Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. I’ve been noticing Chickasaw plums on my drive to Sumter recently. I see them on the dry, open woodlands as I drive down towards the Wateree flood plain.

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Both Prunus serotina, black cherry, and Prunus caroliniana, cherry laurel, contain prussic acid, cyanide, and the wilted leaves especially are harmful to horses and cattle. If you crush the leaves of black cherry, you can really smell that acrid compound. On the other hand, if you rub cherry laurel glossy evergreen leaves together between your hands, they smell just like maraschino cherries.

For immediate release:
April 8, 2019

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina Educational Television (SCETV) and South Carolina Public Radio today launched a new, storytelling-focused weather service.

Making It Grow taped a segment at Hudson’s Resturaunt in Hilton Head, S.C. Host and Clemson Extension Agent Amanda McNulty talked with owner Andrew Carmines about their soft shell crabs and also their oyster operation.  In the spring, Hudson’s has a soft shell crab shedding operation that includes shedding boxes in the packinghouse with a water circulating system to facilitate and manage the molting process. Once the crabs back out of their shells, they are immediately removed and served at the restaurant. Last year they shed out over 2,300 crabs

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Our native black cherry, Prunus serotina, is usually defaced this time of year by a large web of silk that houses several hundred leaf-eating Eastern tent caterpillars. If you can reach the web, use a small rake to pull the mass to the ground. Then you can actually stomp on the caterpillars and destroy them.

When the “light emitting diode,” or “LED” light was first developed, it was primarily used as an indicator light in lab equipment. But as the low energy consumption of LEDs was observed, and costs for manufacturing LEDs went down, the new lighting technology found its way into the hands of consumers. Users of the more modern light bulbs not only began to see lower power bills, but also noticed how rarely they needed to replace their LED bulbs.

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Prunus serotina, black cherry, is our most important and largest native cherry tree in North America. It has a huge range, from the middle of Canada to Florida, over to Texas and Arizona and even with a subspecies that extends into Mexico and parts of Central America.

To learn more about Southern heritage Crops, Clemson Extension Agent and Host of "Making It Grow" Amanda McNulty travels to Charleston, SC and the home of award winning author, chef and TV host Nathalie Dupree. Here, Chef Kristian Niemi joins the conversation and also prepares some of his favorite dishes using southern heritage crops.

Jessica Shillato, Executive Chef/Owner of Spotted Salamander Catering in Columbia, SC, visited us at "Making It Grow" and shared with us her recipe for Sweet and Sour Collards. Chef Shillato is also selected as a 2019 South Carolina Chef Ambassador to help promote local food and ingredients in the Palmetto State.