trip with Glennis Cannon, who shared forsythia, or you might hear them called The Yellow Bells of Spring.

From Sharon Pittman we have white flowers on a double flowered spirea.

Flowering Almond is the subject of Robin Tyler's photo.

From Annette Barrett, the lemony yellow flowers of Lady Banks rose.

And we wrap up with Linda Grooms, who shared a landscape bed dominated by yellow.

And I love Linda's comment that she paired with the photo.

She said, 'This is my photo, weeds and all.'

(laughter) And really, you know, sometimes we, I think we get too caught up in an ideal yard or perfection.

And we really should strive to be more realistic, I think, in what we expect our landscapes to look like.

And I think Linda really captured that, so thank you.

Thanks to everyone who shared your photos.

Any time you see us post a call for Gardens of the Week on our Facebook page, just post your photos in the comments or you're also welcome to email them to me.

Terasa, with an A, @ Clemson.edu <Amanda> And, you know, pollinators don't care if it's considered a weed or not.

I think many of our winter weeds that are blooming are a nice place for the early pollinators who are out, who come out.

And, you know, they may not be the things that we're going for then still, you know, the herbaceous things, are still, you know, in the ground.

There's plenty of things that have lots of pollen or nectar on them.

<Terasa> That's right.

And really, I mean, I feel like plants have a much larger purpose than just being beauty in our yard for us.

If we would embrace that, you know, we could really change our perspective.

<Amanda> Yes.

Very nice way to think of that.

All righty.

Well, if you got some questions, we can begin and have some of our experts share their knowledge.

<Terasa> I think so.

And I am really glad that Stacey in Denmark asked this question, because I have a feeling many others have it as well, and that it is one that people may make mistakes with.

So it's a simple question: When is the right time to fertilize my lawn?

<Amanda> Aha, well, you know, where you and I live we kind of just think of warm season grasses, but actually other people have cool season grasses and different grasses have different things, huh.

Rob, are y'all fascinated with lawns in England or do y'all tend to have smaller yards full of roses?

<Rob> Typically there'd be a smaller yard but the lawn would have to be with the stripes running down it like you're matching the quintessential English garden.

Most of our lawn mowers would actually be powered roller lawn mowers.

So you're actually getting that compression.

<Amanda> Okay.

<Rob> And the striping effect down here, <Amanda> Really?

Interesting.

Okay.

Well, how about people here who want to, you know, they want to push, push, push and have everything green, green, green early?

<Rob> The honest answer with warm season grasses is wait.

We need the lawn to be fully greened up So we kind of take up that nutrient rather than when it's partially there.

The other thing is, if we're too early, we always run the risk of a late freeze event.

Putting on fertilizer early is going to promote that really soft, tender growth that is going to be much more susceptible to freeze damage.

So that,typically for my area, I say about mid-May onwards for fertilizer applications, <Amanda> It seems kind of late to people who are, you know, just chafing at the bit to have this beautiful green yard, but it's going to be there til November.

I mean, because we don't get frost.

<Rob> That's the thing, and yes, as you say, Amanda, the cool season grasses do require fertilizer early because they're going to green up earlier in the spring.

So typically right now, maybe a little bit too late for a lot of the cool season grasses.

<Amanda> When I go to the big box stores often they'll have bags of Weed and Feed and I, I just don't even argue with them anymore because there's no point.

I can't.

I mean, the arguing with my own husband, but, but, you know, people just feel like they have to put that out and they're really wasting money and it's not even good for the environment, I don't think.

<Rob> No, it's not, it's not good for the grass.

If you're going after weeds, the time is well passed.

We don't want to be putting fertilizer out in mid-February through mid-March.

<Amanda> It's not going to be absorbed by the plants.

<Rob> And so we're just going to lose sight of why lose out on the fertilizer if you relying on a feed and weed to put on the first of the fertilizer timing, you're actually going to have weeds that have escaped or are too big to control with those pesticides.

So the two things don't go together at all.

And I will, like you, Amanda, I walk past those and I cringe inwardly every time I see them.

<Amanda> But I just know there's no point in arguing with some people, the lawn fanatics.

<Rob> Yeah, feed and weed, don't do it.

They are two separate operations of two separate times.

<Amanda> And then, even our warm season grasses like centipede, is usually called a poor man's grass.

And I don't think it, I think you can harm it if you give it too much nitrogen.

<Rob> Very much so.

Excessive nitrogen on any of our turf grasses is going to promote excessive luxurious growth.

That's going to increase the amount of mowing you've got to do, that's going to increase the thatch content that's going back into that yard, <Amanda> Does it make it more likely to have some fungal diseases?

<Rob> Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Yeah, fungal diseases and insect pests absorbing nutrients.

<Amanda> If it's tender and tasty.

<Rob> Yeah.

<Amanda> Yeah.

Okay.

<Amanda> So again, there's no one answer for everything.

Even our different warm season grasses are going to have different requirements.

And I guess that's why we take soil tests to be sure that we're doing the right thing, because when we send it in, we tell them what kind of grass we have.

<Rob> Absolutely.

Yeah.

The different grass species respond differently to fertilizers and also have different soil requirements as well.

So if we think about centipede that was tolerant of a lot more acid in the soil than St. Augustine, for example, so that the lawn recommendations would definitely vary.

That's going to impact the nutrient requirements as well.

<Amanda> Okay.

<Mary> HGIC has great fact sheets on calendar years for your specific turf grass so they'll kind of walk you through zoysia calendar maintenance for the whole year so it's kind of mapped out for you January through April, those kind of things.

<Amanda> And I think they include when you would put down a pre-emergent or a post- emergent too which, you know, the weeds that we are fussing about now, we would have needed to put down a pre-emergent, I think, back in late September, October.

But the way things are changing...

Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So that's yeah.

Put it up on the side of the refrigerator and look at it.

<Rob> And like you say, I mean, we have two distinct growing seasons in South Carolina.

So, yeah, what we're seeing at this point is the tail end of the winter weeds that are germinating in September, October, November.

We're now starting to come into the summer weed cycle that is entirely different as well.

<Amanda> Ah, it just never stops.

I'm glad I don't live in a place like you used to live, Teresa, where there was snow on the ground for four or five months, but I guess people didn't put out Weed and Feed.

<Terasa> You didn't have to worry about overseeding your lawn, that's for sure (laughter) <Amanda> Oh, okay.

What else can we do Terasa?

Who else can we help?

<Terasa> This question comes in from Andy in Mauldin.

And Andy wants to know, how do I attract beneficial insects to my garden?

Are there specific plant species I should include?

Okay, gracious goodness.

If you plant it, they will come.

<Mary> But that is sort of true.

I know.

Well, you know, I like to encourage people to plant a diverse sort of arrangement of plants that bloom at different times and not just in the spring, but summer or fall because of our beneficial insects, yeah.

I mean, they're out pretty much during our whole growing season and you want to give them that food that they're looking for.

So they're also attracted to different sort of flower shapes.

So going for some different morphology in flowers or things like dill that has that really nice umbel that's a perfect platform for some insects to come and land on and access those flora rewards and then maybe some other funnel form flowers that insects with proboscis or something like that can access nectar a little bit different.

So aim for different flowering times, different flower morphologies and sticking with native plants is a good way to to attract a lot of our beneficial insects that have evolved over time with that specific species that they're used to getting that energy for.

<Amanda> And we talk about having an attractive yard and often we want to have groupings, you know, where we say threes, fives, or seven.

But I believe that if we were planting even for pollinators and we had herbaceous perennials or annuals and things, even then, I think sometimes they enjoy having a group of things instead of just scattered all over.

<Mary> Yeah.

And that's always a good point.

I'm glad you brought that up.

It's drifts.

I think there's been research done of the insects see that a lot clearer than just one single planting.

So if you're able to kind of scatter those in groupings in your yard or your landscape, that really does, almost gives them a pathway to keep foraging and go from one flower to the other.

So planting in drifts is another really good way to track this.

<Amanda> Rob, I've been up to the arboretum in Asheville.

I don't know the name of it.

Terasa, do you remember?

Is it the North Carolina Arboretum?

Anyway, but it's right in Asheville and they have quilt garden, or they used to, and they'd have big blocks of the same flower, just like you said, a drift, you know.

And it was fun to walk through that because the pollinators would be so different from one quilt square to another.

<Rob> And again, if we think about the beneficial it's not just the pollinators either.

You know, we can by having that diversity in the landscape, yes, we're attracting some pests, but we're also attracting predator species - <Amanda> Oh, yeah.

<Rob> - which is really going to help us in our fruit and vegetable gardens, for example, for helping to control those pests without resorting to pesticides.

<Mary> Definitely.

I see a lot of those blue wasps, the thin sort of wasps.

And I know I think they were predatory insects, so, but they, yeah, I love seeing them kind of scattered on blooms, but also knowing that they're keeping my bad guys in check.

<Rob> And so, I mean, the more we can do, the easier our job is as gardeners.

<Mary> And I think also providing places for them to overwinter is ideal.

Most times I think people just plant for attracting instead of really sheltering them in the area that they need to overwinter and come back year after year.

<Rob> I mean, a lot of cases and insects are like us, they have certain needs for life.

So shelter, food and water.

<Mary> Absolutely, so bare places in your yard where you can just let some beneficial insects nest into the bare soil, sticks, crevices.

<Amanda> So you're not cutting everything down and being so tidy because I think some things that have stems, I believe, are used for overwintering or perhaps laying eggs.

<Panelists> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

<Terasa> Well, Rob used the right word: diversity.

It's really all about diversity, not having a monoculture.

The more you can offer, the more different species you will have.

And The Xerces Society is a great resource, so they are all about conservation of invertebrates and they have a Habitat Planning for Beneficial Insects guide that is available.

<Amanda> And by region and areas, which is just wonderful.

Well, now that we've been talking about all these native pollinators, we do know that the work, one of the main workhorses, however, are our European honeybees.

And I think is there, do we still call them European honeybees or is there a new name we use now?

But of course, because they came over with the colonists and they have different needs too.

And so in the South, everybody loves honey.

Everybody loves the bees.

Those bees are wonderful.

And we went to the 2022 South Carolina Beekeepers Association and just had a wonderful time.

They have events happening all the time.

Just look it up.

I mean, South Carolina Beekeepers Association and see what they have planned.

And let's now give you a tease so that you will whet your appetite for more than just some honey on a spoon out of a jar.

♪ ♪ ♪ <Amanda> I'm speaking with Susan Reed Jones, who's the president of the South Carolina Beekeepers Association, and we are at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center for your annual meeting.

<Susan> Yes.

<Amanda> Pretty exciting!

<Susan> We're excited that you're here.

<Amanda> And you all are almost 50 years old.

And what is the purpose of the South Carolina Beekeepers?

And do y'all interact with the community or just with other beekeepers?

Tell me something about your mission.

<Susan> Yes.

The mission of the South Carolina Beekeepers Association is to educate our beekeepers as to how to be the best stewards of our wonderful pollinators, the honey bees, and as well to help them stay current on the most recent scientific research that's going on across the United States and the world, really.

<Amanda> And it's more challenging now than it was 20 or 30 years ago, because we have some imported pests, I believe.

<Susan> Yes.

In the eighties, we had two significant pests come into the United States, the small hive beetle and the varroa mite.

And those have vectored diseases and problems that have caused almost a half, 50% decline in honeybees in the United States.

So we've had to actively manage them, manage our colonies to to keep them healthy and to maintain our populations.

<Amanda> But you do education.

You all have meetings and each individual group and I think there are about 30 of you all kind of have their own schedule on how to do things.

You don't tell them what to do.

But there are guidelines that they must follow, I believe.

<Susan> Right.

The South Carolina Beekeepers Association is an umbrella organization, basically.

We kind of help coordinate the activities across South Carolina for individual local beekeeping clubs and communities.

So we help feed information to them.

Then they feed it to their people and it all becomes a happy family.

And then we meet for a summer conference every summer, the last the third week in July, where we kind of do a three day intensive of all kinds of sessions and classes and workshops and field exploring bee colonies, hands on activities, so that we can help better support locally our beekeepers.

So then they can go and give that to their communities.

<Amanda> And you mentioned the Master Beekeeping program, which is kind of fascinating sounding.

I mean, that really is for people who want to get the basics at a more granular level and then kind of split off into more subsets.

<Susan> That's correct.

Our Master Beekeeping program has four levels.

You begin at the beginner level, you don't know anything about bees, and you start by taking the beginner instruction.

You take a written test and an actual field test, but then once you get to the next level, the Journeyman level, we do that from the state organization.

We offer usually a class one time a year in the fall, and then we do testing at our conferences.

It's our summer conference.

Then we usually do a 1 to 1 and a half day meeting in the last weekend in February.

So we meet twice a year statewide, but then the rest of the meetings are locally, on the local level.

<Amanda> So the Master Beekeepers, their reason for being is somewhat separate.

And so what are they charged with doing?

The Master Beekeepers themselves, those that have achieved Master Beekeeper, are really our instructors.

They're the ones who have been teaching for a number of years.

Like for myself, I started beekeeping almost 20 years ago.

I never dreamed that I would be in the position I'm in because I took it up kind of as a hobby and it just kind of took off.

<Amanda> You told me that as a young girl, one of your cousins was stung by bee and unfortunately had a reaction.

And you were like, no way, no way.

<Susan> That's exactly right.

I was like, I'm never going to be a beekeeper, no way.

But stranger things have happened, I guess.

And I. I started beekeeping and I was meticulous, trying to stay protected.

I went two years before I was ever stung by a bee.

And it was a nonevent, honestly.

And so after that, it was like, Oh - <Amanda> I can do this.

<Susan> I can do it.

<Amanda> And the nice thing is, I think one of the fun things about being here in downtown Columbia is that a lot of people don't realize that you can keep bees in an urban setting.

And I think here ya'll have hives all over the place and people just walking back and forth and there's no problem whatsoever.

Do you know, we have people who keep bees in apartment complexes, in downtown, on top of rooftops.

There's a whole business that has bees, corporations.

They'll, they'll put place beehives on corporate campuses.

There's beehives are everywhere.

You just don't know it, you know?

A lot of times we kind of hide them on purpose because we don't want the public to be afraid.

Bees are not something...

They're to be respected, not feared.

And and they're actually our friends.

Without them, we wouldn't have the food to eat that we have.

<Amanda> You have your own personal story about what happened when somebody kind of dropped a beehive off at your house and what happened in your garden.

Would you share that with me?

<Susan> Yes, I had a garden.

My husband was a beekeeper first because remember, I was scared of bees.

And when, let's just say his colonies didn't make it one winter, and the next year my bees went from producing...

I had about a 20 foot row of cantaloupe that produced so much cantaloupe that I was taking it and giving it away by the big Rubbermaid containers.

<Amanda> Cool!

because of the pollination, when the bees died or died off the next year, I might have gotten six cantaloupes.

I mean, the difference was huge.

So pollination is a big thing.

<Amanda> And also it's just so much fun to go out in your yard or your garden and see these active bees.

Because unlike our native bees, which normally overwinter, maybe with the gravid female, our bees, anytime the weather's nice, which in South Carolina is like... Da da da da da da... <Susan> 12 months a year.

<Amanda> Yeah.

And so, so if you even if you don't want to keep bees, could you go to your local Beekeeping Association meetings just to enjoy learning more about them?

<Susan> Absolutely.

Every club would welcome people to come.

In fact, there may even be some beekeepers who need a place to put bees.

And if you want bees, you could say, hey, can we work out a relationship where you can put bees here and pollinate their garden?

<Amanda> Okay.

And also, I learned that people within communities can contact their local group and ask them to come and talk at a high school or a community organization.

I didn't realize how much outreach you can do.

<Susan> Oh, absolutely.

Part of our Master Beekeeping program has a public service credit component, which encourages our folks to go speak to garden clubs and schools and boys and girl scouts and church groups, whatever.

Our people are happy to go present beekeeping and share that kind of information.

So if you're interested, the best place to do is to go on our website and look there.

We have a place where you can find a club in your area, contact them and then you can take it from there.

<Amanda> And if you have a swarm and you're concerned about it, I think that's where you go and you can get information about the best way to get some help from them to help resolve that situation.

<Susan> Absolutely.

We've got beekeepers that'll be more than happy to come get free bees.

<Amanda> So tell us once again, if people want to know more about your association, where do they go?

Our Website is sc for South Carolina, scstatebeekeepers.com.

<Amanda> Okay.

<Susan> You can find all the different places there to find local clubs.

What to do for a swarm, if you need a beekeeper, or to contact us if you have a basic question.

Typically, that's our role, is to help connect you with somebody that can help you.

<Amanda> And as a Clemson Extension person, I'd like to say that Ben Powell, who's our State Beekeeper, has just brought so much information to our viewers, and we so appreciate that.

And then today I met Brad Cavin, who is our regulatory person, who sounds like he's so willing to come and help people.

And I understand there's a 4-H program for pollinators for young.

It's just... <Susan> It's growing.

<Amanda> It's wonderful.

<Susan> It's exciting.

And the main thing is to take the fear away and spread the information on how extremely important these insects are to our happiness and our life.

<Susan> Absolutely.

<Amanda> Thank you so much for sharing this information.

<Susan> Thank you, Amanda.

I appreciate it.

Thank you for coming.

♪ I think you can see that it was a fascinating conference and if you'd like to keep up with what's happening in that another way that you can do that is go to Clemson Apiculture.

Ben Powell is our state beekeeper and he really wants wonderful programs, and there's often something going on.

I would encourage you to go to Clemson Apiculture and check it out.

So, Mary, you've I'm always accused of making a mess and it looks like you're well prepared not to leave us with too much of a mess.

But what are you going to show us over there?

<Mary> I'm going to show you a different way to start your seeds.

If you've been starting seeds for a while, or maybe you're just getting into it, you realize that you could probably accumulate a lot of those little plastic cells over time.

And, you know... <Amanda> We're all trying to do better.

<Mary> Yes, we're all trying to do better, cut down on our plastic use.

And I really like to use soil blocks.

So this is a way that you can sort of cut that plastic in half.

You can reuse your structures to make them.

And yeah, you don't have that pile behind your home that you just feel bad about taking somewhere, you know?

So this is a great way to start seedlings.

If you if you like to start seeds, you can even put cuttings in these sort of blocks as well if you want it to do that.

But it's basically you use a metal form to create these blocks of soil.

Some people call them like soil brownies or those kind of things.

<Amanda> It looks like they hold up pretty good.

<Mary> They do.

At first, I'll kind of talk about the mixture that you put in there.

But moisture is sort of that binding agent at first.

And then once the roots grow in, they really create that nice block that you really want in a transplant, so, so in this particular mix we have, and there are so many online.

You could Google "soil blocking recipes" and you'll probably find a ton of different ones.

I think Cornell has a really nice and that's research backed information.

So you kind of all look for that.

<Amanda> I think you can trust Cornell.

<Amanda> Yeah.

So they have a really great one.

And there's a couple other master gardeners around the state.

<Amanda> Well, what did you decide on?

<Mary> So, I decided on a mixture of peat moss, which I'm still not 100% happy with, because peat moss, as you know, isn't really sustainable or harvested in a sustainable manner.

We just unfortunately haven't really quite gotten there yet in the horticulture industry of finding something that's sustainable.

<Amanda> People are trying.

<Mary> They are trying.

<Mary> And there's a lot of really good research out there.

PittMoss is one of them, I think we were talking about earlier.

But this one particularly has peat moss in it, a little bit of perlite, and I'm not too fond of perlite here lately because it can get in your eyes and really cause some severe damage to your eyesight.

<Amanda> It is volcanic glass?

<Mary> Basically, yeah, is volcanic glass.

And if you aren't familiar with perlite, it's sort of a white sort of bleached material that provides <Amanda> It keeps it aerated.

<Mary> Yes.

For root.

So it's great in soil mixtures because it provides really good drainage and areas for the roots to grow in.

<Amanda> And you were using it and got some in your eye and had to go to the emergency room.

You're supposed is it's you could wear eye goggles, I guess, or wet it.

<Mary> Yeah, Rob and I were talking about that it's a good practice to implement anyways to just wear any sort of protective gear when you're you're dealing with substances that are that could potentially get in your eye because a lot of these substances, if you buy them from a big box store or a nursery, they've been shipped now they've been drying out a little bit and they really should be wet before you use it.

<Rob> They may be dusty as well.

So the mask can really help protect your lungs.

<Panelists> Oh, absolutely.

<Mary> So not just your eyes, your lungs too, <Amanda> Because we were looking up vermiculite, which I think you're going to use now, and that contains asbestos.

And South Carolina was the largest supplier of vermiculite.

<Mary> Yeah, who knew?

That's kind of wild.

<Amanda> So that, in that case, you know, as you say, just be careful.

You know, we don't want to smoke cigarettes so we don't want to inhale vermiculite or perlite, right?

<Mary> 100%.

So, I mean, this mixture kind of came with the perlite.

I didn't add it to it.

I made that mistake the other day and will never do that again.

<Amanda> So, show me how you would put it in this little contraption you've got.

<Mary> So basically I like to do it on a concrete pad or anything like that.

So if you have a tray, that works fine too, but you essentially want to get it to a mixture where it's moist enough to hold together, but it's not sopping wet.

So somewhere in a mixture where you can maybe squeeze out a little bit of that water out just a tad bit.

<Amanda> Okay.

<Mary> So that's a that's a great consistency to aim for.

But essentially you can soil blockers come in different sizes.

So this is just the one that I like to use.

Sometimes you're not able to really get it all in there at once.

So sometimes I would just go back and - <Amanda> You could just push it in later.

<Mary> Yeah, and it's kind of a learning curve.

I feel like the couple of times I have made it, they've just been not so pretty.

But over time when you get a mixture right and sort of the feel right, they they're beautiful and they really work super well.

So once you have it in there all nice and tight, you're ready to eject these blocks, you're simply just going to pull this handle.

And that has little indentions that create a little spot for the seed to go into.

<Amanda> Oh, how clever!

<Mary> So you would, hopefully, this is somewhat of a good one.

You pull that out and look how beautiful they are!

<Amanda> Yes, they are!

<Mary> So it creates a perfect little indention.

<Amanda> So, I'll let you lift the back of this container up and aim that towards the camera and show where the intention is.

<Mary> So that should hold together really well.

<Amanda> Wonderful.

<Mary> So it's wonderful to use.

You want to make sure you clean that off with water each time because sometimes you'll have debris that'll mess up this final form.

But that's kind of what you're looking for.

<Amanda> Boy, that looks like a great way.

<Mary> Yeah, you can put them all in a tray.

I like to, I have a friend that uses old lunch trays that she'll put them on and they're great tools.

<Amanda> Drill some holes in it?

<Mary> Yeah, or it works really well for watering because you're not having to water up on the top of the plant so you can just water below so you under you water from below and it takes that moisture and you're not causing any sort of potential overwatering issues.

So that way that's the size I like to use.

So first, that water is going to be your binding agent until those roots start to grow in and really form that block.

<Amanda> How long have those plants been growing?

<Mary> So these, this is calendula.

So it's a cool season plant.

I started these about three or four weeks ago.

<Amanda> Okay.

They're looking good!

<Mary> Yeah, they're getting ready to be transplanted out here soon, so I'm excited to add those to my garden.

And I use those in those blocks because I knew I wanted them to stay in there for a bit before I transplanted.

I used this small blocker, so it's kind of the same sort of method, but I use these for either poppy seeds that have really small, tiny seeds.

Yeah, and I don't want to kind of lose them in a big mix or I'll use them for my peppers or tomatoes and they really like heat to germinate.

So if I use these little blockers, I usually get a really nice germination percentage because less soil heats up faster and that seed's able to germinate a bit better.

So, same concept.

<Amanda> Do you use a heat mat with those?

<Mary> I do.

I use those for the ones that really need heat to germinate.

And I get, you know, just a better germination percentage overall.

So same concept.

You push it in and then let's turn it.

<Amanda> There you go, wonderful.

<Mary> And then push that out.

And then you're left with all these little adorable blocks.

<Amanda> Teeny tiny things!

(laughs) <Mary> Yeah, they're so cute.

Yeah, this mix probably needs to be a little bit more wet for them to stay together, because they're smaller, yeah.

<Amanda> But if it doesn't work, you just put it back in the pile and add a little water.

<Mary> Exactly.

No loss.

<Amanda> No big deal.

<Mary> At all.

<Amanda> Yeah.

<Mary> So this is sort of my new favorite method and I've been kind of telling everybody about it.

<Amanda> So if you're looking those up to order them, what you call them?

Soil block form?

<Mary> Soil blockers.

Yeah.

Soil blockers, soil block forms, there's, you can find them on Amazon, Johnny's Seeds, a lot of different websites and gardening places carry them.

<Amanda> Well, I just think that's wonderful.

<Mary> Yeah, and reusable.

<Amanda> Yeah.

<Mary> So I love it.

Just make sure you wash those off.

Don't let them rust and you can even replace these little dibbles.

So it works a great way.

<Amanda> Yeah.

Okay.

Thanks so much.

<Mary> Yeah, thank you.

<Amanda> I can't wait to see, you'll have to send us some pictures when the Calendula blooms.

<Mary> Absolutely.

<Amanda> Because you can put those out since they're cool seasons.

<Mary> They are cool seasons, so I'm excited to use those.

<Amanda> Okay, well now we're going to take you to down Aiken way and Vicki Bertagnolli told us about some new friends she had and we really understood why she was friends with them and how excited she was to take us to see Grass Roots Yard Supply.

♪ I'm in Graniteville, South Carolina, and I'm speaking with Ryan Williams, and we are at his nursery, which is called... >> Grass Roots Yard Supply.

<Amanda> But the history of how this came about is just the most fascinating thing.

Of course, we know Aiken is well renowned for sandy soils, <Ryan> It certainly is, and that's how we got our start was from sand.

So my father and family had been in sand mining for a good number of years, and inadvertently got into waste management.

So we started a landfill.

And we've run that for the past 22 years.

And from the landfill from all that trash, we were able to create several different businesses, all involving recycling in some form or fashion.

<Amanda> And when you say trash, let's let people know you don't take household trash or anything like that.

Describe the kinds of things that people bring to your landfill, please.

<Ryan> Right, so we're a construction and demolition landfill, so no household waste, or any hazardous waste.

So all of the wood and concrete metals, things like that come to us.

And the first thing that we did was noticed that it was just a tremendous amount of wood waste coming into the landfill.

So we got the idea to grind it and turn it into either mulch, which as you know, helps landscape tremendously.

And then the second and I'm most passionate about is the composting operation and breaking that material down to make a nice soil amendment that's beneficial in many different ways.

<Amanda> Especially in this area, where you have the sandy soils.

<Ryan> Right.

<Amanda> And the addition of organic matter makes all the difference in the world.

And the way you go about things, everything kind of feeds back into itself.

You were explaining to me about the sand that you mine, and it's filtered and washed so that it can be used for DOT scale construction, I mean... <Ryan> In the concrete industry, so all the sand is excavated to make room for what we can't recycle, we've taken, screened and washed, and then that goes into the ready mix industry.

And then even what's leftover, when they have extra, still comes back to us.

And we use it in a beneficial way such as crushing it for recycled aggregate, or we pour it into forms and make decorative concrete blocks.

<Amanda> And there are many examples of that right here.

And they are truly, truly lovely.

<Ryan> They're 2.5 million pounds of example.

<Amanda> And you found a way to kind of accelerate the composting process, I believe.

<Ryan> That's right, yep, there's a company that has developed a blend of special microbes that help break down the compost much quicker, and without having to turn it near as much, giving us a finished product a lot quicker.

<Amanda> And so some people, you've got big golf courses here.

And with fertilizer prices and all, I think that people are seeing that organic matter, compost, can be a great alternative to synthetic fertilizers.

<Ryan> That's right.

Yeah, you know, compost, as you well know, is just incredibly beneficial to the soil in many different ways.

And the great thing is that it has helped some see the benefit and the cost savings of going with an organic way versus using synthetic manmade fertilizers.

<Amanda> And I was fascinated to see how careful you are with water recycling at that site as well.

<Ryan> So being in Aiken County, you know, water is precious everywhere, but especially here because it's so sandy.

So we've tried to save every drop that we can and recycle all of the water we use in our operations.

And even here at the nursery, we use strictly drip irrigation to help conserve as well as help keep down on foliar issues and just be as environmentally sustainable as possible.

<Amanda> Everybody had changes that happened in their life during COVID.

I don't know anybody else who decided to start a nursery during COVID, but that's exactly what you did.

<Ryan> Yeah, and so we had a small scale little operation.

However, when COVID came about, you know, folks got out in the yard, they started gardening, they started planting.

And so that really helped us gain momentum as we built this new garden center here in Aiken, and it's just, thank goodness, been steadily growing.

<Amanda> And you've been a plant nerd your whole life.

(laughs) <Ryan> I am a true plant nerd.

Yeah, ever since I was little, even though when I had to work in the garden, when I was little, you know, I don't know if I was a plant nerd then, but I grew to appreciate plants and to love them, and I'm definitely a plant nerd now.

<Amanda> And your charming wife, Ashley, goes to the market with your mother.

And so inside of your building are many fascinating things.

I mean, I found bird food to keep the squirrels away.

I found nail brushes, I found soaps.

I just found all kinds of treasures in there.

But, of course, the plants are the real thing, and out here you have just a lovely selection.

<Ryan> Yeah, well, thank you.

Well, it's definitely a partnership.

Like you mentioned Ashley.

I mean, she has helped build this place just as much as I have.

And I certainly can't take any credit for the inside decorating which looks amazing.

That's all her.

I just help grow the plants.

But yeah, we try to have a selection of unique, anywhere from woody ornamentals to orchids to house plants.

We try to have something for everyone.

But we want to, you know, really provide a uniqueness in the plant world here locally.

<Amanda> And so you offer a great variety of fertilizers, organic or non organic, and people can come and arrange to have compost to take home.

And you particularly have in the greenhouses, an interest in tropicals that I think goes back a long way.

<Ryan> It does, yeah, and so tropicals, they are really near and dear to my heart.

I love them just because, well, we used to vacation, you know, every once in a while in the tropics, and I just fell in love with that environment.

And that's, I guess, why I love to build greenhouses so much is trying to duplicate that tropical environment.

<Amanda> And I was walking through, and oh, the colors were just so glorious in one greenhouse and then in another, the idea that you can have so many shades and colors with green, and then the occasional flowering orchid.

There's nothing boring about any part of the plant world, is there?

<Ryan> No, there really isn't.

Especially with the orchid world and how each flower is designed to attract the specific pollinators, just really an amazing world.

<Amanda> Well, I've had a grand time here.

You have a koi pond.

You make us feel like there's water flowing in so many places.

The pollinators are busy.

And if people want to know more about your nursery and how to get there, what's the best way to find out?

<Ryan> Well, sure, we'd love for them to go to either GrassRootsYardSupply.com or find us, Grass Roots Yard Supply, on Facebook.

<Amanda> Well, I want to thank you so much for letting us come and have this wonderful day.

<Ryan> Yes, ma'am, I thank you for coming and hope you come back.

<Amanda> You can bet I will.

♪ If you're down in that area, go and say hello to our friends.

We had a lovely day with them and they actually brought in lunch for us.

We had a wonderful Mexican lunch that some of their friends in the community made for us.

Everybody there was just incredibly nice and friendly and helpful too.

I was out walking Blue with my friend Ann Nulty and there on Hike's mother's dollhouse, and Hike is, I think, a year or two older than I am, so his mother's dollhouse because they live where his grandfather lived, where his mother grew up, was a Lady Banksia rose that just covered the doll house and then there's a pecan tree behind it and it goes 50 feet up in the tree.

There is nothing more beautiful than to see Lady Banks rose growing up in trees.

It's just exquisite, and the bark on the stems is also quite beautiful and kind of, you know, exfoliating a little bit and a dark brown it's just a magnificent... doesn't have any rose pest or diseases.

It's just a great, great, great plant to have.

You want to have some space or build a very, very substantial trellis.

But it was fun, and then the little blue flowers, I think are some of bulb.

I think it's maybe hyacinthoides or something crazy like that, but it's one that is not any trouble.

And I think it was in my yard when I got there and I moved it around a little bit and it just now it's in my monkey grass.

It's just, it's, it sits down and it's one that you're happy when it does that.

So, you know, this is a great time of year to be out seeing what nature has provided for perhaps, or just for beauty and inspiration.

Alrighty, well, Terasa, have you got another question for us?

<Terasa> I do.

And this one reminds us of our dear friend, Tony Melton.

You remember, one of his, to me, one of his most famous sayings was organic matter.

Organic matter.

Organic matter.

And Leonard in Fairfax says, "How do I improve my soil?"

"I think you've said to add organic material.

Where do I start?"

<Amanda> Okay.

Well, Rob, organic matter does.

I think it helps the soil retain moisture and I think it helps him retain certain nutrients according to what charge they have.

But how would you go about adding it to your soil?

<Rob> That's a really good question and really beneficial to all of us.

I mean, it helps nutrient use and water use in the yard.

So there's several ways we can actually do actually raise our organic matter level in our soils.

We can apply bulky organic manures.

So livestock manure is like cattle manure incorporated over time will help to raise soil organic matter levels.

<Amanda> Now do you want to be sure that it's well composted before you do that so it's not full of weeds and seeds?.

<Rob> Absolutely.

<Amanda> How would you do that?

<Rob> Composting or heat treatment to deal with those seeds and bacteria can be really beneficial.

So it's one method that we have.

We can use cover crops and high biomass cover crops, things like sorghum, cow peas, (coughs) excuse me, the cereal grains, the small seeded cereal grains during the winter, during the cool season, all are excellent sources of organic matter when they start to decompose in the soil.

We can also look at reducing the amount of cultivations we do.

Every time we till or work the soil, we're exposing the organic matter that's already there to oxygen.

So what we're getting is a loss of carbon from the soil and losing it as carbon dioxide.

So that's another really good way is to reduce the amount of tillage we do.

<Amanda> And I imagine where you are because I know this is a trend now and it's extremely positive and that is to by reducing the amount of tilling and using cover crops, not only does it help increase the organic matter, but I think it makes these little underground communities of microbial, beneficial microbial organisms that's just apparently stunning about what they can do to bring things.

The plant can't send its roots everywhere, but some of these organisms can actually bring nutrients to the plant, I believe.. <Rob> So, yes, that's definitely the case.

And when we think of soil, soil is a living organism, so there's a lot of fungi, there's a lot of bacteria that are beneficial to plants.

And so, as you say, Amanda, byfungal hyphae can actually act to some nutrient carriers within the soil, extending that root system of the plant so we can utilize more of the natural nutrients there.

But one of the other good ways that we can do is incorporation of composts.

That could be municipal composted means municipal waste can be a very good source of carbon.

Now one caution to that is always get it tested so you know what the carbon to nitrogen ratio is of that particular material.

Typically in a finished product, we're looking for 13% carbon to 1% nitrogen, 13 to 1.

Okay, much higher in the carbon concentration, the carbon percentage.

And we start to lock up nitrogen as the microbes are sucking nitrogen out of the soil, reducing availability to our plants.

Application rate can also be a big one with compost to make sure we're not over applying certain nutrients and certain elements.

So there's a variety of ways we can we can actually raise organic matter levels.

And if we're looking at even our ornamental flowers our organic or natural mulch is over time, a decomposing that's all been helping the soil biome to recycle that carbon and bring it into organic matter.

<Amanda> I had someone call once to the office and she said that she was tending some of her beds and that she got, she looked and was looking at the pine straw and it had mildew or mold on the bottom.

And I said this.

She said, "I had to yank it all out."

No, no, no, no, no, no.

You want it to decompose and just naturally add organic matter to the soil.

And sometimes, Rob, although when we plant trees and shrubs in our yard, we're not supposed to amend the hole.

But often if I put a lot of mulch on the top, I'll take a couple hands full of compost and throw it on top of there.

And I feel like that's just kind of accelerating that process and naturally improving the soil.

<Rob> It certainly can do, yeah.

<Terasa> I think this is a great time to encourage people to compost at home so you can take your fruit and vegetable scraps from the kitchen, some of your yard waste, you know, from out in your yard compost and then you are creating, it's like black gold really.

Right?

Creating treasure from what would have been trash.

So you can use it to add organic matter to your garden and that way we're also saving space in our our landfills.

<Rob> And let's not forget with compost as well, we have got a nutritional benefit.

So it's going to be providing some plant nutrients, too.

<Terasa> That's right, and it's not as hard as people think.

I have an under the kitchen - <Amanda> I think Mother Nature's been doing it for a long, long time.

(laughter) <Terasa> That's right.

That's right.

We can get really particular about making materials smaller by chopping them up.

And that's going to increase the rate of decomposition.

And if we get that carbon to the carbon and nitrogen ratio exactly right, we can speed up what nature does on its own.

But there's a little saying, like, "compost on," like, don't worry, you know, just oh, yeah, just yeah, just do it.

<Amanda> There you go.

Okay.

We have just a little bit of time left.

Do we have a quick question, maybe, Terasa?

<Terasa> How about we talk about mulch materials?

Grayson wants to know if there is a like one best mulch to use.

<Amanda> Well, I think a lot of that depends on what's available locally.

What would you think?

<Rob> Definitely what's available locally.

So pine straw can be a fantastic resource locally because we've got a lot of pine needles.

<Amanda> And in your own yard.

I have pine trees.

<Rob> Yeah.

So why not utilize what you've got rather than bring in something else?

Rocks can be a mulch source, but in the right situation.

Rocks are going to heat up during the summer and actually store that heat that they're going to release to plants.

So a lot of plants will suffer from heat stress by being planted in rocks.

<Amanda> It's also hard to pull weeds up.

<Rob> Yeah, it's an option and it works in certain situations, but I personally prefer natural mulch that's going to help benefit the soil.

<Amanda> We've got about a half a minute, I think.

You have a lot of deciduous trees in your yard.

Sometimes you collect the leaves?

<Mary> Yeah, I have a lot of oak leaves, so I mulch those up really nice, I put those in my beds.

But the problem I have is then that oaks that.

<Amanda> Acorns.

(laughs) <Mary> Yeah.

<Mary> And if you don't get that tap root out it's just going to keep growing back.

But it's a wonderful source.

<Amanda> Okay, well, it's always good to use our muscles and fill up those oak trees.

And thank you all so much for being with us.

And thank you all being with us.

And we'll see you next week.

Night, night.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ <Announcer> 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.