Clemson’s ‘Making It Grow’ gardening show wins four Tellys
SUMTER – The Emmy Award-winning “Making It Grow” gardening show has more Telly Awards to add to its slate of accolades.
Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service’s Amanda McNulty, Sean Flynn and the rest of the crew of “Making It Grow” received four prestigious Telly Awards this year, bringing the total Telly Awards for the show to 19 since 2000.
The live, interactive “Making It Grow” show is produced by South Carolina ETV and Clemson University. McNulty said winning these awards is an honor for the show’s crew.
“Our most important mission is to help people use environmentally sustainable methods and still be successful in growing plants,” McNulty said. “To do that we emphasize identifying the problem before taking action — is it an insect or a disease? — and choosing the correct method of controlling it.
“By encouraging our viewers to make careful choices in selecting plants, in placing them properly in their landscape or garden and using thoughtful cultural practices, we help them reduce plant stress, which results in healthier plants more resistant to pests,” she said. “We are honored and excited our team was chosen by peers in the industry to receive these awards.”
Flynn, who has produced the show since 1999, agreed.
“One aspect that I am really thrilled about is that we won in four different categories,” Flynn said. “That speaks to the wide variety of topics we highlight and to the overall quality in covering different subject matter. This is great recognition for the entire team.”
The “Making It Grow” team this year won a silver award in the General-How-To/DIY for Television category for the show How to Make Pine Cone Zinnias. This show demonstrated how to use pine cones to create zinnias for a number of decorations. In the show, Rebecca Turk, director of education and events at Moore Farms Botanical Garden, shows McNulty how fun and simple it is. Turk also shares tips she has learned and different ways these tips can be used. Other crew members who made the show a success were Flynn, Mark Adams and Craig Ness.
“Making It Grow” brought home a bronze award in the General-Education for Television category for The Pawpaw Patch show. In this show, McNulty travels to Clemson’s Musser Fruit Research Center, where she talks with Greg Reighard, a professor of plant and environmental sciences, about how pawpaws are an excellent food source. Pawpaws exceed apples, peaches and grapes in most vitamins, minerals, amino acids and food energy value. The intense tropical flavor and aroma may also be useful for developing processed food products such as blended fruit drinks, baby food, ice creams and others. In addition to McNulty and Flynn, other crew members involved in shooting this show were Tommy Burgess and Steve Yountz.
The team received another bronze award, in the General-Cultural for Television category, for The Jamestown Foundation show. In this show, which was developed after a suggestion by Alma Harris, executive director of the State Extension Advancement Council, McNulty travels to Jamestown in the Mars Bluff Community of Florence and talks with Terry James about The Jamestown Foundation. The Jamestown settlement was founded in 1870 by Ervin James, a former slave. Ervin wanted to leave his family with land ownership rather than a legacy of slavery and sharecropping. Five years after The Civil War, during the Reconstruction Era, Ervin bought more than 200 acres of land near the Pee Dee River. From 1870 to present day, the land is still owned by the descendants of Ervin James. Joining McNulty for this show were crew members Burgess, Flynn and Ness.
The third bronze award for the group’s show The James Beard Dinner won in the General-Documentary: Individual for Television category. In the show, McNulty visits City Roots Farm in Columbia, where local chefs and dishes are featured at the James Beard Foundation Dinner. McNulty talks with managing partners Vanessa Driscoll Bialobreski and Kristian Niemi as they prepare for the event. John Nelson, chief curator of the A.C. Moore Herbarium at the University of South Carolina and a regular guest on “Making It Grow,” also is featured in this segment. In addition to McNulty, other crew members involved with this show were Burgess, Flynn and Ness.
“Making It Grow” airs at 7 p.m. Tuesdays on SCETV and on taped-delay at 8 p.m. Tuesdays and 3:30 p.m. Saturdays on the South Carolina Channel.
