BATH — Warmed by the sun of a bright spring morning, Bill and Jane Lenhardt work diligently to bring the garden at Historic Bath State Historic Site out of its winter doldrums.

The Lenhardts, who moved to Bath in December, have volunteered to roll up their sleeves and oversee the garden, which is located behind the Van Der Veer House and adjacent to the visitor center.

It is a sort of tribute to the efforts of the late Bea Latham, former site assistant manager who made the garden one of her many pet projects. Latham passed away in December after a long battle with cancer.

Historic Bath site manager Leigh Swain, who confesses to having a brown thumb, welcomes the Lenhardts’ generous offer.

“I was sitting at my desk one day thinking about what we were going to do with the garden this year when the Lenhardts volunteered to help,” Swain said. “Bea had certainly done a lot of the research already … it was a matter of what we were going to plant in the garden. These nice folks are heaven-sent.”

The garden was originally planned as a memorial honoring the late Herbert R. Paschal, Jr., who died in 1982. Interest in the garden waned a bit over the years before Latham began using it as a teaching tool. Each year she led second grade students from Bath Elementary School in the planting, cultivating and harvesting of a gourd crop.

The Lenhardts plan to plant the garden beds with corn, beans, squash, heritage tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, white eggplant, marigolds and a few herbs. When the fresh produce is harvested, the plan is to offer it for donations in the visitor center. Proceeds will help fund future garden projects at the historic site, Swain noted.

“For many years the garden was just here, it was just a garden,” Swain said. “But now we try to include more interpretation. We do try to make people understand why we plant certain crops and how they fit into that time in Bath’s history.”

Jane Lenhardt insists her husband, who has a gardening background, does most of the work.

“I’m just the horticultural groupie,” she said with a laugh. “I know nothing … I look it up.”

The Lenhardts say they are honored to continue a project that was considered important to Bea Latham and to Historic Bath.

“We’re recipients of all the charm that Bath has to offer,” Jane Lenhardt said. “There is something special here and it needs to be taken care of. And it is fun.”