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I was also able to test out a new botanical omri (organically) approved botanical fungicide for use on peach for blossom blight.  I was able to perform two tests of this product on farm to see its effectiveness. I was able to test it at Glory Farms in York Co. SC on Downy Mildew of several leafy greens and this was under a protective structure. I was also able to test it on Blossom blight of peach at peach farm near Chesnee SC. Neither test was randomized. I will summarize my findings separately.  Glory Farms is an organic farm and had a problem in their spinach greens but upon investigating it was downy mildew and the disease was widely spread throughout multiple greens varieties and species and throughout the entire protected house. The disease was progressing rapidly. There weren’t many options for her organically and I wasn’t sure what I was going to recommend.  I remembered that I had the new product you had told me of EcoSwing but I had not considered it because my plans were to use it for peach.  After speaking with the company representatives, it was labeled and worth giving it a try even though this was more of a “rescue” kind of situation at that point.  On March 6, 2020 I sprayed the product myself on 4 rows of greens.  There were 2 rows of spinach 1 ½ rows of Arugula, and ½ row of Mustard. I mixed the product at a rate of 1 fl.oz./gallon of water and sprayed each 40 foot row with 1 gallon of product. In the worst areas on each row I made sure to leave a small 3 foot area of row unsprayed to be able to see the difference between sprayed and unsprayed easily. I had the grower inspect the plants for the next two days after application and there was no foliar damage from applying the product even though I had applied during the hottest part of the day. After 2 weeks, I returned to assess the results. I found that product was able to control this disease. My controls were completely destroyed with very few plants remaining in those entire blocks but my treated areas were fully intact albeit the disease wasn’t completely eradicated. I should have had actual stand counts before and after to better show this more accurately, but I only did estimates of % of full stand.  Spinach before treatment was estimated at 75% of a stand and 2 weeks later still retained 75% of a stand or possibly slightly higher. The Arugula and the mustard were in similar situations but started with slightly higher stands 85% and finishing with 85%. The untreated controls for spinach started with the 75% but ended up with less than 10% as did the arugula and mustard went from 85% down to less than 10% of a stand 2 weeks after application.
I also tested EcoSwing in the bloom of CaroKing variety peaches. The grower in this case sprayed twice with product during bloom.  I evaluated the bloom by taking bloom counts between the control and the treated row.  Unfortunately, the disease pressure was very low and, unknown to me at the time, I did not have a true untreated control. I had trees that had EcoSwing being compared to trees that had Bravo applied at the same interval. On each branch I just looked at the number of surviving blooms/fruit versus number total number of flowers present to try and compare. I wasn’t able to find anything that I knew for sure was blossom blight so this was an attempt to see if there were any differences between the two treatments. There were none.  The Bravo treated trees and the EcoSwing trees both had nearly identical numbers of surviving flower/fruit. Cold damage had also hurt this crop as well. It is a little more bud tender than many. Assessment was done on March 20th. Picture below shows one of the shoots I would take data on counting number of live flowers/fruit to total number of flowers/fruit per shoot.  I still have some product left over that was not used. Hopefully, this coming year I will have more time to plan a small protocol for evaluating it on peach or possibly strawberry.  I am thankful I now know more about this product and what it is capable of doing.

I tested two products (AKX‐835 / AKX‐244) for cold freeze protection claims as compared to a control early this spring.  Agro-K is a fertilizer company and have two proprietary products they allowed me to test for frost freeze protection.  They were applied according to there protocol with temperature recorders in each treatment and at different heights within the trees.  Treatments were not replicated but were randomized within a block of ‘Flavorich’ peach trees at a farm near Cooley Springs, SC.  Multiple applications were made of the products approximately 24 hours before each of the freeze events as directed from early bloom through end of bloom.  Fertilizers were sprayed thoroughly into the trees at approximately a 200 gal/acre total volume with the appropriate product at the suggested rate.  Bloom began shortly before February 26, 2020 when recorders were placed in the trees and first application made.  Our first freeze event in the bloom occurred on February 27th (27F low), 28th (25.5F low), 29th (28F low), March 1st (21.2F low).  Second application was made on March 6th and we had freezing temperatures on March 7th (24.8F low), 8th (29F low), and 9th (29.8F low).  These products never claimed to give this degree of protection in fact after talking with company representatives they didn’t expect the products to have worked at all.  I waited until after fruit had fully pollinated and fruit had grown to golf ball size but had not been thinned.  Dr. Guido Schnabel and I did random branch fruit counts on each of the treatments and the control.We found no significant differences between treatments even though there appeared to be a higher fruit load on the AKX-835 treatment.  The grower estimated only ½ bu per tree in the AKX-234 and 2 ½ bu per tree in the AKX-835 and the control treatment.  The control treatment was badly selected as it was an outside row receiving more sunlight which was exaggerated because the trees were planted in east to west orientation.  The control trees also bloomed about 1 week later than the rest of the block of trees.  I am glad I did this work with the assistance of the grower.  Further examination is planned for next year.

Planted onfarm muscadine trial with novel true seedless plants developed from Gardens Alive Nursery and also some plants from the breeding program at the University of Georgia, Dr. Patrick Conners program on a large muscadine farm near Inman, SC.  The purpose of establishing this test site was to expose the significantly sized grower some other options that are available to him.  I also plan on doing demonstrations on this site in the future and including other novel varieties that I receive from breeding programs that show promise.  This years work amounted to planting and multiple visits to prune, tie/train, fertilize and spray if needed to take care of these plants.  Many of these plants have reached the top wire and are now developing the cordons.  Some fruit data will be available next year.  Also with the help of a master gardener volunteer we were able to take diameter measurements at planting.  I will measure them again this winter to get a measure of how much each of them grew this year.  Bloom, fruit yield and fruit quality will all be measured next year.

Insect monitoring paid off in assisting all of the peach growers in the Chesnee area with critical information on whether or not their sprays were controlling a fruit worm that had done significant damage in previous years.  With the information we were able to provide we were able to save growers and the environment from ineffective sprays.  We also helped make recommendations as to rotations of insecticides that would be helpful for controlling this pest.

I remained vigilant this year on assisting growers with there on farm needs related to insect and disease problems as well as weed control problems and the like.   I am currently assisting many growers with planting of strawberry plants.  We have 1 new grower in the area and many others who have never used the type of plant they are having to use this year directly because of problems with getting strawberry plants due to COVID outbreaks in the strawberry plant growing regions.  It was a very different year but a very successful year for many of the farms.  Thank you so much for your continued support of Clemson Extension Service!

Maybe it was the short-supply of meat at the grocery or the increased time at home caused by the pandemic but I saw a huge increase in “homesteaders” in the metropolitan areas that I cover in Spartanburg, York, and Cherokee Counties. It was encouraging to see so many people take an interest in their food supply. These homesteaders are your typical suburbanites many of which have never cared for much more than a dog or cat that utilized their new-found time to raise chickens, hogs, and/or goats. I saw an increase in requests for information on purchasing, raising, as well as harvesting these animals. Perhaps the only “normal” thing about this year was the volume of farm visits. Fortunately, I was able to continue making visits by practicing CDC guidelines so I was able to average about 4 farms per week since March. Unfortunately, we could not gather for large workshops so like everything else I moved to a virtual platform. I helped develop and teach many workshop series on forage management, livestock nutrition, and cattle marketing. Early during the pandemic, I had time to get some writing published (link below) and I submitted articles of timely information to the local newspaper and my e-newsletter. I attended numerous professional development courses on livestock nutrition and forage production that have directly led to the implementation of my Forage Focus workshops. I have facilitated and taught virtual meetings for local livestock associations. I have maintained forage demo plots and worked with other agents to create video highlights for a virtual plot tour. I’ve spent many days shooting and editing footage of No-Till drill calibration and farm visits. I have worked with local cattlemen to vaccinate and market over 150 calves for video sales and the Mountain Cattle Alliance. In addition, I’ve worked with SC Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Ranchers to secure food donations from local producers to food banks, hosted virtual farm tours, and participated in “virtual lunch” with state leaders. Although COVID has presented many challenges, I’ve been blessed with new opportunities and avenues to help our producers.
https://lgpress.clemson.edu/publication/mud-management-for-south-carolina-livestock-farmers/

South Carolina, as the rest of the world, since March-2020, is facing unprecedented circumstances due to the world pandemic for COVID-19. The Clemson EFNEP statewide family as every South Carolinian, learned to live a new lifestyle. We acquired new hygiene routines, social distancing routines, etc. Clemson EFNEP canceled all in person classes statewide and stopped teaching in the schools as these, also closed their doors to the public.

Our beloved children, adult learners’ lives, and their safety, became our first priority. Life as we had always known, was changed overnight and the new lifestyle presented us with new challenges, this did not stop the EFNEP team to caring for our consumers and found innovative ways to serve the Spartanburg Co. community.

We came up with methods and systems all new to us to thrive in our passion for serving our consumers Evelyn Santana, the appointed EFNEP Nutrition Educator for Spartanburg Co. steadily worked with our partners throughout the county to do what we do best, teaching nutrition lessons and keeping Spartanburg residents, a little healthier.  As of today, we can say that the EFNEP Nutrition Educator for Spartanburg Co Extension Office has been working hard to teach youth and adults, taking advantage of the extra time parents and children had to spend at their homes. The Eating Smart Being Active Curriculum is taught to adults, in both English and Spanish, these are a series of lessons, 100% free of cost for low-income families caring for children ages 18 and under.
If you or someone you know would like to take advantage of these classes, do not hesitate to contact us. Evelyn can be reached at the Spartanburg County Office’s telephone number (864) 491-0421 or at easanta@clemson.edu for virtual classes

The Food Systems and Safety team has been hard at work delivering virtual programs on home food preservation, produce safety, human and pet food manufacturing, and food safety for food entrepreneurs. Additionally, individual conversations with clients have addressed questions on ServSafe® certifications, and in each of the areas previously mentioned.  Highlights of the programs delivered by the Upstate Food Systems and Safety Agent, Rebecca Baxley since the beginning of April include:

• · Introduction to Home Canning virtual webinar.  42 participants logged in live, 40 viewed the recording.
• · Food Preservation for SC Educators webinar.  SC School and Community Garden summer workshop series.  142 attendees.
• · Preventive Controls for Animal Food Manufacturing webinar.  Team member.  12 participants representing 9 individual firms.
• · Learn to Can Blueberry Jam video for TD Market Educational Series, Greenville SC.  319 views.
• · Jams and Jellies virtual workshop, team member.  Live canning in real time via zoom.  5 participants.
• · Estimated over 100 individual interactions with stakeholders through phone call and email

As we move into the fall, there is no time to slow down.  A few things Rebecca is working on to be introduced in the coming months are below:
Coming Soon…
A new Food Systems and Safety blog is under development.  Look for a link to our new blog that will serve as a hub for information and allow stakeholders to interact with agents.
Home Food Preservation Roundtable on November 7, 2020.  In this virtual hour-long discussion, we will feature a recipe (Apple Wedges in Red Hot Cinnamon Syrup) and a canning method (Atmospheric Steam Canner).  Registration link is here:  https://clemson.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0kd-muqTsrEt3jxoziLY9HlVjoosQasdZL
Home Food Preservation and Food Safety educational cards are under development for point of purchase distribution.  Look for these cards with preservation tips, recipes, and food safety information at farmer’s markets, produce stands and farm stores beginning in the Spring of 2021.

The year of virtual 4-H programming started in March when our summer camps, school visits and fairs were canceled. Luckily 4-H teaches creative thinking and problem solving. Here we are in October having reached more youth during the pandemic than we had in the summer of 2019. In May we launched the Upstate Fishing Project from Spartanburg and Union County with 58 participants from around the state. These 4-H members fished all summer and recorded every catch, while making important observations about their environment and weather conditions. We also launched the Spartanburg County Tomato Project where youth were given 2 tomato plants

to grow at home and complete a record book on their experience. In early June Spartanburg Launched its first ever Summer Camp Kits where families could order one of four kits with 5-8 activities each to do at home in leu of traditional day camps, we had 95 participants in the first round. We offered Pinterest, Science Fun with Kitchen Chemistry, Cloverbud and Embryology options. This was so popular we decided to offer it again in July with new Pinterest, Nature, Cloverbud and Embryology options. We were still getting calls and emails requesting the embryology project, so we ended up offering it two more times having a total of 65 families incubate and hatch chickens at home. Many of these families were first time 4-H participants and have decided to join 4-H for the 2020-2021 year because of their experiences this summer. In August we hosted a virtual cooking camp with 28 youth participants learning to cook at home.
In a typical year September is the launch of a new 4-H year and that includes school visits and lots of after school programming. However, due to covid-19 restrictions we were not able to launch all the in-person clubs that we would normally. Again, we had to get creative and we started offering virtual 4-H clubs. We have clubs that focus on specific project areas and meet anywhere

from once a week to once a month. These clubs include a cooking, sewing, robotics and horse club. We were able to resume our partnership with the Upstate Boys & Girls Clubs and are offering 4-H activities to 3rd-5th graders at two sites and hoping to start with the other schools soon. This fall we will continue to operate virtually for 4-H club meetings, but we have plans for fall and winter break kits available to 4-H families.  4-H is available to all youth ages 5-18. We also have plenty of volunteer opportunities for caring adults.

In the wake of the pandemic, though the extension office has been closed to the general public, Horticulture Agent Drew Jeffers has responded by moving his programs to virtual, as well as answering stakeholder calls and emails remotely. Drew has answered 757 phone call and email client questions between March 2020 and October 2020 and has performed 34 site visits for government and residential clients. Over the past 7 Months, Jeffers has conducted a total of 19 webinars, produced 10 quick tip Facebook videos, and held 2 online self-paced courses, reaching a grand total 4,648 people.

Landscape management firms need access to research backed training. A team of extension agents led by Horticulture Agent, Drew Jeffers, worked for just over a year to develop a comprehensive, online training course. The South Carolina Certified Landscape Professional Online Program (SCCLP) is designed to give landscape professionals an avenue for convenient training and continuing education. The program aims to help landscape professionals set themselves apart as individuals going above and beyond to make sure they deliver high-quality service and accurate knowledge. Upon completion, the participant will receive a certificate with their certification number, a logo embroidered shirt, and a vehicle magnet. Once certified, the professionals will have to maintain this certification by completing continuing education credit hours. There are also additional courses available for professionals to go beyond the initial certification and receive additional training. The SCCLP website,  provides not only information about the course, but also a listing of SCCLP certification holders. Homeowners will be able to verify credentials and search for a certification holder that may be in their area. The course was launched as pilot in mid Spring 2020, with 32 participants and a 100% completion rate. The Fall 2020 Course has a total 92 registrants and is expected to have a 100 % completion rate. Registration is now open for the Spring 2021 course.

Jeff Fellers has adapted his programming to the COVID -19 situation. In addition to Spartanburg, Fellers also covers Newberry, Union, Cherokee, York, Chester, and Lancaster counties. Fellers has helped 316 people via phone calls,  emails, and site visits, impacting 3,907 acres for forest and pond management. Fellers has produced 50 videos, housed on the Union County Facebook Page, reaching a total of 57,704 people as of the time of this article, with an average of 2,219 people per video. Fellers has also conducted webinars, providing educational outreach to nearly 60 participants (See list below for details).

· May 22, 2020 – Wildlife Food Plot 101 – 8 Participants
· August 25, 2020 – Virtual Forestry Association Meeting – Fall   Food plots – 50+ participants
· October 27, 2020 – Virtual Forestry Association meeting – Privet Control – Participants TBA

The warm weather has many Cherokee county residents preparing fields, lawns, and gardens for spring. Let Clemson Extension help you make this the most productive season. We offer various sampling and testing services to help you grow the best lawn, tomato, or herd of cattle. While we provide analyses of surface water, plants, poultry litter, feed, and forage, our most popular test is soil sampling. Whether you plant a raised bed or hundreds of acres of soybeans, sampling can prescribe the correct amount of fertilizer or soil amendment to help the plant reach its full potential. Without a test, it’s just a guess. Guessing at the amount of fertilizer or lime is poor practice. Excess nitrogen and phosphorous runoff cause algae bloom and many other issues that have been demonstrated to have serious impacts on our environment, human health, and economy.

Of course, soil sampling requires planning ahead to allow shipment and processing of the samples. Most of the year, the lab can process samples in 5 days, but it can take as much as 10 to 14 days during peak season. So plan on getting by the office soon to get your samples sent off. For your convenience, we added a drop box at the front door of the county administration building. There you will find the soil sample bags and forms. Standard soil samples are $6 and payable by check or card. Soil samples may be dropped off Monday through Friday 8:30 to 5; all other samples must be scheduled. For more information on the dropbox, call the office (864.489.3141) or contact the Home and Garden Information Center at 1-888-656-9988 for more information on sampling and other garden questions. Follow this link for a how-to video on collecting a soil sample.

https://hgic.clemson.edu/how-to-take-a-soil-sample/

Christopher LeMaster
Livestock and Forage Agent
Cherokee, Spartanburg, Union, and York
Clemson Cooperative Extension Service
clemast@clemson.edu