Despite a lack of volunteers, the Merrill Community Sharing Garden is still expected to double its output of fresh produce for the neighborhood this year when the community needs it most.

The garden guru, otherwise known as Community Action Pathways Center Community Service Specialist Kaelyb Lokrantz, has stepped forward to keep the bountiful agricultural accomplishment running smoothly.

“Kaelyb’s tireless dedication to teaching youth and families about healthy eating and food sustainability is completely in step with the mission, vision and core values of Community Action. He is a true path builder,” said Marc Perry, Community Action interim deputy director.

Over the past dozen years the garden has grown to include all types of vegetables, berry bushes, fruit trees as well as a grape trellis, greenhouse, murals and more.

Community Action had ambitious goals for the garden empire this year. Plans were underway to double the amount of food-producing plants. Fruit trees had been ordered and piles of dirt and mulch had arrived for placement in the garden beds.

The garden also was the beneficiary of a $5,000 grant from SSM Health to build an outdoor classroom on the site complete with benches, blackboard and table in a miniature amphitheater set up. The grant also provided resources to build a water retention system.

Other plans in the works included the restoration of part of the site to a natural prairie with native wildflowers.

However, with groups unable to gather due to social distancing requirements, the many volunteers who typically labored in the garden as well as students were unable to help.

Although the garden could have quickly fallen in disrepair, Lokrantz decided to not only keep it afloat but help it reach all of its pre-COVID-19 summer goals.

Lokrantz began spending six to seven hours a day, including weekends, at the garden in addition to his work creating online community service experiences and teaching civics lessons for his students in Beloit Fresh Start, an education and job-training program for at-risk you “If I miss a couple days’ worth of work it will set me weeks behind. This is the most crucial time,” Lokrantz said.

On Sunday Lokrantz was busy trimming back raspberry beds.

“They will take over the whole area if you let them,” Lokrantz said.

This week he will plant onions, radishes, lettuces, spinach, kale, sweet peas and asparagus and will clean out the strawberry beds in addition to planting newly delivered cherry trees. On the Nelson Avenue side of the lots, Lokrantz was busy repairing the fence which was hit by a drunk driver.

He said Community Action staff members will be able to do social distancing when building the benches, blackboard and a table. The outdoor classroom should be on schedule to be completed by this fall.

With extra work, Lokrantz is confident the garden will be as strong as ever and keep many fed.

“All the projects will still get done but it will be a longer process,” Lokrantz said.

Lokrantz’s Fresh Start students, who are in an online version of the program now due to COVID-19, haven’t been out to the garden to learn about growing their own food. However, Lokrantz is keeping them busy with community service while distanced.

Students made a Fresh Start recipe book and will be writing letters to hospital residents, writing papers on the impacts of Coronavirus and reading about times people have confronted crisis with kindness.