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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We are so glad that you can join us tonight.

We're going to have a great time, and you're going to learn a lot and have fun while you do it.

I'm Amanda McNulty.

I'm a Clemson Extension agent.

And, don't you think Terasa Lott my co-host, that we'll have fun while we're learning?

Terasa> I am absolutely certain we will have a good time.

It's always fun to be here at Making It Grow.

Amanda> And we are so lucky that you still come and help, because I couldn't do it without you.

And of course, you got a new job that makes you travel all around because you're the Midlands District Director.

But, they they're lucky to have you.

Terasa> Oh, well, thank you, I am fortunate.

I might be biased, but I think the Midlands district is the best of the five districts in the state.

Amanda> There you go.

Okay.

Yeah.

All righty.

Well, we've got some wonderful people with us, as usual.

And Stephanie Turner, you are the horticulture agent up in Greenwood, and y'all have more beautiful downtown things going on.

Y'all must have a great, city dedicated to horticultural staff.

>> Yes.

They do.

They have, dedicated greenhouses and staff and a whole flower festival, festival that they support, as well as just the day to day beautification of that.

Amanda> Yeah.

And it's a pretty nice... it's fun to come there.

You've got some neat places there.

I bought a pair of shoes there about six years ago that I still are my favorite shoes.

So I need to come back up and go shoe shopping, don't I?

That would be lovely.

(Amanda laughs) Amanda> Oh, goodness!

Hannah Mikell, I just think it's so wonderful that we have you coming now because you're an agronomy agent, and, you know, we're always talk about gardening stuff, but, I mean, farming, real farming is just critical to the economy of our state.

Hannah> It is.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So many of our infrastructures in the state are a huge component of our farming community, like our poultry industry, our hog, houses, all of them are feeding our grain that we're growing here.

Amanda> And then, I think we grow half the collards, that the whole United States eat.

Hannah> Exactly.

Yeah.

Amanda> That's pretty important.

>> It really is.

Amanda> Little old South Carolina.

That's right.

Yeah.

So thank you for helping us to understand the total picture.

of agriculture, and I really do appreciate it.

And Katie Dixon coming down from Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens and gardens galore Katie Dixon that you are in charge of.

And they're just beautiful down there.

Katie> Thank you so much.

It is always a pleasure to have you and the team come and visit us seasonally.

Amanda> And I just think one of my most fun things is the things y'all did with those extra tiles from the roof.

And it made you make all these beautiful aisles for brides to walk down.

That's kind of fun.

Katie> Thank you very much.

We like to be creative and resourceful and use up those extra materials when we can.

Amanda>...you really, if you come and have a wedding there, you don't need to call the florist because, I mean, it is a stunningly beautiful area that you've created.

Katie> Thank you for that.

Amanda> Anyway, I'm glad.

Thank you for coming up to seeing us today.

We're going to have a fascinating, presentation for you on Venturi Fertigation and, believe it or not, you maybe can use it in your own garden.

Well, this is Giving Tuesday, and everybody in the world needs help, all these non-profits that are out there.

But we have a very special nonprofit that we want you to consider, don't we, Terasa?

Terasa> Absolutely.

There are so many reasons to support South Carolina ETV, including the local aspect.

Right.

So, M-I-G is an example of one of those local programs right here from the great state of South Carolina.

Amanda>...with so many people here moving here who don't have an idea of what in the world to plant down here, we are a resource for them.

Terasa> We sure are.

Yeah.

Amanda> And then, you know, they are given the highest, designation by charity navigator.

They use the money so great.

And Terasa, when I tried to teach school before the children made me realize that I probably was not the best person to do that.

They have more things for teachers.

I mean, you know, now you've got all these standards and things.

You could go there and get lesson plans and they tell you exactly what they cover.

It's just there for free to help.

our teachers educate our children.

Terasa> Isn't that incredible?

It is, knowitall.org is one of those resources for our educators in the state, and can help them meet those standards through South Carolina ETV.

>> And then we have, you know, when there's something going on, like a hurricane or something like that.

We are the station that has all the equipment necessary to make sure that you can continue to get the information, that you need to keep you safe.

Terasa> So speaking of safe, that reminds me about crisis response.

And that's another reason we should support South Carolina ETV, because they really play a critical role in providing timely information during emergencies, natural disasters, and public health crises.

Amanda> And then heritage, I mean, come on, it's South Carolina, you know, we have more history here than you know.

I mean, because, you know, we were one of the original colonies and a lot of stuff is taken and all of that and stuff that you can still learn and even up to, up to now, like, we one of the things that, we're so proud that Craig Ness, our station manager, worked on was this fabulous documentary, on Bobby Richardson, you know, and I don't know anything about sports, and I know about Bobby Richardson.

Terasa> There really is something for everyone.

On South Carolina ETV.

So we've mentioned those learning tools, but there's also community engagement chances for the community to get involved and to really strengthen their ties to the local issues.

Amanda> And that, you know, I think in these times with so many people moving and coming and going, it's wonderful to have a way to meet other people who are new to your community and start making new friends.

Yeah, it really is something.

Isn't it?

Terasa> It is.

You can make your gift online at scetv.org or call (800) 256-8535 or scan the QR code on your screen.

Amanda> I do hope that you will call that number and support SCETV.

You know, it's a major part of many people's lives Terasa.

Terasa> It is, including ours.

Amanda> Yeah.

So how about some gardens of the week?

Terasa> You know, we have them thanks to wonderful viewers like you.

This is your time to shine.

Show us what you're doing in your yard, your garden, or highlight one of the many beautiful places in our state.

So today we begin with Stephen Chellis, who sent in the red flowers of Texas Star Hibiscus, one that I grow in my yard, as well.

From Jane Lagrone, she said this is a happy space in the corner of her backyard with her mother's birdbath and bench, a way to keep her mother's memory alive.

From Marie Johnston, a beautiful scene from one of those special places in South Carolina Goodale State Park in Camden.

Arlene Weeks shared her Cattleya orchid.

This one happens to be called, Chance the Chance.

And last but not least, Jennifer Amsden submitted her first cool season lettuce and kale, as well as the last of the warm season Bell peppers.

We appreciate all of the photos that you share.

This is just a random sample.

I encourage you to visit our Facebook page to see the other submissions.

And don't be shy when you see a call for Gardens of the Week, post your photos in the comments.

Amanda> Well, thank you so much and thank you to all the people who did respond.

Well, is there someone who might want some help with a question?

Terasa> Indeed there is.

This one is a little bit of a mystery.

It came in with a photo.

Glennis in Greenwood said, what is this thing we found near our passion vine?

Amanda> This thing?

(Both laugh) Well my passion vine.

Terasa> Good thing we have a photograph Amanda> My passion vine usually gets eaten up pretty much.

But, you think you can help us Steph?

Stephanie> Yeah.

So this was ...a photo that was sent to me.

And it is a spider egg sac.

Amanda> Whoa.

Stephanie> Yeah.

So... Amanda> How, exciting!

Stephanie> We've been hearing a whole lot about the Juros lately.

And so she thought, well, maybe this is a Juro egg sac, and...but it is not.

It is a yellow garden spider.

Amanda> Yeah?

It's still a pretty cool spider.

Stephanie> Pretty cool spider.

Especially... anytime the first time you encounter that spider, I think everyone's a little bit awestruck about that.

They also call it the zigzag spiders.

It's got...a little pattern in the web.

Terasa>...writing.

Stephanie> Yeah.

The writing spider.

Yeah.

So, I often find it, you know, in your home garden, vegetable garden, you know, all around.

Amanda> We had one of the front porch and "Lil the lovable", you know, my daughter was at home with us.

She was worried that the hummingbird might get caught in it.

And I said, well, maybe that zig zag will help the little hummingbird, stay away from it because, spider webs can be pretty strong.

Stephanie> That's true.

Yeah.

And those are big webs that these spiders like.

Amanda> They spend a lot of time putting all that ziga ziga ziga in it.

It is kind of fun.

Isn't it?

Well, I'm so glad that she saw that and brought it to your attention.

Stephanie> Yeah.

I think that's the fun part of the garden.

You always run into something new and something to learn about, for sure.

Amanda> Yeah, and that they can get excited too about the natural history of South Carolina.

Stephanie> Exactly.

Amanda> All right, Terasa.

Is anybody else got questions?

Terasa> Let's try to help Roy in Chesney, who said, I'm having trouble getting certain portions of my soybean food plots established this has been a problem for a few years.

Do you have any ideas what might be the cause?

Amanda> I bet it has to do with much, much, much.

What do you think?

Hannah> Well, generally, our soybean varieties that we're growing right now are so robust and they do really well.

But for one thing, if given the proper food and nutrition, right, and water, they're going to grow.

But we do have this little thing called a nematode that lives in the soil.

And it likes to kind of get in those roots, and the females will lay eggs in there, and then the juveniles hatch and they just they feed on the roots in such an abundance.

If Roy has an area like that that he's constantly dealing with- <Yeah> ...he's probably built up a high enough pressure.

Generally, they don't become as big of a nuisance if we rotate.

But if he's putting soybeans after soybeans each year, then we'd go ahead, need to test it, and we probably need to look at putting down nematicide for those.

Amanda> There is something that you can do.

Hannah> Yeah, there's a nematicide And actually it acts as a deer deterrent.

That we plant in the early season Amanda> Whoa!

I was thinking maybe the deer are eating soybeans too, because I think they do too.

Hannah> They can.

But, but in a certain spot where it looks like the vigor is just really low and late season, so when they're soybeans would actually be harvested, not fed on for forage.

Amanda> Sure.

But we'll see it senescence earlier.

So the leaves will sometimes drop in those areas either sandier in the field.

That's usually where our nematodes can be higher.

Amanda> So that's one reason that crop rotation is so important.

So what's a good crop to plant after?

Hannah> Usually our growers up above the lakes will rotate with corn soybean, corn, soybean.

Amanda> Okay, Okay.

Hannah> Below the lake.

So they rotate with more cotton.

Amanda> I think the sandy soils are more prone to nematode.

Hannah> They are.

They're an aquatic species, So they will move in that water column up and down.

So, as the ground gets hotter, they kind of move up and wick up through the soil, and that's where we see it more so, is in that sandier position.

Amanda> But there are some good nematodes too.

Hannah> Yeah, that's correct.

Amanda> Amazingly, you know, Hannah> There's a balance.

Amanda> They have a pretty bad reputation, but I think there are some of them out there that actually are positive.

Okay.

Well, Terasa, whom else can we help?

Terasa> We're going to try to help Dave in Columbia, who said, my yard is mostly shade and I find annual flower beds to be a challenge.

I prefer to have a low maintenance shade garden that might have less fussy flowers, but still be attractive.

Do you have any suggestions?

That's kind of... that's a lot to ask.

Amanda> Yeah, that is That's a lot to put together.

Any ideas?

Katie> So I have kind of faced similar challenges down at Boone Hall.

Amanda> You've got some places that are kind of like that?

Katie> We do.

We have quite a bit of dry shade and occasionally, you know, the, the typical begonias in summer, cyclamen in winter, it gets a little dull, just kind of doing the same plantings.

Amanda> Not for the people who are looking because to them... but y'all like to keep your minds active and fresh too.

Katie> Certainly.

So, so we're trying to be a little bit more creative, Amanda, and infuse all kinds of interesting, dry, shade loving, thriving perennials.

Amanda> And you found some?

Katie> Certainly.

So there's, some really successful plantings that we have of, we have a Fatshedera which is almost like a variegated veining.

Amanda> Yeah.

Katie> It's spectacular.

It's show stopping.

For great foliage, we also, play around with elephant ears a lot.

And that's another... elephant ears... Amanda> Don't let them step on your toes.

Katie> Big foliage.

Yes, it's such a fun, tropical kind of exclamation point.

Amanda> Yeah.

Katie> There's all kinds of ferns.

Some are evergreen or semi evergreen.

Amanda> Can they take this drier...?

Katie> Can handle dry, shade and kind of crimy- Amanda>- That's giving you lots of different textures.

Just from what you're telling me.

Katie> Exactly.

Amanda> Yeah.

Katie> And that's, that's, you know, been educational for me that you don't always have to have blooms to have interest in the landscape.

Foliage is a whole interesting.

Amanda> There are a lot of shades of green too.

Katie> Absolutely.

Yes, coloration and patterns.

Amanda> Green is a color.

Katie> It is absolutely.

And there's such a diversity, even amongst something that seems as simple or humdrum as maybe the cast iron plant.

You can find striped splatter paint, polka dot, etc..

So we're having a lot of fun with evergreens and perennials, for sure.

Amanda> It keeps y'all from getting bored!

Katie> Certainly, yes.

And also it saves money.

I mean, at the end of the day, you're not having to purchase all of this, you know, fresh plant material and extra fertilizers.

It's just makes for a more low maintenance, shade garden.

Amanda> When you got enough there, that takes some high maintenance.

Katie> Certainly.

Amanda> A certain time you can shade, even with those great people you've got.

You've got a good staff down there, don't you?

Katie> Yes I do.

Amanda> Okay, okay.

Well, today is giving Tuesday, and we want you all to consider giving to SCETV.

You know, Terasa, I'm just real proud to be a part of SCETV.

And of course, we're just a local show.

But good gracious, they got shows that come from all over the country, Terasa> They sure do.

There are really, a multitude of reasons for you to support South Carolina ETV, like Amanda mentioned, we have national broadcasting and also local broadcasting, like Making It Grow.

One of the other local programs that I love or South Carolina programs is What's Wild.

And so that's a series that showcases our rare wildlife and the people that protect them right here in the great state of South Carolina.

Amanda> So we've got things that you can see if you go to the... to our website, there, all these things you can access through that, as well.

And that's a whole new world for people.

So, I, hope people will consider giving and is there easy way to do that, Terasa?

Terasa> There is.

It has, it is so easy for you to give.

You can make your gift online at scetv.org, or you're welcome to call (800) 256-8535.

Or you can scan that QR code that you see on your screen.

Amanda> Well, thank you so much, and I hope that you will take advantage of one of those ways to do that and, and get in touch and make Giving Tuesday a day when you support SCETV.

We would appreciate it.

Wouldn't we, Terasa?

Terasa> We sure would.

>> Yes we would.

So Venturi Fertigation, It's not fertilization, fertigation is a fascinating thing, And you know, water is becoming such a valuable resource.

And, and fertilizers have become more expensive.

And so this is just a wonderful way to help our growers pay attention.

>> Hello, I'm Corey Tanner with the Clemson Extension horticulture team.

And with me here is Zack Snipes, an agent down in Charleston County.

And, Zack, it looks like you brought us some plumbing contraption.

What do we got going on here?

Zack> Yeah.

This, does not go in your bathroom, so.

Corey> That's good.

Zack> Yeah.

Corey> No, this right here is what we see a lot on, a lot of small farms, even big farms.

And I'm kind of showing it here today to potentially, encourage some homeowners to maybe invest in this type of, setup.

This is a, irrigation system, but, more specifically, this is a venturi fertigation system for irrigation.

Corey> Now, it sounds kind of like fertilizer, kind of like irrigation.

What does that mean?

Zack> Exactly?

So it's not a Latin term, but, fertigation basically means putting fertilizer through your drip irrigation system.

Corey> Okay.

Zack> And so, what this allows us to do is if we have an irrigation system set up, we can run liquid fertilizer through it, and we can really dial in how much fertilizer we're using and when we use it.

And so we're a lot more efficient and effective at taking up fertilizer, versus other methods like broadcasting fertilizer or sod dressing or something like that.

Corey> Okay.

Yeah.

So...a lot of gardeners probably use liquid fertilizer in like a watering can, I call it the blue water... method.

Zack> Yeah.

Corey> So, I think a lot of people are already familiar with that for maybe like houseplants or vegetable transplants.

But how would this work in, in a landscape?

Zack> Yeah.

So if this is an a landscape or even a medium to a larger size garden, you can, basically hook this into your, your existing irrigation system.

So your lawns would come in here and they would exit there.

And then you would have this system.

And what happens is, your irrigation water comes in here.

And when you're not fertigating because you're not always going to put fertilizer through the drip system, it would normally run through here and out into your lawn.

Corey> So this valve will be open.

Zack> Correct!

Corey> Okay.

Zack> that's just a gate valve.

So it goes up and down.

So we would leave that open, But if we wanted to run fertilizer, what we would do is we would close the gate valve here, which would then direct water here, through here.

We would open these two valves here.

So now, we have water going this way.

And then this is the critical piece here.

This is called a venturi.

And what happens is we have, low pressure and then it comes down to a higher pressure.

And what that does is it creates a suction for us.

Corey> Right.

Corey> And so we're able to use a liquid fertilizer in a five gallon bucket.

And then we put our tube in there and it actually creates a vacuum.

It will suck up the liquid fertilizer and inject it into our drip system.

Corey> That is really cool.

So basically this venturi, it kind of squeezes the water in there so you get like a fast jet of water in there.

Is that right?

And then that pulls the suction.

Zack> It pulls the suction and then it mixes.

You have this little dial here that kind of can control how much it's sucking up.

Corey> Okay.

Zack> It injects it in the water.

And as you see, there's lots of bends.

There's lots of filters that it goes through.

So in that process, it's getting mixed up in the water.

And so when it goes out to your plants, you have pretty much, a homogenous, liquid solution that's going out to your plants.

Corey> And how do you know, like how much fertilizer is going in?

Zack> Yes.

Really good question.

So, you know, the whole the whole reason for doing this is we really want to dial in how much fertilizer we're using and to not over fertilize.

Corey> Okay.

Zack> So we've created a drip fertigation app on Clemson's website.

Corey> Oh that's cool.

Zack> So yeah, you just put in your crop, from a selection, you put in the type of fertilizer that you're using.

And then you put in your acreage or your, how many row feet you're fertilizing, and it tells you exactly how many gallons or ounces of this product to use in an irrigation event.

Corey> Okay.

>> So we can really dial that in.

So it's a very, very efficient way of feeding our plants.

Another cool thing about this is we're, we're putting the right amount of fertilizer out when we need it.

So as you know, as plants get bigger, they have more fertility requirements.

Corey> Right.

Zack> So we can spoon feed our plants a little along so they're never without fertilizer in the process Corey> So, basically with the app, with the way you would use that as, you would use that to determine how long the irrigation runs to determine.

So you'd measure out your fertilizer, and basically run the water until that fertilizer is gone.

Zack> Correct.

And so what we tell people, depending on your soil type, you have to charge the system.

So what you would want to do is you want to, turn your irrigation system on for 10, 15 minutes to get the soil wet, to make sure the lines are charged.

Then you would want to fertilize with your fertilizer for about 15 minutes.

Corey> Okay.

Zack> Then once your fertilizer is completely empty from your bucket, then you would close these valves like so, and then you'd open your gate valve back up, and then you would run fertilizer or water through the system to flush the fertilizer out.

Because the last thing we want to do is leave fertilizer in those two, those lines.

If we do that, it can precipitate out and clog our emitters on our drip system.

Corey> Yeah, that's not good.

Zack> No, it's not good.

Corey> So if I didn't use drip irrigation could I use this with like a sprinkler?

Zack> Yes.

Yep.

Okay.

You could do that.

And it would be the same process, except instead of a drip irrigation, it would be a sprinkler at the end.

Corey> But there are possibly more waste... doing it that way, right?

Zack> Correct.

Correct.

So drip irrigation, especially for flowers and ornamentals and vegetables, is going to be a lot more efficient.

Corey> Okay.

Zack> Water wise and then fertility wise as well, we, we really want to put the water where the plants can take it up.

Corey> Right.

Zack> Because, we don't want to fertilize weeds.

Right.

Corey> So, exactly.

Zack> Another thing that I want to talk about is the type of fertilizer that we use in these systems.

We want to make sure that we're using fertilizer that's soluble, water soluble.

Because again, the last thing we want to do is clog up those emitters.

And then we have a huge... nightmare or maintenance problem.

So what I like to do is use ones, that are, you know, NPK-R3 nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium.

We want to make sure that there's no phosphorus.

>> Okay.

Zack> We have plenty of phosphorus in our soils most of the time in South Carolina.

And phosphorus also can precipitate out with some of the water that we use.

And so we don't want it forming basically rocks or crystals, in our drip system.

Corey> So, so how would they know looking at that label that it doesn't have phosphorus in it.

Zack> Yeah.

So this one here is 10-0-10.

So the middle number is phosphorus.

So zero means it's 0% phosphorus Corey> Right.

Zack> We're using a 10% nitrogen 0% phosphorus, and a 10% potassium product.

Corey> Right.

So those three numbers on a fertilizer bag container bottle, whatever, when those three numbers are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium Zack> Always always.

Yeah.

And so this, this works really good.

It's, it's a very efficient way to fertilize, your plants.

And, a lot of folks are doing it on small farms and even in homesteads and backyards.

Corey> So in addition to phosphorus, precipitating in these systems and causing problems that way, and many of our soils, having enough phosphorus, are there are other problems with phosphorus use in the landscape?

Zack> Yeah.

If you have too much phosphorus in the soil, phosphorus stays in the soil.

It doesn't, move readily in the soil like our other nutrients.

And so you can get some, phosphorus toxicities, more so than the toxicity impedes other nutrients from being taken up.

>> Okay.

Zack> And then phosphorus is not a good thing to have excess phosphorus in our environment.

>> Yeah.

It can cause problems, particularly in waterways.

If there's too much phosphorus making us leaching out of landscapes and moving into the water bodies and, and creeks and that sort of thing.

Well, that's really interesting.

Anything else folks should know if they want to give this a shot?

Zack> Yeah, just, just let us know we can help you.

Set one of these up.

I think the key for the easiest sizing it for how big your space is.

Corey> Okay.

>>It's not going to work, right, if you don't have the right pressure and flow rates and you have to have back flow preventers, by law, so that the fertilizer doesn't get in the water system.

And so there's a lot of nuances that we can help you, kind of, navigate in this process.

But, you know, once, once you get one of these set up, I think you'll really enjoy it.

And they're fairly inexpensive because they last a long time.

So a setup like this will be a couple hundred dollars.

Corey> Okay.

Great.

Well, Zack, thank you very much.

Really interesting information that hopefully folks can use out there.

And, I might give it a shot at my house.

Zack> Absolutely.

(silence) Amanda> I want to thank Zack and Corey for, explaining that I still need a little more help understanding it completely, but your local agent can help you, and it sounds like a great thing to do if you've got the right kind of situation for it.

So, hats, hats, hats!

Terasa, there's something that I've planted a little tiny bit of and now it's like this big, and it's this wonderful fall blooming little native aster.

Terasa> It's adorable.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

And it's not in the sun.

And, it just blooms it's little head off and I think it's sweet.

So I'm getting kind of, you know, we've done some fall asters lately, and I've kind of getting interested in them.

And I think you've got some too.

Don't you?

Terasa> Yeah, I do.

Amanda> I'm going to bring you some of those and you can get it started.

Terasa> That sounds great, but do I need to be careful?

You said it's kind of spread?

Amanda> I don't think so.

(all laugh) Katie> Naturalized.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

Terasa> Sometimes you have to worry when people want to share things with you.

Not that you would have any... Amanda> You're absolutely right.

Terasa> nefarious... Amanda> No, I think, I think you'd like this because, you know, there it is.

And I'm sure pollinators are coming to it.

Terasa> And that's what's so important is to try to have something in your lawn that's in your, in your Amanda> This is getting kind of late.

you know, you know, and it really has just started opening up.

So I thought that was kind of fun.

Terasa> Nice.

Amanda> Anyway, well Terasa this is National Giving Day and lots of people are asking people for their support, but I want them to consider supporting SCETV because I think we're pretty important.

Terasa> I'd like to think so too.

And I hear from viewers like you that tell us what a difference we make.

Amanda> And, you know, we have local programs like this.

There are a lot of people moving down here.

We're a great way for people to find out about Clemson Extension and the things that they can do for you, because a lot of people don't know that if they watch the show, then they find out about Clemson Extension and, there, you know, everything down here is real different from growing things in other places.

And then we also have, so many, national programs, and we have that PBS, that Passport thing.

Terasa> That's right.

>> That you give just $75.

I mean, you just get everything in the world you'd ever want to watch.

>> You do.

It puts everything at your fingertips.

And what's great about SCETV is, you know, that it is quality educational programing.

That's going to enrich the lives of our viewers out for everyone across the spectrum, from children right through to adults.

Amanda> That's true.

It's just a wonderful organization.

And, if people would like to donate to them, how should they do that?

Terasa> It is absolutely the easiest process.

And we have three ways for you to do it.

You can donate online at scetv.org You can call the number on your screen (800) 256-8535, or just take your smart phone and scan that QR code on your screen.

Amanda> And I have just learned how to use the QR code.

And, I feel very modern these days, so maybe I will try to do it that way.

Anyway, I do hope that you will pledge, through one of those three methods and please, I just feel like we're, I think, you know, we're a small state, but I just think our public television network is one of the, I can't help it, but I just think we, we're stellar.

Terasa> We are.

>> Okay anyway.

So, do we have something to talk about?

It looks like there's some kind of fancy things over here to talk about, and I think they've got glitter on them.

And that we've, we've, we've been inundated with, like.

So this will be interesting.

Stephanie> Yeah.

I have some, amaryllis bulbs here to kind of show and tell.

The latest kind of trendy fad is to put some wax on the amaryllis bulb.

And so they are sold this way.

You'll see them.

Amanda> What kind of wax?

Just.

Stephanie> It's just a wax that seals off the bottom of the bulb so you don't have to water it.

Amanda> You get it at a hobby craft store or something?

Stephanie> A big box store or something like, that... a garden center.

Amanda> Yeah.

Stephanie> And they come this way and you can say this one's already working on blooming.

Amanda> Yes.

>> And it's sort of the whole concept of, you know, you just, enjoy it for the holidays and then you toss the whole thing.

Terasa> But it's kind of sad.

>> It makes me sad, too.

So that's why I brought it, because I wanted to say, you can peel this wax off so you can go ahead and slice the wax, peel it off and pop up the amaryllis and keep it.

Amanda> And I did that.

And now I didn't put, you know, usually they're fine outside all year, but since it was still cold, I kept it in the pot until it got warm outside.

And then I added it to my garden, because.

Stephanie> Exactly.

Amanda> Usually, every now and then we have something horrible happens and they all freeze, but generally they're fine outside in the garden.

And the one thing to know is, you know, we usually plant bulbs like if the bulb is this big, we plant it this much below the soil, but I'm a realist.

I think the top is supposed to be sticking out a little bit.

Stephanie> Right.

You want a lot of the top of the bulb to be sticking out, so you don't want to bury it any, any deeper than about halfway up the bulb for sure.

And they also like a snug pot, so they don't want a pot that's, much wider than they are.

Just a little bit of room for some growing medium.

Amanda> Okay.

But, but you can if you want to when the weather gets good, go ahead and put it outside in the garden.

Stephanie> Right.

You can.

They make a good houseplant too.

And you can just, once the weeds are growing, you know, at around August or so and they start to droop down.

Just cut it all back and let it dry down, put it in the closet somewhere and then take it back out 6 to 8 weeks before you want it to start blooming and start watering it again.

Amanda> Okay, so you have to put a sticker on your calendar to remember- Stephanie>- find my amaryllis.

(laughs) Get it going again.

Yeah.

Amanda> So this is just kind of a new trend.

Stephanie> And yeah, Amanda> I guess it's fun because, people don't have to worry about keeping it... that's prettier than a pot.

Stephanie> Right.

You don't have to mess with potting it up, because any of the kits, they usually give you some sort of compressed medium.

You get this in a kit, you don't get those boxes of kit.

It has a medium that, you know, expands.

Amanda> So they've got it all planned out for you.

How about that?

Stephanie> So that you... can do it that way, or you can just buy it like this.

It's ready to go.

Amanda> Okay.

And, I used to do flowers, we learned that if you were using amaryllis in an arrangement, you had to put tape around the bottom, because the bottom of the stem would curl up.

So you had.... Stephanie> Yes.

You had to stabilize it, and then we would stick a dowel in it and, and stick the dowel down in the, in the, in the oasis of whatever you were using.

And, and so that we didn't break the...stem.

So they were a lot of trouble.

But they certainly are beautiful.

Stephanie> Well, and they're fun to watch because they can grow like an inch a day, you know, you turn around and they're, you know, they're already climbing.

Amanda> over my head.

Stephanie> Yeah.

(laughs) Amanda> Well, thank you so much.

That was a lot of fun.

Well, Terasa?!

Terasa> Let's see We had a question come in, Lacy from Turbeville and I was walking on Highway 521.

I saw a bunch of high schoolers walking around in a field with clipboards.

What were they doing?

And why would they be looking at that large field?

Hannah> that sounds really odd doesn't it?

Amanda> They take some strange things these days.

But, is this something that we can talk about, you think?

Hannah> We most definitely can talk about it.

So, our we actually, we had it, just a couple weeks ago.

We had our 4-H, well, FFA, kids that are in high schools across our state, mainly up in the northeastern region of our Pee Dee area.

They came and they judged the soil.

So we had a farmer that donated his field.

His row crop field.

It was an irrigation field off the highway there and a corn field.

He took his track hoe and dug out some giant pits.

And they're about four foot deep, five foot deep.

And you're able to see the soil profile.

Amanda> Oh there's, oh so you can get down in there.

Hannah> The width of the bucket was about 3.5 feet across.

And they just took I got a video I could probably show you and we got a just a giant bucket.

We scooped it out and you can walk down in there.

And so he had it sloped almost like a little tiny swimming pool type situation.

Amanda> Okay.

Hannah> You're only in shallow.

You walked down in there.

Amanda> You didn't have to jump.

Hannah> No, no, no, no, no, no.

That would be a problem, especially with all those clipboards and pencils, but so they get down in there and they're actually able to after studying the soil in their class for so long.

Amanda> So there's are all these different profiles.

Hannah> There's, there's yes, you have the organic layer and then you have that topsoil layer.

And then it goes down through your hard pan and your subsoil Amanda> Goodness!

Hannah> All the way down to like maybe even water rock down at the bottom.

Wait, that's much deeper.

But they are able to take some water and they take a bit of the soil that they're judging, and they're able to classify it by the texture, whether it has a really gritty, so it has sand in it or steel or clay.

And then they take and they ribbon it out.

So you take a handful of soil and you squish it.

And then as you kind of push it through your thumb and forefinger, have you ever done this?

Stephanie> I have in soil sciences.

Many moons ago.

Hannah> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We learned it in, in college a long time ago.

And it ribbons out to like a half inch, in this classification to an inch or 2 inches where it has more clay and so you can go through.

And so these kids have learned this and then they're putting their knowledge to the test.

It's actually a state contest.

And they go on to the nationals to see how well they do.

Amanda> That's pretty cool.

And so if you were a farmer, what if you got some new land and you weren't quite sure what to do with it?

Would this maybe give you some information about what, good, what crops you could have?

Hannah> It would.

If you don't have a track hoe handy, or you don't want to dig a hole that deep to kind of get down in there and look, you're able to go to the NRC's office or you can come to Clemson and we can look up your soil's type and see kind of what the transition are in your field and how many different soils you have.

Amanda> Goodness gracious.

Good.

So did, did you do this too?

Stephanie> Yes.

Many, many years ago.

Yeah.

Amanda> And you did too?

Amanda> Heavens Hannah> You're missing out.

Amanda> Yeah, I took agronomy, I mean, at Clemson, so I guess that wasn't part of my thing.

Hannah> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Amanda> That's fun.

Hannah> Yeah, it is.

It's very interesting.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah, but y'all did this in high school?

Hannah> We did it in high school.

We also did it.

I taught it in colle...in high school and some of college.

But whenever they're, they're in there and they're classifying it, they're able to learn what the soils are used for.

We see some rain soil, that has more of, like a water log, so it turns white.

We actually, when they were digging the last hole, they took the track hoe They dug up fat lighter stump Amanda> No, Hannah> They'd been down there.

It had been cropped on for years and years.

And so, but the fat lighter had a taproot.

And so I'm sitting down in that hole and the soil, you could see the water had run into the taproot and made it all waterlogged and white.

Well, so you have some.

Yeah, you have topsoil.

It was like brown.

You had a little bit of red.

And then there's this rain.

So it's just like a white type soil.

And you could see like the organic matter had decomposed.

It was black.

It was really, it's really cool.

Amanda> It does sound cool the next time you, you do it around here, call me and I will, I'll bring my stepladder and carefully descend.

Hannah> You can do that.

Yeah.

Amanda> Okay.

Hannah> Sounds like a good time?

Amanda> Well, Katie, it looks like you've got some very colorful things.

This doesn't look like the dry shaded areas.

Katie> No.

So this is some flower power for us to, discuss.

I wanted to show two of my favorite, species of Cuphea.

So that's kind of a diverse, genus or grouping of plants.

Amanda> Do you call that bat faced or something?

Katie> Yeah.

So there's Amanda> Some of them.

>> Yes.

So this particular, buddy right here is called bat faced cuphea.

It's a common name.

And if you look really closely, the inflorescence truly looks like a little fruit bat sticking its tongue out.

So it's, Amanda> That's sweet.

>> It's precious.

So, this attracts all kinds of pollinators- Amanda> Does it?

Katie>-specifically because of the tubular flowers of cuphea, you know, that would bring in a lot of, hummingbirds and, butterflies with a long proboscis and things that can actually access- Amanda>-Wow.

Katie> Nectar and pollen.

Amanda> How hard is it to grow?

Katie> For us down in the coastal area?

It's quite easy to grow.

It is a tender perennial, so it tends to, get brown and crusty and you just cut it back.

When it freezes up, cut off the, the top growth, just kind of leave maybe two inches, and cut them above the stem We, mulch it over, give it a nice mulched blanket, and it reemerges freshly, every year.

Amanda> That sounds... that sounds very like a very satisfactory plant.

Amanda> What's the one next to it?

Katie> So this is a close relative.

This is also cuphea genus, different species.

Amanda> Spell cuphea for people.

Katie> So it's C-U-P-H-E-A.

And sometimes it's also generally referred to as cigar plant or candy corn plant.

This particular species- Amanda> Oh that one, of course.

Yeah.

Katie> So this is micropetala.

And it has, you know a very different coloration but is still tubular and has that similar anatomy.

And so again similar pollinators, would be flocking to this, Amanda> Does it have a long bloom time?

Katie> It does.

And so this gives us excellent late summer into fall interest and it's blooming, it's head off all through kind of our harvest season.

And it's spectacular.

It's it's way above my head.

It's maybe... Amanda> No, it is not.

Katie>...eight feet tall in one season, which is, I think.

Amanda> You're tall.

>> I'm pretty tall, but I will say, for one season's worth of growth, because it acts just like bat faced where you have to cut it back and you just have nubbins.

But in one season it flushes spectacularly.

So at this rate, yeah, eight, ten feet tall.

<Gosh> It's very happy in our garden.

But yeah, just two examples of something that can be pretty genetically closely related but have a profusion of different flowers.

Amanda> They are eye catching.

Katie> Yes, indeed.

Amanda> Now do you usually try to group them since the flower is kind of small?

Do you like to do that sometimes?

Katie> Actually, that's an excellent question.

We try to, spread out our, various, flowers, with to create different forms.

So we have disc shaped flowers next to tubular, next to, you know, inflorescence like dill to give pollinators, a variety of the flay, if you will.

Amanda> Oh, so you're doing that for nature.

Katie> Yeah, So it is intentional certainly throughout our formal gardens that the more, different inflorescences and diversity you can put in your garden, the more pollinators you'll attract, because everybody's looking for something different.

Amanda> That's true.

Yeah.

Katie> So.

Amanda> I like one kind of donut and somebody else likes another type.

Katie> Exactly.

Amanda> Well, that was too grand.

Okay.

Cuphea.

Yes.

Stephanie> We learned that the hard way.

We did the pollinator census.

And one of my master gardeners was doing the census on goldenrod, with little tiny flowers.

Well, those were little tiny insects that she was trying to count to do a pollinator census.

(laughs) Amanda> Oh, she had her eyeglasses with her.

That sounds like a lot.

Yeah.

What fun!

Katie> Thank you.

Amanda> Thank you for sharing that with us.

Katie> Sure.

Amanda> Well, I think we're going to do an art and crafts.

Oh, that's.

Hannah> Yay.

Stephanie> Well, I love to do crafty things with nature, and so this was a fun one that, I came across.

Amanda> But did you... with your steam.

Stephanie> We haven't done this one yet.

Amanda> But you will.

>> Yeah, this will be in the tool box, for sure.

This is a real easy one, with the abundance of pine needles.

And so, once again, you can just gather some needles, and, and you're going to put them together in a clump, and we're going to create a little tassel so you can use, natural yarn.

I think we just have some embroidery floss here today.

But you're just going to make a clump and tie them up together and take that embroidery floss and just wrap it around several times, and then tie it off again, and then you can make it pretty with a, with a button or a sticker or some berries from the yard or something like that at the top of the tassel.

And these are really, versatile.

You can use them for table decorations or napkin, napkin rings or, you can even use it as an ornament on your tree or a little, package decoration for a present.

Yeah.

And so we just happened to have I just happened to have a bunch of buttons that were my grandmother's stash of buttons.

So that's what we're doing today.

And so you make that clump and you tie it all up, and then you can tie your button or whatever your decoration is on top of it.

Amanda> Okay.

I didn't get the long piece of yarn, so I'm trying to.

Stephanie> Oh.

Amanda>Do it.

I'm getting there.

Stephanie> You making it difficult for her.

You got, you want some more?

(laughs) Amanda> I think I'm going to be able to... Stephanie> Okay.

Terasa> Is this embroidery thread?

Stephanie> Yes.

It is.

But I've seen it done with, like, natural fabric as well, you know, like, Terasa> like a joot or something, maybe.

Stephanie> And keep that nature thing.

You can even put like a little acorn hat or topper on there.

You just make it all natural.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

And so you said people used to have fancy things that they would cover the plain buttons on their dresses with.

Stephanie> Oh, yeah.

(laughs) The button, they're in our button stash.

We came across some button covers.

Amanda> And they were your grandmother's Stephanie> Yes.

I have one.

Katie does.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

Stephanie> So you just slide that over your button and snap it on it.

Hannah> It's so natural.

Amanda> I have never I've never heard of that.

Yeah.

Let's see.

Katie> Instant pizzazz.

Stephanie> Yeah.

Where did it go?

Katie> It's like a heart.

Amanda> Where did she, where did she live?

Stephanie> She lived in Stamford, Connecticut, and she was a seamstress.

Amanda> Oh.

So no wonder she was a couple...Yes.

Yeah.

all those things were just a natural part of what she did.

Stephanie> She worked in a dress shop, and so she, you know, helped make dresses and fit dresses.

And so forth.

Amanda> Do you have anything left that she made?

Stephanie> I don't.

No, but, I have her button collection.

Katie> Yeah.

Stephanie> And her handkerchief collection and things like that.

Hannah> Her creativity Stephanie> And her creativity.

Amanda> I think you said she was very ladylike and wore gloves.

Stephanie> Oh, yes.

I have her gloves.

She back in the, what, their late 30s, 40s she had.

Amanda> Oh, you couldn't go downtown without your gloves.

It was very.... Stephanie> Yes.

Amanda> Isn't that funny?

Well, things have changed somewhat.

Yeah, yeah.

(laughs) I've.

It was hard for me to keep gloves, white, and clean.

When I was a little girl, and we had to wear them to Sunday School Stephanie> Yeah, Amanda> I was not a very clean.

And, you know, Stephanie> I can imagine.

Right.

And...the way of the state of my fingernails are most of the time I would, yeah.

I would get gloves dirty.

Amanda> Whoa!

What a great idea.

Katie> They're a statement earring, yes.

Hannah> Is it a statement?

Katie> For sure.

Amanda> Yes, it is.

Dang.

Pretty cool.

Hannah> Thank you.

Thank you.

Amanda> Wow!

We'll have to think of a party to have so that everybody can make their own earrings.

Hannah> A button party.

Amanda> Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

So you really could easily go out and find, I mean, not as lovely, buttons, but there are opportunities to find some pretty cool looking buttons out there if you go to a store that's especially nice.

Stephanie> A craft shop or something like that for sure.

Or like I said, just sort of something from nature, you know, some little berries or, Amanda> Yeah.

Hannah> I have...oak caps... Stephanie> Yeah, the acorn caps.

Amanda> Aren't they just the most wonderful thing.

Hannah> You just put some hot glue on it.

Stephanie> Yeah.

Yeah.

Amanda> My heart was broken, when I found out that they weren't native.

Did you know that?

Stephanie> No.

They're not.

>> Dr. John told me and I was like awww...

I'm so sorry, because it's just one of my favorites, anyway.

But that's okay.

I don't think it's considered to be invasive in any way.

Hannah> No.

Good.

Amanda> Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well, Terasa, what else can we do?

Terasa> You know, we talk a lot about managing pests in our home garden and how it's important to monitor frequently before a pest maybe gets out of control and Hannah- Amanda>-and also to identify it.

Terasa> Oh, yes.

First you got to know what it is.

Sometimes we can make a problem worse if we try to treat it, if we don't know exactly what it is.

And does the same kind of principle apply to our large row crop farmers?

Hannah> Yes.

Yes.

You.

So there's different several different ways that you can test for insects and monitor and scout.

We, we have a beet cloth.

It looks like, just a drop cloth and it has dowel rods on the ends.

And so they roll up like a giant scroll, almost.

Yeah, but between the row space and they're either 30 inches, 38 inches or whatnot, and you can make your beet cloth about that long.

It looks like a two by three or a three by three type cloth.

And you unroll it, you take the groupings of the plants and you just lean over and just literally beat it... Amanda> Yeah.

(All laugh) Hannah> And then you quickly roll up your stuff or take it to the side and you're able to count all the different things in there.

So there's caterpillars, there's, you know, green, there's stinkbugs, there's all different types of- Amanda>-Do you have to put it in the refrigerator so they get cold, so that you can count them...?

Hannah> No, no, no.

Amanda> You do it pretty quickly?

Hannah> The idea is you're walking around several different spots in the fields, because generally insects will infiltrate from the sides in a lot of instances.

So we, we walk around, we take several different counts, to kind of see what type of insects are coming in and when the levels are higher.

If we have our pod feeding insects on our soybeans especially, we need to start timing our sprays just right to make sure we have the best impact whenever we do treat.

Amanda> And don't you all have economic thresholds And you say- Hannah> That's great.

Good job.

>> Can you explain that a little bit to people?

Hannah> So so yes.

Whenever we start looking at our insect populations going up, there's a peak.

Jeremy Green, he's actually our entomologist, will send out, a weekly newsletter.

And it has a graph over when the insect population is expected to get really high.

Maybe it's the Velvetbean caterpillar or swooping looper.

Right.

And so whenever those insect levels are getting high enough, we know we're going to time it just before we have a major hatch or, or infiltration that comes in like army worms were terrible this summer, right?

Stephanie> Yes, really, really bad.

Hannah> And so we not only scout by using a beet cloth, but if we have, it looks like a giant butterfly net, and you just take it, you sweep it like this, and you do so many passes in a field, and you gather it up and count, when you get back to the truck, and you do that several different times to see what our threshold number is.

And the threshold number is if we have maybe ten caterpillars per plant, then we've exceeded that threshold.

We want to keep it in between like a 1 to 2, 3 to 4 type of thing.

But it depends on the species of whatever insect we're monitoring.

Amanda> So what you, what you, what you're doing is you're saying we can the, the damage that the insect is going to cause is lower than my coming in and doing a spray?

Hannah> Correct, correct.

So there's a certain cost per spray if we have to spray with a helicopter or a drone or, or with our tractor, and that cost associates with, are we going to be able to make that return off of the field.

And so if the insects have already come in and destroyed most of our blooms or our pods or whatever it is or damaged it enough, then we know we're not going to be able to harvest, is what we're going to be able to spray to get back off of it.

That's what you're alluding to is economic threshold level.

Amanda> Yeah, I think.

yeah.

>> It's a lot of information.

There's all kinds of publications.

Amanda> And I think it's, you know, I mean, it used to be just, you know, if you see something you just spray and I think there's really such a conscious effort to only spray when it's going to be effective and necessary.

Hannah> Correct, yeah.

Monitoring, scouting, making sure you, you trust who your scout is or you're doing it yourself.

Amanda> Yeah okay.

Thank you.

Terasa> And it really applies back to our home landscapes, as well.

You know, sometimes I think we might have a little bit unrealistic expectations that we're going to have a landscape that's pest free, but really we might be able to tolerate.

So it's the same sort of thing.

We can tolerate damage.

Flea beetles and eggplant is a pretty good example.

It might not look pretty to you, but generally, as long as the plants aren't super tiny, they can tolerate quite a bit of damage from the flea beetles.... Amanda> They're just kind of a...little pest on eggplants.

And I do love eggplants.

Stephanie> When they've been in ornamental things in the landscape.

I just say step away, step three feet away.

Can you tell there's any problem?

Amanda> Yeah.

Stephanie> No.

Then that's fine, you know?

Amanda> Yeah.

It's not like somebody is coming and wiping the top of desk to see if you have it dusted.

Right?

Terasa> It's not like the baseboard in your house.

Amanda> Oh.

(laughing) Don't, don't come to my house.... (laughing) Is there someone else, we can help.

Terasa> We are going to try to help Brien in Lyman, who said I need to install a privacy hedge that's fast growing, but I'm not a fan of the typical ligustrum hedges that most of my neighbors have.

Are there alternatives?

Amanda> Terribly invasive.

>> I know I was going to say I appreciate that.

We don't want to add invasive species to our landscape.

What it is, is what do you advise?

Katie> So certainly, yes, as we alluded to, you know, Privet, Ligustrum whatever you want to call it, horribly invasive.

However, down at the plantation, we've actually had great success with two very different types of hedge rows.

One of my favorite is kind of an unexpected choice, but it is, actually a conifer, which can be a little tricky and problematic.

But the Arizona cypress, specifically the Carolina Sapphire varieties, Amanda> It's just in the smell.

Katie> It's aromatic.

Amanda> The fragrance.

Absolutely.

That I mean, when you kind of, agitate the leaves, you get this great, like, winter kind of cologne smell.

It has a beautiful kind of silver metallic blue to it So, that gives you a little interest.

Something other than green.

You know, it's coniferous.

And so it has that great, kind of, pyramidal, shape.

It naturally grows very fast at 1 to 2 foot a year, which I think is fast.

Amanda> That's pretty quick.

Katie> That's pretty quick results.

So certainly we've had great success with that.

Amanda> I've also found that when decorating for Christmas, that one, can last a long time without being in water.

So if I'm making a wreath or something for a mantle I can use that in rack and get that wonderful fragrance.

And it's going to last a long time, which is just another great thing about it.

Katie>-major ornamental impact for sure, like you say.

So beyond that, oh, and I should mention too, with that particular, Arizona cypress, I noticed that it seems to be fairly low maintenance, pest and disease resistant.

And I read that it was resistant to canker and a few other fungal things that typically plague other conifers.

So, I'd like to plug that.

Yeah, but another, very effective, I'd say moderate to fast growing hedge, is a type of viburnum.

So viburnum suspensum, has these great leathery leaves, that resist deer, very evergreen and lush and deep colored all year long.

And we just use that at a couple of our wedding venues.

Or we might have needed to cover some utilities or.

Amanda> Oh good, yeah, Katie> Just some bare areas, And again, that puts off more like one to 1.5 feet of new growth per year.

Amanda> Well that's... that, you know, Katie> Not for nothing.

Amanda> I wish I had that kind of growth when I was coming along.

Katie> Exactly.

(laughter) So, sometimes if folks are looking it up or googling it, it's also called, Sandankwa viburnum or Viburnum suspensum, because there's all different kinds out there.

You might not want to accidentally plant a dwarf or, you know, another type you might be disappointed with.

But for privacy screening, I would suggest that.

Amanda> I think that's wonderful.

Thank you for sharing it with us.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well, Ms. Terasa, whom can we help now?

Terasa> Maybe we can all chime in on what we could add to our our landscape, that would be like winter interest and potentially support pollinators.

This question came in from Mark in Charleston.

And, you know, that's a lot to support pollinators give winter interest.

Although it might be more, geographically...because I'm thinking the green in the winter, you know, we might not see many pollinators in it actually.

Yes.

Amanda> Well, y'all chime in.

Stephanie> I will say my favorite thing to, lately, my soapbox has been to leave your ornamental grasses up.

So leave them up.

Leave that dead foliage.

It's pretty.

Don't go to the, don't go out and try to buy corn stalks or decorate in the fall or whatever.

Leave the ornamental grasses.

Amanda> And I found that a good many of them, the native ones are, a larval food sources, as well.

Stephanie> They're larval food sources.

The birds enjoy the seeds that cover for insects and other wildlife, so leave them until spring when they start to grow new growth on the bottom.

And then you can cut them back.

Amanda> but you don't have to.

Stephanie> But you don't have to .

Amanda> If you get to too busy.

Stephanie> Yeah.

If that's your, if that's your taste, Amanda> What happens if you have you get time to climb out of this pit, to judging soils- Stephanie> Yes!

Amanda>-What would you suggest?

Hannah> I'll come in!

Generally our growers will plant a cover crop.

And so the cover crops can get anything from clover, any type of vetch, that type of thing.

the rye, the oats, those are really pretty too.

even dried late season for decoration in your house.

I have some.

Amanda> Some of them add nitrogen, I guess.

Hannah> That's correct.

They fix nitrogen.

The the, legumes will.

And they'll turn around and be a food source and a pollinator habitat, especially early spring.

Amanda> How about that?!

And you have to really consider beauty when people are coming.

So what do you think of sometimes, in those cases?

Katie> Certainly.

So for ornamental interest for us, the viewer or the gardener and the pollinators.

Camellias are great, because you can plant a variety of, both the sasanqua which have already started for us and have been blooming quite early October all the way through March with your japonica species.

And so you can really eke out a long bloom window by planting various types, and then they produce all kinds of pollen for our bees- Amanda> How about that.

Katie>-native pollinators.

Amanda> Yeah.

You know, they're kind of like, you live in South Carolina and since July and it hasn't rained.

But, (laughs) thank you all so much for being here.

And thank you all for being with us.

And we hope that we'll see you next time.

Night.

Night.

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

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

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

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

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

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