News Release Distributed 05/07/13

BATON ROUGE, La. – Food, music and hayride tours will be featured at the annual Garden Fest at Burden on June 15 at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens in Baton Rouge.

From 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m., visitors will have an opportunity to take a hayride to the Botanic Gardens research area to taste tomatoes, watermelons, peppers and fruit crops and learn about the latest research conducted by the LSU AgCenter, according to Burden resident director Jeff Kuehny.

Food companies in the LSU AgCenter Food Incubator also will offer samples of their new foods and beverages beginning at 7:30.

Other garden tours will include the All-America Selections garden, the rose garden and the children’s garden.

Visitors are invited to bring their best tomatoes from their gardens and enter them in the outstanding tomato contest.

LSU AgCenter experts will conduct a plant health clinic and diagnose problems with plant specimens visitors bring to them.

The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the Louisiana Egg Commission will prepare and serve omelets from 7:30-9:30. And visitors can sample bloody marys from Mason’s Grill from 9-11.

The Louisiana Culinary Institute and the East Baton Rouge Parish extension office will offer samples of dishes prepared from vegetables produced at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden from 10-11 a.m. The tastings will include recipes and nutrition information for each selection.

Baton Rouge Music Studios and Visit Baton Rouge will present the Red Stick Idol contest and live music from 10-1. In addition, the LSU AgCenter Dairy Store will have ice cream available for purchase.

The Garden Fest Cocktail Contest will be held from 11 a.m.-noon, when visitors can sample concoctions made from Louisiana spirits.

Admission to the event is $10 for adults, $5 for children 4-10 years old. Children under 3 will be admitted at no charge. Burden is located on Essen Lane off I-10 in Baton Rouge.

More information is available online or by phone at 225-763-3990.