South Carolina

The Geography Of South Carolina

Hello there my fellow readers. So how’re you guys doing? Remember the novel The Secret Life Of Bees that I asked you guys to check out? So, I thought of sharing a few things about the settings in the novel that I found interesting and maybe you will too!

SOUTH CAROLINA

The main setting of the novel is basically in South Carolina, a state in the southeastern region of the United States. The state is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the south and west by Georgia across the Savannah River, and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. South Carolina consists of lots of cities and towns and has Columbia as its capital. It is also well-known for its shoreline of beaches and marsh-like sea islands. 

The map of South Carolina

The flag of South Carolina

Columbia, the capital of South Carolina

SLYVAN AND TIBURON IN THE REAL WORLD

Sylvan and Tiburon are a few other settings in the novel but these are only fictional and don't exist in the real world hahaha. Well actually there is a real Tiburon, but it's in California, not South Carolina. However, there are a few places that are similar to the ones in the novel and really exist. And guess what, they're all in South Carolina!

THE PINK HOUSE

Pink House in South Carolina

Remember the Pink House in Tiburon that the Boatwright sisters lived in ? There is a one that’s exactly similar to it in South Carolina! The Pink House is a historic house and art gallery at 17 Chalmers Street in Charleston, South Carolina that is one of the oldest buildings in South Carolina and the oldest one in Charleston. Currently, the house features an art gallery. 

PEACH FARM

 

As we know, Lily lived in a peach farm in Sylvan, South Carolina. Well, there happens to be one South Carolina that's owned by the McLeod family of McBee. It's not that surprising as South Carolina itself is the leader of peach production. The family's slogan “Life’s a peach“ means more than that for them since they've been dealing with peaches since 1916 and the farmis currently operated by the fourth generation of The McLeods! The family operates one of the largest peach orchards in the area, with 650 acres in production . The type of loam soil surrounding the small towns of McBee, SC that's sandy makes it suitable for 22 varieties of peaches to be grown there. Imagine how big the farm is! 

It takes about 40 workers to run the farm throughout the year. However, during the peach season (late May through August), the numbers swell to over 200. Workers can be found picking, grading, packing, and preparing shipments for millions of pounds of peaches to all parts of the U.S. and Canada. At the peak of the season, daylight to dusk workdays are something normal.

The peaches at the farm are picked every day.  The fruit is then sent through an ice-cold water bath to slow the ripening process. After being sealed with an ultra-light wax coating that closes the pores of the peaches to keep them fresh, they're then sorted by size, shape, and colour.  The workers do all of the grading for shipment to individuals, commercial customers as well as retail sales areas.  

The peach production process begins long before harvest. From January to April, trees are pruned and branches are tied together so they don't drag the ground or break under the weight of the fruit.  Once the fruit is visible, it's thinned to allow a hand’s width between each peach so that the peaches will turn out big and juicy. Yuummm! You know what? The average productive life of a peach tree is seventeen years,  but it usually takes four years before the trees produce high quality fruit. After the trees have become unproductive, the ground is allowed to rest for several years before replanting.  

No wonder the family business has been a success for so many years. The techniques that they use as well as their high-tech equipment makes the best peaches to be produced. As a peach lover, I'd really love to visit the farm to get a live glimpse of the production process and of course, take a bite into a few of their peaches hihihi.

BEE FARM

 

Next stop, Tiburon. Or is it? Oh, that's in the novel. But there's a similar place to the Boatwright sister's honey farm in South Carolina, Bee Well Honey Farm & Supply Inc. Bee Well Honey Farm & Supply Inc. is a family owned business and operated by Kerry and Donna Owen. They are the producers and distributors for “Bee Well Honey” produced in the Southeast region of the United States. Their focus is on production and distribution and have improved customer service for retail grocers. What's so special about their honey? The fact that they still use old fashioned methods of extracting and bottling! The family is so dedicated in the business, making them highly motivated in branding, promotions and product creation. So there's no need to question why families and honey coinsurers all crave for their honey. Bee Well Honey is 100% PURE HONEY RAW and made in the USA. The family has also brought the business to a higher level by offering educational boot-camps for beginning and advanced beekeepers, and sells beekeeping equipment and honeybees to beekeepers all across Upstate South Carolina. Oh my, their honey must taste great! How I wish I could have a taste hahaha.