While flipping through your channels on a Thursday evening, you land on RFD-TV and see two Southern gentlemen quickly zigzagging through a field of corn. You realize it’s a “maize maze,” are instantly hooked by the sight, and wonder ‘what show could this possibly be?!” Well, you’re watching one of the many entertaining episodes of The Best of Making it Grow!, a joint production of South Carolina Educational Television (ETV) and Clemson University. Web Version Click here for Full PDF The Best of Making it Grow! the Best of South Carolina How it all Began The Best of Making it Grow! sets its roots in Making it Grow!, a hit show also produced dually by Clemson University and ETV. Making it Grow! has won numerous awards, including 2 Regional Emmy Awards for Best Interview/Discussion Program and Set Design, and has expanded to a variety of media, including radio, newspaper, and Internet. Making it Grow! began in 1993, with a focus on promoting the horticultural and agricultural aspects of South Carolina. It has expanded into being one of the premier outlets for South Carolinians to find information about their gardens, farms, plants, and wildlife. Making it Grow! is a highly interactive, live television program, where viewers call in their gardening and agricultural questions to Clemson University’s Rowland Alston, who hosts a panel of experts to answer the various inquiries. “Basically, it’s a common sense approach to gardening,” says Alston, a 30-year veteran of Clemson University and the Clemson Extension Service. “There’s just an insatiable appetite for more information on both houseplants and plants around the landscape.” Making it Grow! also features a taped segment in each show, which focuses on an interesting person, place, or product of South Carolina. There have been over 300 featured segments on Making it Grow! from a banana farmer in Columbia, S.C. to historic plantations of Charleston, S.C., to the numerous turf grass farms in the state. These colorful segments are then repackaged to create The Best of Making it Grow!, which you see on RFD-TV. The Stories Behind the Stories Team Making it Grow!, as the crew of videographers, editors, and production assistants are fondly called, work diligently to bring the segments you see on The Best of Making it Grow! to life. Ed Sexauer, the first producer/director of Making it Grow! remembers one of the first times the crew went to shoot a segment. “We had gone up to the mountains to an apple cider farm. Rowland (Alston) had been talking with the farmer and everything seemed to be fine. He was talking, asking questions, acting normal. Well then we turned the cameras on. All Rowland could get him to say was a very drawled ‘yeeuup’ and ‘nooope.’ He basically had to ask the questions as well as answer them.” The lesson learned that day is that with the intriguing variety of people and places in Svouth Carolina, there are always interesting “behind the scenes” moments with Team Making it Grow! Current Producer/Director Sean Flynn recalls one particular segment with Nancy Basket, the “kudzu lady.” “She was great… she makes paper from kudzu, art from kudzu, her house is covered in kudzu… she even made a kudzu pasta for us. That was interesting,” says Flynn. “We’ve really done some wild segments with people, but we’ve all learned a lot.” Allen Tapp, operations manager for ETV’s South Carolina Channel, shares that sentiment. “Most of us who work on Making it Grow! are South Carolina natives, so when we first started producing the program, we thought we knew everything there was to know about our state. We definitely were wrong.” Team Making it Grow! has also traveled some outside of South Carolina, to interesting sites in North Carolina, Georgia, and most notably, Washington D.C. and the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival in Orlando, FL. Will Anderson, station manager for ETV’s South Carolina Channel and former producer/director of Making it Grow! still enjoys the local segments the best. “Places like Cooper’s Country Store are just fun. Its this little country store that is still a vital part of the community- hams hanging from the rafters, open pit barbecue every Thursday… these are the kinds of places that really make the best Making it Grow! stories.” The Best of Making it Grow! and Making it Grow! are currently in production, and will be as long as there are farmers who grow heirloom vegetables and backyard gardeners cultivating new planting styles. More information about upcoming features can be found at www.mig.org. Premieres Thursdays at 6:00 PM on RFD-TV If you would like more information on this program, South Carolina ETV, or ETV’s South Carolina Channel, please call Sarah Justice, Promotions and Public Information Director of ETV’s South Carolina Channel at 803-773-5546 or email sjustice@scetv.org.   On Now   Little Britches Rodeo Up Next   Dutch Oven and Camp Cooking Followed By   Alaska Magazine TV