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Meet Lys Burden
Founding Mother, Master Gardener, Food Advocate
If you met Lys today, she would be smiling sweet under her sun hat and telling you about her latest garden project as a WSU Master Gardener. However, Lys has been growing since long before her Master Gardener training. From Ohio and Florida, to Montana and Washington, Lys has dedicated her life to growing organic vegetables, saving seeds, and storing crops for winter through canning, freezing, and drying. While participating in Local 2020's Food Resiliency Action Group in 2011, Lys helped start the first Food Bank Gardening project at Mountain View. As a local food advocate, Lys jumpstarted the second food bank garden at Port Townsend High School, which sat unused during its most productive months – Summer! By 2013, the group was incorporated as the Food Bank Farm and Gardens (DBA Food Bank Growers). Lys played an integral role in developing the leadership team, initiating the first FBFG bank account, and creating community in the gardens while giving back to the food banks!
Lys then went on to develop Growing Groceries as a collaborative project WSU Extension and FBFG in 2014. In 2015, Lys coordinated the first Growing Groceries class held at WSU Jefferson County Extension Office for 15 participants. Growing Groceries has been an enormously beneficial part of helping our community learn to garden and so many of them have dedicated their time to our gardens. This was all in part to Lys’ ability for advocacy, outreach, and community building. All of this has led to the Food Bank Growers gaining garden sites, volunteers, and a great sense of community over the last decade.
Additionally, she worked with the Native Connections Action Group of the Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship to develop a trail chronicling the life and impact of the renowned figure, Chief Chetzemoka. What is today known as the čičməhán Trail (pronounced Cheech-ma-han, known in English as Chetzemoka) was started as a project to honor the last hereditary chief of the S’Klallam people and bring to life the indigenous history of the area that thrived for hundreds of years before becoming known as Port Townsend. Lys’ hard work in acquiring funding, receiving approval from the state, county, city, and private landowners, and ultimately planning the route that has become a beautiful trail that can be accessed by those on foot, bike, or in cars. The project reached completion in 2020.
Lys is not just an inspiration here in Port Townsend, but also in the cycling world. She and her husband, Dan, along with a couple friends aimed to be the first people to bicycle from Alaska to Argentina. They coined this the Hemistour and even published an article in National Geographic. The group also led the Bikecentennial – a ride across America in the Summer of 1976, America’s bicentennial. Today, Lys and Dan host travelers coming into town on foot or by bike at their home in Port Townsend.
Since FBFG morphed into the Food Bank Growers, the organization has increased from one garden to 12, and a handful of volunteers to a community supported project. Lys’s passion for growing food and transferring knowledge is deeply woven into the mission, vision, and volunteers that thrive today.
Thank you, Lys for pioneering this much needed community safety net, both in the gardens and at the food banks!
Submitted by Sophie DeGroot
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