Too much rain ruins marshmallow crop in North Carolina. I do not own and did not create this video. It was transferred from VHS that was part of a training seminar in the 90s.
Last week smore futures dropped 3% below the Q1 2017 average, creating a massive Cadburry Egg precursor reserve! If somthing isnt done to shield our most tender CASH CROP from the terrible fate wrought forth upon her by gods so cruel, confidence in the cocoa tree bonds and perhaps tragically even American powdered cocain marketshares may suffer....
This video is from the eighties. GMO varietals have eliminated the problem now, but back then, it was serious, especially for s'more production. It's where the term "less is s'more" originated.
Ja Z - That's hilarious! Yours and some other comments on here are pretty funny, although I wonder about some of them that I'm pretty sure think this is real. Anyway you made me laugh. Best regards.
Ja Z that sounds horrible, give you a tip. If you got the southern ale type, you can deep fry them right after the skins are no long green, before they fall off and expose the hot dog. This will give you corn dogs instead!
I tried to grow a marshmallow tree once in my back yard, but I got an infestation of gummi worms that rotted the roots. There’s no doubt that this is a difficult crop to grow.
I've been told that Haribo gummi frogs will resolve that problem. Unfortunately, they're foreign, so they're actually banned for importation at the moment as an invasive species. :-(
I remember growing up in Georgia we had a small marshmallow tree in the backyard. It was my Dads pride and joy. We would go out together and get a small amount every other day.....times were so simple back then.
@Madhugiri_123 Sure they are ! We had a cigarette weedbutt infestation, them blighters would grow outta every nook & crannie , poisoned the earth beneath our feet . Our strawberry crop suffered that year , tasted like nicotine gum . Nearly called it a day when my Paps had the idea of Strawberry flavored Nicotine gum . Nowadays that's 80% of our crop yield , the other 20% were planting an experimental crop of NFTs . See how they'll sell .
I have no idea what you’re talking about. You can see for yourself all the dying marshmallows that have fallen to the ground before they ripened. You can spot the ripe ones because they turn pink when they’re ready to be harvested.
I myself have a peculiar field: I grow jelly beans. They are of different colours. Red ones grow better in a shadowy patch. I do not know why, but I have so many volunteers when harvest comes along.
Michelle B I've tried farming Mexican Jumping Beans, but getting them to stay on my acreage was a pain in the ass. By harvest time, two thirds had hopped off to god knows where...
Jonathan Tan - That is why I went for jelly beans,. And you did all that work for nothing. I will start you a GoFundMe page. I am in tears. Good luck my friend. I will remember your journey forever.
I had a marshmallow tree in my yard when I was little. Me and my brother used to Sprint home from school to pick as many as we could before the squirrels got to them.
I remember when this first aired, most of us laughed our head off. But in California and New York there were actually grass root organizations that tried to rally people to help these farmers. Again, most of us laughed even harder.
Ken Zaske yeah California is the land were stupid as the normal. You trying to talk common sense to people here they tell you you don't know what you're talkin about. Beam me up Scotty there's no intelligent life here.
Pat Lowney except for having the 7th largest economy in the world, producing 50% of all fresh produce for the nation, a huge chunk of the internet, and probably having designed the device you are now holding in your hands.... as well as us dummies trying to figure out what to do with our $6 Billion surplus from last year..... Does your state have a $6 Billion surplus from last year?
The money trees in the U.S have also taken a huge hit. But have been getting slightly better since 2008. Some blame the congressional boll weevil, others say its because its just easier to import money from Chinese trees.
A fungus makes the money smaller so people aren't sure it's real and refuse to take it, without a certification letter. Some foreign species only grow foreign money, and it's difficult to exchange it for American money, the exchange rate fluctuates wildly.
Omnipotent Dwarf invasive federalia Reservus trees are sucking the life out of the taproots of the native moneyus americana trees that happen to grow in holes in the ground and on the insides of matresses and lock boxes we need to start eradicating or cutting back the species to its native range because they are taking advantage of also growing in the same areas
If you're a parent, and want to make some cute memories, buy a marshmallow plant for your kids. You know, one of the kind that sometimes grows a few little marshmallows overnight, and then if you let them go for a week and don't eat them, they'll turn big on the weekend. It's a fun way to teach them patience. ^~
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨Ʒ Is that fun or just teaching kids that deceit is ok and that their parents are liars ? Is it not better to teach them the value of safe, high quality, nutritious food and how to cook ? First lesson in American "marshmallow" is to read the ingredients then look up the plant Althaea officinalis.
Possibly. I got the idea from someone who had fond memories of a marshmallow plant that they now smile about. It's similar to the santa claus myth, which psychologists have said is healthy, so I don't think it would amount to anything more than a good memory, but I also think that it's never too soon to teach them how to find information on their own.
When I was a kid I used to have fun learning to process food from somebody that lived through the World Wars and rationing. I learned a lot about the wise use of resources and food that way.
We grew mallows in the marshes when I was a kid. It was a different variety though. You can't grow trees in a true marshmallow marsh, the roots will just rot because the soil never drains. The grand-daddy of the tree-mallow (which is what these guys are *actually* growing) is the wild marshmallow reed. It's native to the more tropical zones of the south eastern states, and the mallows grow on the reeds just like balls on a skewer. Uncle Zeppie used to row his boat up the stream...gently, of course...and harvest them in the mid-summer months. That's why roasting marshmallows over a camp fire became a thing. You didn't even have to take them off the reed, just hold the whole thing over the fire. Uncle Zeppie learned real quick though, that gators like the marshmallows too. But that's a story for another comment section...
I remember visiting Italy. Our family had a field of cod trees. In Spring, the first bunches of fish eggs would grow in clusters. We would sell that , of course, at a high price, but that wouldn't feed our family. So we waited. As soon as those shells broke open, you could see tiny bunches of glistening silver wriggling fish in the sunshine. And the smell of bacala would fill the town. It was a sight to behold and a smell you'll never forget! We watered them, frequently throughout the Summer and less frequently in Autumn when they would stop wriggling, shrivel up. We"d pick the finest and sell them to the markets, but our family would have thee best ones.
This pisses me off. Govt. has all kinds of subsidies for Corn but I have never heard anything about Marshmallows. Government needs to do more or something to help these farmers. Obama has money for Obamacare but nothin for Marsh-Care.
Joe I use gmo marshmellows. They have a thic shell so the rain won’t make them bitter. You can water them more and use pesticides to keep the junebugs and beetles out.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a more hilarious collection of comments on any RU-vid video. Still. I don’t think it’s right to laugh when people lost so much on their marshmallow crops.
Maybe marshmallow trees just don't do very well in the region anymore. It could be due to climate change. If I had a farm out there, I'd switch to growing spaghetti. It does not take as long for the trees to mature and start making money, plus they are really hardy, it takes a lot to ruin a spaghetti crop.
It's a gamble you have to take as a farmer. A good mallow crop will make you a lot more than a spaghetti crop, but it's a much more delicate plant. Neither, however, are as consistently reliable as gumdrops. Sure, you'll be paying off your acreage a lot longer, but taxes being what they are these days, you'll be giving your profits to Uncle Sam if you're not putting them back into your farm, anyway.
I remember this! My family was into our candy corn fields and this news report came on one night. My dad started laughing bout how he was gonna “take those SOBs to the bank!”. We actually did very well that year. Let’s just say I was a really good boy that Christmas...
Monsanto is taking over the market with single generation marshmallow seeds. Pretty soon, they will run the entire marshmallow market and put small-time mallow-farmers, like these gentleman, out of business. If I were these farmers, I would switch to spaghetti farming, just like someone mentioned elsewhere in this comments section.
Not to mention the GMO marshmallows you can’t avoid now. And I heard they are trying to hybridize marshmallow trees with Graham cracker bushes to grow franken-s’mores.
Dude, that audio quality is nostalgic. I grew up with news casts like this, so it does a fantastic job of retaining a level of authenticity to what they're "reporting".
Well actually it depends in what state you are in. In Alabama, you can own up to 45 trees, in California you can own as much as you want but you have to have them at least 1 ft. apart due to fire safety.
Depends on whether you grow them for medical or recreational use. Remember to lobby your congressman for an increase in the medical marshmallow allotment. The sufferers of Unrequited Sweet Tooth (UST) will thank you.
Ooh this is so cool! My neighbor used to do this, and she even managed to grow an entire orchard of pink ones. My dad on the other hand used to grow graham crackers, which traded with our neighbor. Fun times :)
I don't know what you guys are smoking in North Carolina farms but you are having the most fun farming in the entire USA. I wish you better luck next year. Thank you for making my day, that was a good one.
Monsanto's new hybrid GMO marshmallow tree fruit are completely resistant to the yellow slime, and an overabundance of rain does not stunt the marshmallow growth. Being that the ripe GMO marshmallow fruit is completely made up of a complex combination of Round-up (TM) and pesticides, invasive weeds and destructive Marshweevil Larvae infestations are significantly reduced at all stages of marshmallow fruit growth! In addition, custom color-gene blending options in close proximal tree farming methods allows for non cross-pollinating with your neighbor's standard white fruit crops. This allows for a true rainbow of marshmallow fruit colors used for later inclusion into popular children's breakfast cereals without requiring any additional harmful coloring chemicals, while your neighbor's farms continue to provide generic white marshmallow crops for overseas export.
I'm really sorry this happened to them...just glad the marshmallow crops here in Texas are doing just fine....and our marshmallows are 10 times bigger than those....like they say, 'Everything's bigger in Texas' ;)
+VolkOseba How would you know?......and don't even lie, you know you've never had any Texas marshmallows.... If you had, you wouldn't be saying that....
+Judith Copeland Texans are always so sure of themselves... they make their tea too sweet, and their marshmallows too. Texas marshmallow lovers can't appreciate the subtleties of the Northern marshmallow flavor signature.
I remember when this happened. It was back in the 90's. Marshmallows where going for $2.50 a pound, and in some places I heard it was as high as $3.75 a pound! Clinton had to strike a deal with Ukraine to import marshmallows. This was right after the cold war. That deal we signed is why we are in a fix with Russia and Ukraine now.
Naw man this is just showing the real struggles of being a marshmallow farmer. It’s seriously a sacrifice, me being a chocolate cake producer, if the weather isn’t right the whole crop is effected. Poor guy, hope he came out from that failed crop alright
Tom Nally What fee_fee said. It might be a joke to you, but to the hard-working american farmers whose crops have been decimated by rain and direct sun, it's ain't no joke. Why would you want to troll a compelling story like these poor marshmallow growers? 😼
The report does not mention that North Carolina may be too far south for these plants. They were originally imported from Northern Europe and mallow trees (especially the ones that bear larger fruits) have a dormant phase in the winter that does well with a deeper freeze.
pray for this farmer and his crop. farmers have so much anxiety every single year. america needs it's marshmallows. blessings and a mug of cocoa for all. ; D
Since the cinnamon blight of the 80's nearly whipped out my dental floss bushes, I've been struggling to regain my farm. Mark my words! This country should be prepping for a plague of gingivitis that the world has never seen. We'll be tripping in the streets from all the teeth that will be falling out! The Tooth fairy has even considered filing for food stamps.
Tilley LePew ironically on a serious note, cinnamon can be used to prevent fungus and mold on plants and in soil. Just sprinkle it on the top of your soil and it works wonders. Also promote new root growth when rooting cuttings and what not. I’m sorry about your floss crop, RIP
Man, I bet the price if marshmallows is going to skyrocket now. I should stock up and freeze some to prepare for the inevitable shortage. God bless and help the marshmallow farmers.
I worked on the marshmallow bowl weevil eradication program in NC. May just need to pick them a little early, before the NC monsoon season and let em ripen in a shed.
Ok, published 4/27, but surely it was made 4/1. This will make a great addition to my City Slickers playlist, for educating urban people about farming.
This is partially true . Marsh Mallow ( Lavatera ) is grown best in desert marshes of the Middle East and Mediterranean.It was used to grow a food grade cellulose that when sweetened and flavored was used to produce “Marshmallows “ .Now we use corn syrup and other gelatinous additives.
I remember growing up my cousin had 2 marshmallow trees in his yard. People don’t realize how difficult it is to actually produce a full sustaining crop. One of the trees never produced, and the other literally produced maybe 2 mellows a year. When they were ready to pick, our whole family would get together and have a backyard cookout and divvy up pieces to everyone! Trust me, there is NOTHING like a fresh picked homegrown mellow!
When was this filmed? Didn't they start planting the hybrid marshmallow trees in the early 90's that didn't have this problem? I'm either confused or this video is older than dirt.
rewris Yes, this was the eighties, before GMO varietals took over. Unless you buy organic at your local farmers' market or certain Wholefoods locations, you're getting GMO frankenmallows that taste like vanilla cornstarch and have been reported to cause eczema, memory loss, female pattern baldness, and memory loss.
V.Vega. Very true, my great, great, great grandfather on my neighbor’s side used to be a slave and had to pick these for years, causing him very bad memory loss. Apparently just handling them was enough to cause brain damage.
With those risky conditions, I would recommend greenhouses. In my experience in a temperature regulated environment, the marshmallows thrive and can produce up to two times a month! Although they use a bit of flavor with this method and energy bills are insane, modern technology has been a blessing to the marshmallow industry. If it was only easier to require a license for growing them
If you would drill a hole in a basket the tree could grow through it and the marshmallows would drop in the basket instead of on the ground. These farmers have no idea how to farm these trees. My grandfather used to be a marshmallow farmer, plowing the land and pulling his haul with an ox cart when he was living in Russia. Trust me, I'm a marshmallow farmer myself and my grandpa taught me all about growing the perfect marshmallows
And some folk say his family was responsible for the great epidemic that wiped out schmoos back in 1951! America was all set to provide the world with these wonderful creatures , when Ben's grandfather imported a peculiar chinese hor too cultural.... well, you know the rest! Yokums! Definetly not American patriots!
FreezyPenguin no damn Al Gore for perpetrating The hoax of global warming on the American people. Can you believe he got the Nobel Peace Prize for that. How far will stupid go.
Yes they grow on tree, or at least they used to... thanks to climate change, what they sell us as "marchmallow" are not natural ones, they're just artificial sweets made of sugar gelatin corn syrup and water. Natural ones are now extinct :(
My wife is a teacher, and she loves showing this video to her 3rd grade class for April Fools Day. She shows the video with questions and everything. Last question is would you believe this is April Fools Day. Some of her kids laugh and some get mad. Lol. She loves it!
It may be a gamble but back in 1968 my grand father told me how to care for these marshmallow plants and with the right luck you get profits in the millions.
I remember in addition to the Marshmallow tree, my grandfather had a chicken farm and the first few years it was difficult. He could not determine if he planted them too deep or watered them too much. Difficult times indeed.
BBC (British TV Channel) did THE BEST EVER version many many years ago; concerning the Spaghetti Harvest in the high alps of Italy. First shown on APril 1st, of course!
I remember that. Tough times. I remember you had to give away skewers and the the Cocoa Tax....well I hope I never live through that again. Kids today just dont realize how good they have it.
I've never been a farmer myself. My family grew up in the suburbs. The only crops we saw were those on the shelves of stores. It's hard for me to empathize with these Carolina marshmallow farmers, but I know what it's like to take a gamble and lose. If the rainy season doesn't let up it might be wise to make a temporary switch to the northern tissue flower. You might think they'd stagnate in a humid environment but in fact they do fairly well. A young tissue flower grows a cuticle around its tissues that prevent liquid from soaking and destroying them. Several close friends have told me it is easy and viable to raise them in almost any environment as long as there's enough moisture for them. Just something to take into consideration.
