Volunteers Make a Difference: Ken and Anne Marie Lyons at the Ag Center

The learning garden at the Ag Center thrives because of the care of our volunteers!

At our Agricultural Center in Southold, Anne Marie and Ken Lyons are often found tending the garden plots, watering, weeding, and harvesting vegetables in the Trust’s Learning Garden – part of our large Community Garden. They have volunteered with the Trust since 2009 after retiring, and live nearby.

Upon their first visit to the Ag Center, they met the Trust’s North Fork Stewardship Manager Denise Markut, and were drawn in by her passion for farming. Anne Marie remarked, “When I came here as a city girl, I knew nothing about farming. Then I met Denise, who is a wonderful teacher!”

Now this dynamic duo spend countless hours from April to November helping around the farm, planting seeds in the spring, transplanting seedlings into the garden to grow, and focusing a lot of time and energy planting and caring for our learning garden.

Anne Marie continued, “When we retired, we knew we needed to get out of our comfort zone if we were going to find something meaningful to do. This community garden has become an important part of our life. It teaches us something every year, plus we’ve made so many new friends. We both really enjoy the exchange of ideas, the social connections, the exercise, and most of all, the fresh produce we pick for dinner!”