IN FULL BLOOM: Thousands shop for SC-grown produce at Midlands Plant and Flower Festival
WEST COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Wanting to do some spring gardening or landscaping?
With the Midlands Plant and Flower Festival in town, this weekend is the perfect time to plan for those activities.
“It’s our biggest event. We expect 55,000 people here over the next four days,” said Brad Boozer, SC State Farmers Market manager.
More than 60 vendors from around the state and region sell spring decor, plants, flowers, herbs, produce and more.
“You want plants that have a dark green color. If it has a light color, that’s because of a lack of fertilizer,” Boozer said. “You also want a healthy plant. Look at the size of the stem and the thickness of the leaves. Fertilizer, water and sunshine are the key ingredients.”
The farmers market manager says that South Carolina’s climate allows for a longer growing season than most states.
“Yes, it was a good growing season,” Boozer said. “Here lately, we’ve had a lot of frost issues. At the nursery, they’ve been covering and uncovering plants for the last three weeks. A lot of these plants are grown in a greenhouse though, so they can adjust to the climate.”
For strawberry farmers, their product sits outside, which makes the fruit very dependent on weather conditions.
“You have a chaotic moment where you think you won’t be on track,” said Tegan Griggs with McLeod Farms. “It started getting hot two weeks ago so it was perfect timing for the flower show. Not too much of a worry. Right on time in my opinion.”
McLeod Farm strawberries are grown in McBee up in Chesterfield County. Many visitors to the state farmer’s market picked up some to go.
“Obviously a lot of different varieties and popular favors have been selling very well. We have beautiful batches and they’ve been flying off,” Griggs said. “We’re happy we’ve been able to get them off our hands. The quicker they go, the better.”
You can come out and try McLeod Farms’ strawberries for yourself. The festival continues Friday and Saturday from 8 am to 6 pm and concludes on Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm.
