Baton Roots

In 2019 Baton Rouge Green began estab­lish­ing a cit­rus tree orchard in a pre­vi­ous­ly open field (a for­mer golf course fair­way!) at BREC’s How­ell Park, adja­cent to the site of the Baton Roots Com­mu­ni­ty Farm. In mul­ti­ple phas­es of plant­i­ng, a total of about 40 fruit trees have been plant­ed and main­tained. As soon as Win­ter 2023, some of these matur­ing trees are expect­ed to bear fruit which will be avail­able to passers­by, or can be moved out into the com­mu­ni­ty to ​“food desert” areas through Baton Roots dis­tri­b­u­tion channels.

The site has been a labor of love for Baton Rouge Green staff, but also a test­ing ground. In plan­ning the site, BRG arbori­cul­ture experts includ­ed the plant­i­ng of about 20 loblol­ly pine trees amongst the cit­rus trees, as well as rows of East­ern Red Cedars at either end of the rec­tan­gu­lar plot of land. These pines and cedars are designed to act as wind­breaks dur­ing the cold­est months of the year, help­ing pro­tect the cit­rus trees, which can be sus­cep­ti­ble to sus­tained freez­ing tem­per­a­tures. Research has shown this tech­nique can help cre­ate tiny micro-cli­mates to keep tem­per­a­tures around the trees more stable.

Our Baton Roots orchard also rep­re­sents a com­mu­ni­ty-built asset. Vol­un­teers have been a crit­i­cal labor force for this site, includ­ing teams of work­ers from Cit­i­zens Bank & Trust, Angelo’s Land­scape, Domain Prop­er­ties, LSU, Baton Rouge High and oth­er groups. Vol­un­teers have helped plant the trees, move and replant trees from oth­er sites, and pro­vide year­ly mulching.

This project also kicked off a ​“fruit­ful” part­ner­ship between Baton Roots Com­mu­ni­ty Farm, a divi­sion of The Walls Project, and Baton Rouge Green that has con­tin­ued. As of 2023, Baton Rouge Green and Baton Roots are also work­ing togeth­er at 8 East Baton Rouge Parish Hous­ing Author­i­ty com­mu­ni­ties where satel­lite com­mu­ni­ty gar­dens and cit­rus orchards are being estab­lished and maintained.

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