When I was growing up in S.C., we kids played outdoors, most days. The weather didn’t matter; I was all about being outside – running, biking, swimming, climbing trees, and exploring. I’ve always enjoyed the woods and creating trails and forts.
While exploring, I loved picking/eating ‘wild’ fruit. My family always had a big garden, so I was accustomed to having melons, green beans, corn, etc. in one form or another pretty much year ‘round. But there was something kind of neat about eating fruit ‘in the woods.’ We picked blackberries, plums, black cherries, peaches, muscadines, ate the nectar from honeysuckle, and chewed on sour weeds.
A native fruit I (don’t think I’ve ever) heard about is the pawpaw. Apparently, pawpaw is the largest edible fruit native to the U.S., including the Carolinas. Making It Grow included a segment about pawpaw trees on the May 12, 2020 show. Viewing it, I was surprised I’ve never seen the pawpaw tree or fruit. Surely, I would have climbed a tree to get to that fruit!
Harvest is from mid-August into October. The fruit grows in clusters of 2-12 pawpaw. Each individual fruit grows 3-6 inches long, looks like a kidney bean, and can weigh 5-16 ounces. The inside texture is like rich, creamy custard. Simply slice the fruit in half and scoop the flesh out of the skin like it’s a cup. The taste is described as a combination of banana, mango, pineapple.
Pawpaws are a good source of potassium, vitamin C (about 1/3 as an orange), and several amino acids. The protein in pawpaw contains all essential amino acids. Pawpaw contains significant amounts of calcium, zinc, phosphorous, niacin, and riboflavin.
Pawpaw is difficult to sell in retail establishments due to short shelf life. It may be found at local
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Bloomcore, also known as flowercore, is an aesthetic trend that is just right for gardeners. It embraces the natural world, and most importantly, flowers. Putting nature first, it creates a pretty, flowery look both indoors and outside in the garden.
A cherry plum, sweet, thin-skinned and very prolific (you’ll also find it sold under ‘Red Grape Sugar Plum’). It was in the top three of our recent taste test and everyone liked it for its strong tomato flavour that’s sweet but not overly so, and its firm not mushy texture. It has a slight acidity running through it which all sweet tomatoes need. It ripens quite late compared to ‘Sungold’ and produces for a long period of time. It’s lovely in a mixed salad with the larger varieties.
Welcome to the wild ride known as parenting teens! If you’ve ever found yourself caught between eye-rolling moments and heartwarming instances of wisdom, these quotes about parenting teenagers will definitely hit the spot.
As the country begins taking stock of the damage caused by hurricane Ophelia and works to restore power to much of Scotland and Northern England, gardeners throughout the country are lamenting the destruction of their gardens.
No food signifies summer more than watermelon. We’re so sweet on the hot pink (or yellow) fruit that we designed an entire watermelon bar party showcasing the many ways to snack on, sip, and even centerpiece-ify the hydrating produce item.
No other plant native to South Carolina has such fragrant and beautiful spring blooms and stunning fall color as the witch-alders. Fothergilla was named after Dr. John Fothergill, an English physician and gardener who funded the travels of John Bartram through the Carolinas in the 1700’s. These beautiful shrubs have been planted in both American and English gardens for over 200 years, including gardens of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
Are you frustrated because there are dandelions and other weeds in your lawn? Did you know that dandelion flowers provide one of the first springtime sources of pollen for bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects?
MY GARDENING LIFE STARTED with a hedge—cutting one back hard, specifically. It was the threadbare, tall old privet surrounding my childhood home, and I was determined to “rejuvenate” it, after reading about the process in a book. No artful hedge has ever been created by my hands, though—a fact that feels all the more lamentable after watching Sean Conway’s video tour (above) of designer and nurseryman Piet Oudolf’s garden in the Netherlands. What magic.