From The Heartland To The Table Dine In With Fresh Regional Tastes Of The Nation
america's heartland is madepossible by... farm credit -financing agriculture and ruralamerica since 1916. farm credit is cooperativelyowned by america's farmers andranchers. learn more at farmcredit.com croplife america -representing the companies whosemodern farming innovations help america's farmers providenutritious food for communitiesaround the globe. â i wish my garden looked likethis. hi, i'm jason schoultz.
plenty of flowers and plantson the show this time. we'll share some ideas onmaking changes in your garden and pass along somerecipes that just might improve the meals on yourdinner table. want fresher vegetables? we'll take you topennsylvania to find out how the professionals develop the plantsthat end up in your yard. we'll head for northcarolina where the hands-on work at one nursery is alldone by robots.
we'll go from farm to forkwith sharon vaknin and you're going to like whatshe's making with pears. and you may think you knowwhat oats are. we'll take you down south todiscover how sea oats are helping one community savetheir shoreline. it's all coming up onamerica's heartland. ♪you can see it in the eyesof every woman and man♪ ♪in america's heartlandliving close to the land♪ ♪there's a love for the countryand a pride in the brand♪
♪in america's heartland♪ ♪living closeclose to the land♪ ♪♪ >>how does your garden grow? forget that old nursery rhyme. if you have expert gardenersas they do here at the floriculture exhibit of thecalifornia state fair, you can pretty much count onmajestic marigolds and other fancy flowers.
but if you think that smallplot of flowers or vegetables in your back yardis just small potatoes - well think again. horticulture...things likenursery stock, flowering plants, vegetable gardens and evenchristmas tree farms... is a multi-billion dollarbusiness. let's give you a littlegardening trivia. geraniums, impatiens,petunias and pansies make the list as the favoritegarden flowers in the unitedstates.
and who's buying these plantsand flowers? well, california leads thenation in retail sales. other popular plantingplaces include michigan, minnesota and pennsylvania. and pennsylvania is thefirst stop on our planting pilgrimagethis time. our rob stewart makes a stopat a nursery that has a very famous name. >>americans love theirproduce...
juicy red tomatoes are afavorite! and tracy lee knows allabout them. >>in my travels and in myjob... i've done this for twelveyears. and so i have tastedthousands and thousands and thousands of tomatoes! tracy lee is the leadhorticulturist for the burpee seed company inwarminister, pennsylvania. one time i tasted in one trip,200 varieties of tomatoes
in about two hours... >>tracy travels the world forseed selection... and brings them here forproduction. and even in the dead of winter, spring andsummer are the focus here. while snow is still on theground, burpee will produce and package seeds foreverything from corn to carrots - zinnias to zucchini. some of this will go to storesand commercial farming operations but city folks arealso getting in on
the farming act. >>people are going back togrowing for just good old home-grown flavor, to savemoney, to spend time with theirfamilies, to take advantage of what theyhave in their backyard by converting it from just ayard to a paradise. >>this story of seeds began inthe 19th century when young w. atlee burpee becameinterested in plant hybrids. >>today, george ball directs thefirm, living at ford hook farm,
the same spot where burpee established his research andcompany. >>this is the study wheremr. burpee wrote the first catalogs. by the early 20th century,burpee was reaching customers with millionsof seed catalogs. catalogs that have become iconicagricultural treasures. he was only eighteen when hestarted. so he was kind of a billgates type of thing.
the seed was like amicrochip in those days. >>so if you innovated onseeds, you innovated on the country'sfoundation; >>burpee is credited withoriginating seeds for sweet corn, lima beans andhybrids of zucchini and melons, and in 1895, he developed hisown variety of iceberg lettuce. and that really broughtlettuce to the american table because lettuce wilts,and before the advent of the crisp head type of whichiceberg was the first.
>>so this greenhouse isburpee's top secret. >>yeah, this is the topsecret mad scientist laboratory! >>yeah, "no photography,please," the sign says right thereon the door. >>yeah, we have some nicethings coming in this greenhouse. despite the sign, we talked ourway in... discovering the botanical workhere focuses
not only on plant growth butother attributes as well. >>wider range of flavors, moretextures, more interesting colors, so those are thethings that you don't find in nature, but nature has inher genes. and through plant breeding,you can coax out these things that are locked up inthe botanical world. >>in addition to produce, burpeeis developing flowers. some with totally new scents.that's a totally new smell. >>we collect it in the wildand we bring it over here
and we docross-fertilization of different types, again, tobring out those special things that in nature wouldnot be found unless man kind-of does these littleteasing out things. >>that evolution of plants forour farms and gardens was a prime focus for w. atleeburpee, giving growers a chance to plantthe seeds of change. >>gardeningexperience is very personal to the customer, and peopledo it for different reasons.
and we're just happy that we'reable to provide this product forthem. >>to protect a wide variety ofgenetic seed material, an arctic seed vault has beencreated in svalbard, norway. the vault has a capacity ofsome 2 billion seeds. dedicated to thepreservation of crop diversity, the seed vault gathers materialfrom crops and regions around the worldand protects them in an underground vault set innorway's frozen permafrost. >>you may be one of thosepeople who start your flower
or vegetable garden from seeds,but lots of us like to use ready-made plants that give us ahead start on the season. if that's the case, our henacuevas says there's a good chance the plants in yourgarden come from one of the largest greenhouses in theunited states. >>a crane flies high about a seaof flowers and the pulley system moves thousands of baskets highabove the ground. this is metrolina greenhouses innorth carolina, and chances are if you've everplanted a garden,
you've purchased one of theirproducts. every year more than 70 millionplants, mostly annuals, are grown in this heatedgreenhouse - the largest in the unitedstates. how big?it's more than 125 acres, or roughly the size of fiveshopping malls. and it uses the latest in planttechnology. one of the most impressivethings in the greenhouse is that everything isautomated.
how did you make thattransition? >>we came from holland, and uh,where we were born. and with the greenhouse industryover there there's not much space. you have to use automationto use every inch of space youhave. >>abe vanwingerden ismetrolina's president. his family started thenursery in 1972. back then the greenhouseonly occupied an acre. >>what we do in the u.s. here,e're looking also at jobs peoplehate to do.
whether it's bending over,whether it's having to reach over and grab something,whether it's a multiple repetitive thing theyhave to do over and over again, we look to find machinery andautomation to make that happen. [machines working] >>one example of this automationis the transplanting machine. no human could plant thisfast! here pots go onto a conveyerbelt. the machine then adds thesoil...
as the mechanical arms evenlyspace the plugs. >>the transplanting machinehas cut production time in half. it can plant 100 of thesepots in a minute; a thousand flats an hour. >>you cannot create a machinethat makes it 100% perfect so we always have a couplepeople to fix the misses that occur and also to putin the tags. each customer has adifferent tag. a unique code we have to puton it, just quality control
to assure the customer gets4 plants to every pot or whatever it is for whateversize we're building. >>are you amazed every timeyou look at the machine? >>oh, every day. we've had this machine forjust a couple of months. we have 18 productionlines... some machines for 10 15 years and i can walkevery day and be amazed by what it does and thecapability it has. >>metrolina is one of fewgreenhouses in the world
controlling the process frombeginning to end... starting the plants fromeither seed or cuttings... growing them out and shippingthem directly to retailers. >>and if we can control thatright from the start, right from that seed, or rightfrom that cutting, we have the ability to controlthat and assure we can get what thecustomer wants. >>but customers can be fickle.believe it or not, what's hot and what's not ingardening varies
from year to year just like thefashion industry. every year breeders fromaround the world pitch theirlatest creations. at metrolina, those deemedinteresting enough are put to the test in this researchhouse to see if they're worth investingin. and what are some of the newthings that are coming out on themarket? >>there's a ton of new things. there's a new campanulawhich is right here, it's a newpink flower on it.
it's a dwarf. these usually growthree or four feet tall. saw it in japan, but this is thefirst time i've seen it in bloomhere. i'm like oh ladies are gonnaove that, that one's gonna play. >>well it just looks just like alittle bridal bouquet. it's just really pretty; it'salready set ready to go. >>and that's what we're tryingto create is that drive byappeal. then another item is coleus.coleus is an item we've been doing for years butthey're coming out with a lot of new colors, and this isone of them here called henna,
which is a brand new color, juston the market place this year. >>because these are usuallybright red. >>yeah, they come in a varietyof colors, in fact there's over 500varieties of coleus around the world and we'rejust trying to find the 10 to 12 the consumer needs,from a light one all the way to a dark one, and this onekind of fits that medium range. >>those that make the cut arethen moved to this outdoortesting area. here the plants are grownunder conditions similar to
those they'll face afterthey're sold. buyers who don't believe infertilizer or even watering. if they can make it here,then they've passed the test! >>for most customers it's anemotional value. it's the value of plantingthat plant... knowing you did it yourself and just the joyof watching it grow and enjoying that on a constantbasis. everything here is big,including how much water is used: more than a milliongallons a day!
the greenhouse has anautomated irrigation system where every drop is capturedand re-used. the roof of the greenhousecan also capture rain water tobe used for irrigation. but here the plants aren'tjust watered from above... they also soak it from belowwhich is the best way to start aplant. here the pots sit in pools.this forces the roots to grow deeper making the plantstronger and taller. >>i don't need that pint, naw.i just need that petunia wave, two deluxe and acoco hanging basket.
>>every day more than ahundred delivery trucks are loaded with flat after flatof blooming annuals. they'll make their way togarden centers mainly in the southern and eastern unitedstates. vanwingerden says the key totheir success is not just in the automation, but in the800 people who work there. machines, he says, simplyallow employees to practice what he calls "the art ofgardening." >>by freeing them up fromthose repetitive tasks they
can do what it takes to growa plant, that art form it takes, that work it takes by staring atit, this plant needs moreertilizer, this plant needs morewater, so when that process works, itelps us grow a better plant longterm. [rooster crowing] >>there's a lot going on innorth carolina agriculture, bothinside and out. inside, thegreenhouse/nursery industry is the number one cropproducer in north carolina. and if you're plantingoutside,
you can match specific crops tospecific soils. that's because northcarolina has 400 different types of soil to choose from. >>you know, having a gardenreally allows us to try our hand at a bit of farming ona small scale. the best part? really fresh fruits andvegetables! so... you've brought in theharvest and you're ready to whipup something. well sharon vaknin is in thekitchen with some ideas on
turning out a great recipewith some really popularproduce. >>pears pack a lot ofsophistication, and they make great additions tosavory dishes. with so many varieties tochoose from, you can really get creative withthis juicy fruit. today we're making a pearand ricotta crostini with orange syrup, along withroasted chicken with pears. well let's get to it. firstwe'll need to make our orange syrup. it'sreally simple.
it's just equal parts sugar,orange juice, and water. give it a good whisk. and to add a little bit oftang i'll also throw in someorange zest. gives it a nice fresh flavorwhen we're using orange juice. okay, so while our syrup isreducing, we'll get our bread cut for ourcrostini. i like to use a rustic stylebread, french bread is alsogreat, and we'll just cut itat a slant here. so we're using bartlettpears here,
which is your typical lunchboxpear. it's firm, it's got a nicecrisp, fruity flavor, and it's perfect for pairingwith our softer ricotta cheese and our tangierorange glaze. so our bread slices are goodto go, we'll hit it with a little oliveoil. also a nice fruity note togo with those pears. and we'll let that toast inthe oven for just a few minutes, we just want a nice, crispgolden brown effect.
now let's get the star ofthis dish set up. we've got our bartlett pearsright here, gorgeous, juicy. i'm just going to core them,then we'll cut them into nice thin slices for ourcrostini. so let's check on our bread,should be nice and toasted bynow. oh yeah, these look perfect. nice and toasty, the oliveoil doesn't hurt, we'll set them right on ourserving dish. now we can start puttingthese together.
we've got our whole milkricotta. on top of the ricotta goesour pear, just fan them out. and now for my favoritepart, of this crostini, besides the pears of course,our homemade orange syrup. now you want to be prettygenerous with this, because once you try it, you'regoing to want more. so we have chopped pistachios,for a bright flavor and color,basil. and there's our gorgeousappetizer, a pear and ricotta crostini withhomemade orange syrup.
now let's get ready for our nextdish using anjou pears, something a little differentfor the palette. for this dish, i'm usinganjou pears, reason being they're much firmer andtangier than the bartlett type. so they'll really stand upto the baking process and to thechicken. so first we need to make ourdressing. and now we can get startedon our vegetables and our pears. so we've got mushrooms here,just cut them in half and throwthem in. and for our pears, just corethem,
and throw them in there at aboutthis size. now i've already parboiledthese fingerling potatoes, which is key because if youput them in raw they actually won't be done bythe time your chicken is done. so for these, just splitthem in half, they're roastnicely. and with chicken i almostalways have to have onions, so we're also going to putsome onion in there. for the onion, i'll slice ita little bit thinner than usual when roasting because i actuallywant them to caramelize,
get a little sweeter, so nicethin slices like this will work. then give them a nice tossin the dressing. with all these ingredientsdressed they can go onto our roasting pan, just dumped alot there, and of course we can't forget about ourchicken. chicken goes into the samedressing. we'll hit these with alittle more olive oil and salt, you always want yourchicken well-seasoned. give these a nice work-around,pick up some of that dressing.
and before this heads into theoven, one more key ingredient:garlic. so instead of peeling andchopping the garlic, which would get burned, whenit's roasting, i'll actually just smash it andthrow it in there for aroma. and into the oven they go atfour-hundred degrees for about forty minutes or untilthese guys are cooked through. the kitchen smells good soyou know our roasted chicken and pears areready. and that's what you call, aperfect pairing.
all the flavors have meldedtogether, the paprika has given everything a reallywarm color, and the anjou pears, because they're muchfirmer than other varieties, they've kept their shapeduring this roasting process. we've got two impressivedishes that show you just how sophisticatedpears can be. with our roasted chicken andpears, i've added a little bit ofarugula to give it a fresh kick but also let the pepperiness ofthe arugula play with
the freshness and the sweetnessof the pears. and of course, here's ourparty-perfect appetizer, pear and ricotta crostiniwith an orange syrup. now you know, pears are muchmore than just a lunchtimesnack. >>you know, horticulture playsa role in not only giving us great vegetable and flowergardens, it can beautify our urban landscapes, helpcreate one-of-a-kind parks and provide realenvironmental benefits. sarah gardner says in onesouthern state,
horticulture also plays a rolein saving the shoreline. >>if we didn't have these dunes,with current sea level rise,we wouldn't have beaches. >>steve mercer considers himselfmore than a farmer and a grower. he sees his role asimportant to saving a significant element in northcarolina's ecosystem. >>and that ecosystem traps sandto build dunes. those dunes protect not onlyproperty but other ecosystems. >>on this early may morning,steve and his employees areplanting sea oats. critical to protecting northcarolina's shoreline,
sea oats are tall grasses whoseseed-topped plumes capture grains of sand driven byatlantic ocean winds. it was high winds that movedsteve into the sea oats business when thegreenhouses for his bedding plant nursery weredemolished by hurricanes. but these ill winds blewsome good. steve was contacted by thelate david nash, a northcarolina extension agent. he suggested that stevechange crops. sea oats are well suited tosalt water environments.
their long root structure canstabilize loose soil and sand. >>"with the damage thesehurricanes are doing," he said, "i thinkyou can grow a crop, grow seat oats as a crop andsell that crop." he said, "i think there's goingto be a need." >>when i first moved here therewere houses so close to the ocean that people couldfish off the decks. people would rent the housesjust so they could fish off thedecks. >>harry simmons is the mayor ofcaswell beach, north carolina.
thousands of sea oat plantsfrom steve's nursery have helped reclaim and maintainacres of ocean front property. >>in fact there's a stairwayright over there. you used to have stairs andnow you these gorgeous duneswith the sea oats. >>right, we had five or sixsteps there and now that's all covered up with this sand thathas been basically held here by the sea oats, attracted hereif you will be these sea oats. >>sarah, this is one of ourproduction greenhouses for seaoats. >>steve says that research bydavid nash showed that
native grasses fared betterin the north carolina sand than sea oats brought infrom other states. those variables promptedsteve to begin growing his ownseedlings. using successful techniquesfrom his earlier bedding plantbusiness, the sea oats get their startwhere else? in water. >>the method weuse is hydroponics. we sow the seed in astyrofoam tray, float the tray in water, theplants get their nutrients fromthe water. we put just enough soil inthem to hold the seed in place.
>>and this is what you'relooking for when you pull these sea oats out and you're gettingready to transplant them? you want a really nice rootball at the base? >>we do. when these plants first goon the beach they're gonna putall their energy into putting a root downinto the water table. so we want to give them ahead start on that. and that's one of the thingsthat we've worked on hard here at our greenhouses isto try to get a real healthy
root ball... a dense mass ofroots on the bottom of the plant so that when they hitthe hole, they're ready to grow. >>the young sea oat plantstake about a year to reach full maturity; eventuallyeliminating the need for the sand fencing which currentlyprotects them. steve, how long ago did youplant these sea oats? >>we planted these about fouryears ago. when we planted them thisbeach was flat. so, from the tide line backto underneath the steps was aflat sand beach.
and we positioned these seaoats specifically to do what they've done, trap the sandright in front of these steps... but the main thing wewanted was to start establishing a new dune linein front of this structure in order to protect thestructure, protect the dune that wasalready here from a storm, and ultimately protect theinfrastructure that's behindthat, whether that be houses, roads,and in this case a lighthouse. >>i'm actually wondering abouttaking that walkway and
bringing it down a littlefurther. >>as for mayor simmons, hesays steve's work has helped to protect barrier islandand shoreline ecologies. that's improved propertyvalues while helping to save north carolina's beaches. >>it's a great benefit for notonly the people who live here but also the people whovisit here. the town is owned by peoplefrom 28 different states aroundthe country. it's hardly a local issuewhen you start talking about
coastal property becauseit's a national treasure. that's going to do it forthis time. >>thanks for traveling thecountry with us on this editionof america's heartland. we're always pleased that youcan join us. before we go, just a reminderthat you can find us online with some great things todiscover at our website, including all those farm to forkrecipes and, of course, video fromall our shows. just log on toamericasheartland.org
in addition, there's a lot goingon in our social media arena. you'll find us there aswell. we'll see you next time righthere onamerica's heartland. croplife america-representing the companies whosemodern farming innovations
