Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow! The world is shrinking, it’s amazing how ideas can move so quickly across the globe. At the Natural Resouces Conservation Services/ richland County Soil and Water Conservation district field day I attended at Carter Farms in Eastover, USC professor Buz kloot k l o o t, talked about the journey he, Gordon Mikell, and Jason Carter have taken in growing crops with no tillage and minimal inputs – but with economically viable yields. The secret is regarding the soil not just as the medium in which we grow plants but as a living organisms that must be nurtured . Dr. Kloot, trained in South Africa, was first a water quality expert but now helps farmers protect water by the new farming practice of no till and cover crops. You can find Dr. Kloots youtube videos and learn more if you search “Dirt Diaries Kloot."
Amanda McNulty is a Clemson University Extension Horticulture agent and the host of South Carolina ETV’s Making It Grow! gardening program. She studied horticulture at Clemson University as a non-traditional student. “I’m so fortunate that my early attempts at getting a degree got side tracked as I’m a lot better at getting dirty in the garden than practicing diplomacy!” McNulty also studied at South Carolina State University and earned a graduate degree in teaching there.