GUYTON — Effingham College & Career Academy’s initial crop of STEM Academy graduates wanted to leave a gift that will keep on giving.

It took a step toward that goal Friday as several soon-to-be as several members of the class of 2019 planted a small orchard of Satsuma trees at Honey Ridge Plantation. A Satsuma is a loose-skinned orange fruit that is juicy and very sweet.

“It’s kind of a legacy project,” said Effingham County Georgia Extension Agent Ben Cantrell, who assisted the students. “It’s something to leave behind for the next seniors that come through.”

The orchard’s impact is going to be even greater than expected. State agriculture officials will monitor it for the presence of the Asian citrus phyllid, a pest that was detected in Florida in 1998 and has spread into Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and other states.

“It’s a pest of lemons, oranges and any kind of citrus tree,” said Bryan County Georgia Extension Agent Richard Evans. “The reason why it is a concern to growers and Extension agents is that it vectors the pathogen that causes citrus greening, which is an issue that has, basically, devastated the industry in Florida.”

Evans has been keeping an eye out for the Asian citrus phyllid in a few Bryan County backyards. The Honey Ridge orchard will allow him to expand his focus.

The pest hasn’t been discovered in Bryan or Effingham counties but it has been confirmed in Camden and McIntosh.

(Cantrell and the ECCA STEM students) have been so kind to join my team,” Evans said. “We expect (the Asian citrus phyllid) will be a pest of Satsumas, which is a plant that people are starting plant a lot of. They love fresh growth on trees.”

Evans said the insects’ emergence in Georgia is alarming because the state has been capitalizing on the havoc it created for the citrus industry in Florida. 

“We are trying not to fall victim to the same problems,” Evans said. “Satsumas are the citrus plant most conducive to growing in Georgia. Lemons do pretty well here, too.

“In the right kind of environment, oranges also work but I’m seeing a big push for Satsuma plantings like in backyards, orchards and things like that.”

ECCA senior and STEM  (science, technology, engineering and math) student Lane Colson planted the mental seed for the Satsuma project about two months ago.

He said, “We are going to be the first graduating class from the STEM Academy at ECCA and, usually, for senior gifts, a high school gets a trophy case and stuff like that. Since we don’t have any sports teams, we wanted to leave something that would grow for future generations and be like, ‘This was the first graduation class of STEM and this is what it has grown into.”

Colson and his classmates planted 21 trees, including seven each of the Brown Select, Miho and Owari varieties.

“There is a tremendous shortage of Satsumas so we had to go all the way to Louisiana to get these,” Cantrell said. 

“I knew they were popular but I didn’t know they were that popular,” Evans said.

Colson expects a sign explaining the history of the donation to be erected at the site soon.