Making It Grow

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. In an effort to stop the potential extermination of native birds being used in the millinery trade, Congress passed the Lacey Act in 1900 which made it unlawful to transport illegally procured animals across state lines. Meanwhile, a new threat emerged as Florida’s homesteaders’ act gave them preference to land under control of the General Land Office.

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Although we often think of Theodore Roosevelt as a relentless hunter of trophy animals, he combined that a passion for understanding the habit, habitat and lifestyles of not only those but other animals in nature. As he waited for transit to Cuba during the Spanish American War, Roosevelt renewed an earlier interest in pelicans, this time spending endless hours observing them in nature from his posting in Tampa.

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow.  Dixon Lanier Merritt, American humorist wrote: A funny old bird is a pelican. His beak can hold more than his belican. Food for a week He can hold in his beak, But I don’t know the helican.

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. I wonder how many more hummingbird feeders we’ve added to our gardens since the pandemic started as birding resource sites report there’s been a huge interest in ornithology recently. Sadly, there was an equal fascination with hummingbirds during the times when features and even entire birds were used as adornments in the world of fashion. There was a massive use of hummingbird bodies mounted on Victorian fans.

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. One early falsehood spread by manufacturers of hats adorned with feathers was that the feathers were gathered from the ground. But as whole birds or parts of birds began to adorn hats the specious nature of that story was revealed. The Empress of Germany Bird of Paradise measuring over two feet from beck to the end of its exquisite tail was hunted almost to extinction and entire stuffed birds were incorporated into hats.

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Woman were blamed for their heartlessness in wearing hats covered with the feathers and body parts of cruelly harvested wild birds. But with time, knowledge of the consequences of this practice prompted many socialites and educated women into campaigning against this practice.

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Gourds were human’s earliest containers. Their diversity in size and shape let early peoples select them for a variety of purposes. Some were cut in half and filled with food, hot rocks were added to cook those contents. Others with flat bottoms and long necks held and easily dispensed liquids. Early on they were decorated as we humans want to add beauty to our homes, be they caves, teepees, or fiber covered structures.

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. As a non-traditional, i.e. older, student, I took one horticulture class with David Bradshaw and my life was changed for the better. Among his infectious passions is an interest in   heirloom seeds and he helped establish an heirloom seed repository at Clemson.

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Bottle gourds have been used by ancient and modern peoples for over ten thousand years now. For religious rites, they’ve been crafted into masks, musical instruments, or sounding devices. From a utilitarian standpoint, bottle gourd uses are incredible diversity -- a container, a dipper, wheels, even   flotation devices.

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. . In many cities these evenings, people go outside  at seven and make noises to communicate their appreciation for front line workers in the covid 19 pandemic. My daughter and her boyfriend in Los Angeles have been participating. Casey, a trained saxophone player, has alternated between blowing two flutes at one time (a common ancient practice) and a digeridoo. Eliza Frezil shakes a tambourine.

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Many specialty good growers rely on high end restaurants to pay top dollar for their meticulously produced crops, often produced on a small acreage farm. With the ban on indoor dining, many restaurants have closed their doors as takeout orders don’t fit with their fine-dining experience. Consequently, their suppliers are taking quite a hit. Some of them are now offering ways for us to enjoy their products and help keep the afloat.

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. The Clemson Extension Horticulture team interacts with professional fruit and vegetable growers as well as home-based clients. Although restricted by safety guidelines during these times, Extension office phones are working and hort agents are available to solve residential and commercial problems.

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. During a recent interview, Commissioner of Agriculture Hugh Weathers detailed the breadth of agricultural activities considered essential during this time of national crisis, and that there is no evidence that food product can transmit the corona virus.

We’ve talked a good bit about how Clemson can help women get up to speed with timber property management but don’t think that’s in anyway all Clemson’s doing. If you search Clemson Extension Forestry and Wildlife Management Resources, you’ll see a variety of programs related to the forestry industry which has a 21 billion dollar impact on our state’s economy and provides close to 100,000 jobs.

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. There’re many benefits to owning timberlands besides the income from harvesting your trees. Some families enjoy hunting or while others gain income by leasing hunting rights to others. Wildlife ecology goes along with hunting in some cases when owners plant food crops and conduct prescribed burns.