Horticulture - America's heartland - Episode 906

America's Heartland is made possible by... Farm Credit - Financing agriculture and rural America since 1916. Farm Credit is cooperatively owned by America's farmers and ranchers. Learn more at farmcredit.com CropLife America - Representing the companies whose modern farming innovations help America's farmers provide nutritious food for communities around the globe.   I wish my garden looked like this. Hi, I'm Jason Schoultz. Plenty of flowers and plants on the show this time. We'll share some ideas on making changes in your garden and pass along some recipes that just might improve the meals on your dinner table. Want fresher vegetables? We'll take you to Pennsylvania to find out how the professionals develop the plants that end up in your yard. We'll head for North Carolina where the hands-on work at one nursery is all done by robots. We'll go from Farm to Fork with Sharon Vaknin and you're going to like what she's making with pears. And you may think you know what oats are. We'll take you down south to discover how Sea Oats are helping one community save their shoreline. It's all coming up on America's Heartland. ♪You can see it in the eyes Of every woman and man♪ ♪In America's Heartland living close to the land♪ ♪There's a love for the country And a pride in the brand♪ ♪In America's Heartland♪ ♪Living close Close to the land♪ ♪♪ >>How does your garden grow? Forget that old nursery rhyme. If you have expert gardeners as they do here at the floriculture exhibit of the California State Fair, you can pretty much count on majestic marigolds and other fancy flowers. But if you think that small plot of flowers or vegetables in your back yard is just small potatoes - well think again. Horticulture...things like nursery stock, flowering plants, vegetable gardens and even Christmas tree farms... is a multi-billion dollar business. Let's give you a little gardening trivia. Geraniums, Impatiens, Petunias and Pansies make the list as the favorite garden flowers in the United States. And who's buying these plants and flowers? Well, California leads the nation in retail sales. Other popular planting places include Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania. And Pennsylvania is the first stop on our planting pilgrimage this time. Our Rob Stewart makes a stop at a nursery that has a very famous name. >>Americans love their produce... Juicy red tomatoes are a favorite! and Tracy Lee knows all about them. >>In my travels and in my job... I've done this for twelve years. And so I have tasted thousands and thousands and thousands of tomatoes! Tracy Lee is the lead horticulturist for the Burpee Seed Company in Warminister, Pennsylvania. One time I tasted in one trip, 200 varieties of tomatoes in about two hours... >>Tracy travels the world for seed selection... and brings them here for production. And even in the dead of winter, spring and summer are the focus here. While snow is still on the ground, Burpee will produce and package seeds for everything from corn to carrots - Zinnias to zucchini. Some of this will go to stores and commercial farming operations but city folks are also getting in on The Farming Act. >>People are going back to growing for just good old home-grown flavor, to save money, to spend time with their families, to take advantage of what they have in their backyard by converting it from just a yard to a paradise. >>This story of seeds began in the 19th century when young W. Atlee Burpee became interested in plant hybrids. >>Today, George Ball directs the firm, living at Ford Hook Farm, the same spot where Burpee established his research and company. >>This is the study where Mr. Burpee wrote the first catalogs. By the early 20th century, Burpee was reaching customers with millions of seed catalogs. Catalogs that have become iconic agricultural treasures. He was only eighteen when he started. So he was kind of a Bill Gates type of thing. The seed was like a microchip in those days. >>So if you innovated on seeds, you innovated on the country's foundation; >>Burpee is credited with originating seeds for sweet corn, lima beans and hybrids of zucchini and melons, and in 1895, he developed his own variety of iceberg lettuce. And that really brought lettuce to the American table because lettuce wilts, and before the advent of the crisp head type of which iceberg was the first. >>So this greenhouse is Burpee's top secret. >>Yeah, this is the top secret mad scientist laboratory! >>Yeah, "No photography, please," the sign says right there on the door. >>Yeah, we have some nice things coming in this greenhouse. Despite the sign, we talked our way in... Discovering the botanical work here focuses not only on plant growth but other attributes as well. >>Wider range of flavors, more textures, more interesting colors, so those are the things that you don't find in nature, but nature has in her genes. And through plant breeding, you can coax out these things that are locked up in the botanical world. >>In addition to produce, Burpee is developing flowers. Some with totally new scents. That's a totally new smell. >>We collect it in the wild and we bring it over here and we do cross-fertilization of different types, again, to bring out those special things that in nature would not be found unless man kind-of does these little teasing out things. >>That evolution of plants for our farms and gardens was a prime focus for W. Atlee Burpee, giving growers a chance to plant the seeds of change. >>Gardening experience is very personal to the customer, and people do it for different reasons. And we're just happy that we're able to provide this product for them. ♪♪ >>To protect a wide variety of genetic seed material, an arctic seed vault has been created in Svalbard, Norway. The vault has a capacity of some 2 Billion seeds. Dedicated to the preservation of crop diversity, the seed vault gathers material from crops and regions around the world and protects them in an underground vault set in Norway's frozen permafrost. >>You may be one of those people who start your flower or vegetable garden from seeds, but lots of us like to use ready-made plants that give us a head start on the season. If that's the case, our Hena Cuevas says there's a good chance the plants in your garden come from one of the largest greenhouses in the United States. ♪♪ >>A crane flies high about a sea of flowers and the pulley system moves thousands of baskets high above the ground. This is Metrolina Greenhouses in North Carolina, and chances are if you've ever planted a garden, you've purchased one of their products. Every year more than 70 million plants, mostly annuals, are grown in this heated greenhouse - the largest in the United States. How big? It's more than 125 acres, or roughly the size of five shopping malls. And it uses the latest in plant technology. One of the most impressive things in the greenhouse is that everything is automated. How did you make that transition? >>We came from Holland, and uh, where we were born. And with the greenhouse industry over there there's not much space. You have to use automation to use every inch of space you have. >>Abe Vanwingerden is Metrolina's president. His family started the nursery in 1972. Back then the greenhouse only occupied an acre. >>What we do in the U.S. here, e're looking also at jobs people hate to do. Whether it's bending over, whether it's having to reach over and grab something, whether it's a multiple repetitive thing they have to do over and over again, we look to find machinery and automation to make that happen. [machines working] >>One example of this automation is the transplanting machine. No human could plant this fast! Here pots go onto a conveyer belt. The machine then adds the soil... as the mechanical arms evenly space the plugs.   >>The transplanting machine has cut production time in half. It can plant 100 of these pots in a minute; a thousand flats an hour. >>You cannot create a machine that makes it 100% perfect so we always have a couple people to fix the misses that occur and also to put in the tags. Each customer has a different tag. A unique code we have to put on it, just quality control to assure the customer gets 4 plants to every pot or whatever it is for whatever size we're building. >>Are you amazed every time you look at the machine? >>Oh, every day. We've had this machine for just a couple of months. We have 18 production lines... Some machines for 10 15 years and I can walk every day and be amazed by what it does and the capability it has. >>Metrolina is one of few greenhouses in the world controlling the process from beginning to end... Starting the plants from either seed or cuttings... Growing them out and shipping them directly to retailers. >>And if we can control that right from the start, right from that seed, or right from that cutting, we have the ability to control that and assure we can get what the customer wants. >>But customers can be fickle. Believe it or not, what's hot and what's not in gardening varies from year to year just like the fashion industry. Every year breeders from around the world pitch their latest creations. At Metrolina, those deemed interesting enough are put to the test in this research house to see if they're worth investing in. And what are some of the new things that are coming out on the market? >>There's a ton of new things. There's a new Campanula which is right here, it's a new pink flower on it. It's a dwarf. These usually grow three or four feet tall. Saw it in Japan, but this is the first time I've seen it in bloom here. I'm like oh ladies are gonna ove that, that one's gonna play. >>Well it just looks just like a little bridal bouquet. It's just really pretty; it's already set ready to go. >>And that's what we're trying to create is that drive by appeal. Then another item is Coleus. Coleus is an item we've been doing for years but they're coming out with a lot of new colors, and this is one of them here called Henna, which is a brand new color, just on the market place this year. >>Because these are usually bright red. >>Yeah, they come in a variety of colors, in fact there's over 500 varieties of Coleus around the world and we're just trying to find the 10 to 12 the consumer needs, from a light one all the way to a dark one, and this one kind of fits that medium range. >>Those that make the cut are then moved to this outdoor testing area. Here the plants are grown under conditions similar to those they'll face after they're sold. Buyers who don't believe in fertilizer or even watering. If they can make it here, then they've passed the test! >>For most customers it's an emotional value. It's the value of planting that plant... knowing you did it yourself and just the joy of watching it grow and enjoying that on a constant basis. Everything here is big, including how much water is used: more than a million gallons a day! The greenhouse has an automated irrigation system where every drop is captured and re-used. The roof of the greenhouse can also capture rain water to be used for irrigation. But here the plants aren't just watered from above... They also soak it from below which is the best way to start a plant. Here the pots sit in pools. This forces the roots to grow deeper making the plant stronger and taller. >>I don't need that pint, naw. I just need that Petunia Wave, two deluxe and a coco hanging basket. >>Every day more than a hundred delivery trucks are loaded with flat after flat of blooming annuals. They'll make their way to garden centers mainly in the southern and eastern united states. Vanwingerden says the key to their success is not just in the automation, but in the 800 people who work there. Machines, he says, simply allow employees to practice what he calls "the art of gardening." >>By freeing them up from those repetitive tasks they can do what it takes to grow a plant, that art form it takes, that work it takes by staring at it, this plant needs more ertilizer, this plant needs more water, so when that process works, it elps us grow a better plant long term. [Rooster crowing] >>There's a lot going on in North Carolina agriculture, both inside and out. Inside, the greenhouse/nursery industry is the number one crop producer in North Carolina. And if you're planting outside, you can match specific crops to specific soils. That's because North Carolina has 400 different types of soil to choose from.   >>You know, having a garden really allows us to try our hand at a bit of farming on a small scale. The best part? Really fresh fruits and vegetables! So... you've brought in the harvest and you're ready to whip up something. Well Sharon Vaknin is in the kitchen with some ideas on turning out a great recipe with some really popular produce. ♪♪ >>Pears pack a lot of sophistication, and they make great additions to savory dishes. With so many varieties to choose from, you can really get creative with this juicy fruit. Today we're making a pear and ricotta crostini with orange syrup, along with roasted chicken with pears. Well let's get to it. First we'll need to make our orange syrup. It's really simple. It's just equal parts sugar, orange juice, and water. Give it a good whisk. And to add a little bit of tang I'll also throw in some orange zest. Gives it a nice fresh flavor when we're using orange juice. Okay, so while our syrup is reducing, we'll get our bread cut for our crostini. I like to use a rustic style bread, French bread is also great, and we'll just cut it at a slant here. So we're using Bartlett pears here, which is your typical lunchbox pear. It's firm, it's got a nice crisp, fruity flavor, and it's perfect for pairing with our softer ricotta cheese and our tangier orange glaze. So our bread slices are good to go, we'll hit it with a little olive oil. Also a nice fruity note to go with those pears. And we'll let that toast in the oven for just a few minutes, we just want a nice, crisp golden brown effect. Now let's get the star of this dish set up. We've got our Bartlett pears right here, gorgeous, juicy. I'm just going to core them, then we'll cut them into nice thin slices for our crostini. So let's check on our bread, should be nice and toasted by now. Oh yeah, these look perfect. Nice and toasty, the olive oil doesn't hurt, we'll set them right on our serving dish. Now we can start putting these together. We've got our whole milk ricotta. On top of the ricotta goes our pear, just fan them out. And now for my favorite part, of this crostini, besides the pears of course, our homemade orange syrup. Now you want to be pretty generous with this, because once you try it, you're going to want more. ♪♪ So we have chopped pistachios, for a bright flavor and color, basil. And there's our gorgeous appetizer, a pear and ricotta crostini with homemade orange syrup. Now let's get ready for our next dish using Anjou pears, something a little different for the palette. ♪♪ For this dish, I'm using Anjou pears, reason being they're much firmer and tangier than the Bartlett type. So they'll really stand up to the baking process and to the chicken. So first we need to make our dressing. ♪♪ And now we can get started on our vegetables and our pears. So we've got mushrooms here, just cut them in half and throw them in. And for our pears, just core them, and throw them in there at about this size.   Now I've already parboiled these fingerling potatoes, which is key because if you put them in raw they actually won't be done by the time your chicken is done. So for these, just split them in half, they're roast nicely. And with chicken I almost always have to have onions, so we're also going to put some onion in there. For the onion, I'll slice it a little bit thinner than usual when roasting because I actually want them to caramelize, get a little sweeter, so nice thin slices like this will work. Then give them a nice toss in the dressing. With all these ingredients dressed they can go onto our roasting pan, just dumped a lot there, and of course we can't forget about our chicken. Chicken goes into the same dressing. We'll hit these with a little more olive oil and salt, you always want your chicken well-seasoned. Give these a nice work-around, pick up some of that dressing. ♪♪ And before this heads into the oven, one more key ingredient: garlic. So instead of peeling and chopping the garlic, which would get burned, when it's roasting, I'll actually just smash it and throw it in there for aroma. And into the oven they go at four-hundred degrees for about forty minutes or until these guys are cooked through. The kitchen smells good so you know our roasted chicken and pears are ready. And that's what you call, a perfect pairing. All the flavors have melded together, the paprika has given everything a really warm color, and the Anjou pears, because they're much firmer than other varieties, they've kept their shape during this roasting process. ♪♪ We've got two impressive dishes that show you just how sophisticated pears can be. With our roasted chicken and pears, I've added a little bit of arugula to give it a fresh kick but also let the pepperiness of the arugula play with the freshness and the sweetness of the pears. And of course, here's our party-perfect appetizer, pear and ricotta crostini with an orange syrup. Now you know, pears are much more than just a lunchtime snack.   >>You know, horticulture plays a role in not only giving us great vegetable and flower gardens, it can beautify our urban landscapes, help create one-of-a-kind parks and provide real environmental benefits. Sarah Gardner says in one southern state, horticulture also plays a role in saving the shoreline. >>If we didn't have these dunes, with current sea level rise, we wouldn't have beaches. >>Steve Mercer considers himself more than a farmer and a grower. He sees his role as important to saving a significant element in North Carolina's ecosystem. >>And that ecosystem traps sand to build dunes. Those dunes protect not only property but other ecosystems. >>On this early May morning, Steve and his employees are planting sea oats. Critical to protecting North Carolina's shoreline, Sea oats are tall grasses whose seed-topped plumes capture grains of sand driven by Atlantic Ocean winds. It was high winds that moved Steve into the sea oats business when the greenhouses for his bedding plant nursery were demolished by hurricanes. But these ill winds blew some good. Steve was contacted by the late David Nash, a North Carolina extension agent. He suggested that Steve change crops. Sea oats are well suited to salt water environments. Their long root structure can stabilize loose soil and sand. >>"With the damage these hurricanes are doing," he said, "I think you can grow a crop, grow seat oats as a crop and sell that crop." He said, "I think there's going to be a need." >>When I first moved here there were houses so close to the ocean that people could fish off the decks. People would rent the houses just so they could fish off the decks. >>Harry Simmons is the Mayor of Caswell Beach, North Carolina. Thousands of sea oat plants from Steve's nursery have helped reclaim and maintain acres of ocean front property. >>In fact there's a stairway right over there. You used to have stairs and now you these gorgeous dunes with the sea oats. >>Right, we had five or six steps there and now that's all covered up with this sand that has been basically held here by the sea oats, attracted here if you will be these sea oats. >>Sarah, this is one of our production greenhouses for sea oats. >>Steve says that research by David Nash showed that native grasses fared better in the North Carolina sand than sea oats brought in from other states. Those variables prompted Steve to begin growing his own seedlings. Using successful techniques from his earlier bedding plant business, the sea oats get their start where else? In water. >>The method we use is hydroponics. We sow the seed in a Styrofoam tray, float the tray in water, the plants get their nutrients from the water. We put just enough soil in them to hold the seed in place. >>And this is what you're looking for when you pull these sea oats out and you're getting ready to transplant them? You want a really nice root ball at the base? >>We do. When these plants first go on the beach they're gonna put all their energy into putting a root down into the water table. So we want to give them a head start on that. And that's one of the things that we've worked on hard here at our greenhouses is to try to get a real healthy root ball... a dense mass of roots on the bottom of the plant so that when they hit the hole, they're ready to grow. >>The young sea oat plants take about a year to reach full maturity; eventually eliminating the need for the sand fencing which currently protects them. Steve, how long ago did you plant these sea oats? >>We planted these about four years ago. When we planted them this beach was flat. So, from the tide line back to underneath the steps was a flat sand beach. And we positioned these sea oats specifically to do what they've done, trap the sand right in front of these steps... But the main thing we wanted was to start establishing a new dune line in front of this structure in order to protect the structure, protect the dune that was already here from a storm, and ultimately protect the infrastructure that's behind that, whether that be houses, roads, and in this case a lighthouse.   >>I'm actually wondering about taking that walkway and bringing it down a little further. >>As for Mayor Simmons, he says Steve's work has helped to protect barrier island and shoreline ecologies. That's improved property values while helping to save North Carolina's beaches. >>It's a great benefit for not only the people who live here but also the people who visit here. The town is owned by people from 28 different states around the country. It's hardly a local issue when you start talking about coastal property because it's a national treasure. That's going to do it for this time. >>Thanks for traveling the country with us on this edition of America's Heartland. We're always pleased that you can join us. Before we go, just a reminder that you can find us online with some great things to discover at our website, including all those Farm to Fork Recipes and, of course, video from all our shows. Just log on to AmericasHeartland.org In addition, there's a lot going on in our social media arena. You'll find us there as well. We'll see you next time right here on America's Heartland.   ♪You can see it in the eyes Of every woman and man♪ ♪In America's Heartland living close to the land♪ ♪There's a love for the country And a pride in the brand♪ ♪In America's Heartland♪ ♪Living close Close to the land♪ America's Heartland is made possible by...   Farm Credit - Financing agriculture and rural America since 1916. Farm Credit is cooperatively owned by America's farmers and ranchers. Learn more at farmcredit.com CropLife America- Representing the companies whose modern farming innovations help America's farmers provide nutritious food for communities around the globe.