As of this writing, inquiries about progress at the Town Center have produced no new information — streets being paved, trees being re-planted, only “horizontal” construction, and still no financing for vertical construction. Instead of holding my breath waiting for a breakthrough, I visited an alternative “development” in our neighborhood.

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The Lake Highlands Community Garden is heading into its third summer. To find it, drive to the White Rock Valley neighborhood behind Flag Pole Hill.

From White Rock Trail, head west on Goforth, past the barn. Do not lose faith. The garden is there, behind the old armory building at 7901 Goforth. (Don’t make the same mistake I did, confusing the old armory building with the Muchert Army Reserve Center, the latter located just east of the Dallas Police Northeast Patrol Substation on Northwest Highway. Similar-sounding names, close in location, but distinct buildings.)

From the garden rows, you can look over the edge of the hill and see rooftops, sky and clouds.  It’s not high elevation, but on a sunny, clear spring day, it was a special treat.

The various garden plots express the personalities of their keepers, not only in their choice of plants, but in their choice of adornment. Pinwheels spin, scraps of fabric flail in the wind, and at least one fashionable scarecrow guards her ground.

I soon learned that pinwheels do more than look whimsical. They also scare off foraging bunnies and wily birds.

Flowers earn their keep, too. When I admired some blooms planted in Mike Kirby’s plot, he informed me his wife had read that the flowers would be good companion plants for the tomatoes, because they would repel aphids, also known as plant lice.

In the northwest corner of the garden, a bamboo screen shields the “bee sanctuary”, provided by the Texas Honeybee Guild. A peek behind the screen reveals two busy hives. Sure, the bees have a cushy set up, but it isn’t rent-free. They pollinate; plants bear fruit; everybody is happy.

Just when you think the place could not possibly be any greener, somebody mentions the two compost bins, which recycle green waste from the garden into organic compost.

I talked to Heather Rinaldi, who showed me two plots literally bursting with healthy, exuberant vegetation. Heather is Lake Highlands’ resident worm rancher. She employs composting worms (called “red wigglers”) whose natural worm activity (squirming, eating, and producing fertilizer) recycles organic material into a nutrient-dense compost called “vermi-compost”.  Heather can be reached at  txwormranch.com if you want to hire your own worms (or learn more about worm wine and worm tea, which may not sound appealing to us, but plants go crazy for it).

I also talked to Steve Clary, who pointed to the donation garden in the southeast corner, which is managed by JJ Pair. Volunteers farmed the donation garden’s 2,000 square feet, and in their first harvest season, donated 480 pounds of food to Family Gateway. In the upcoming harvest season, they plan to send food donations to Operation Frontline, a national organization whose volunteer chefs educate families about cooking and nutrition skills on a tight budget.

M.E. Clary, Steve’s wife, arrived with their young daughter in tow.

“I didn’t know I married a gardener,” she told me, “but this has been great for both of us, for our family and for our community.”

At the time of my visit, winter plants were ending or peaking. I saw a lot of broccoli in bloom, lettuce and cilantro thriving (and going to seed) and Swiss chard.

Just starting were tomatoes, peppers, okra, squash, potatoes, basil and strawberries, to name a few.

In the past year, the garden expanded as 14,000 feet of adjacent paved parking lot was torn up. Plumbing (buried irrigation, in farmer-speak) was installed throughout. Even with the added space, however, the plots already are claimed. To join the waiting list, visit lhgarden.org.

The garden land is owned by the City of Dallas. Costs are funded by member fees and also by a grant from the organic division of Scott’s Miracle-Gro.

Of course, it is apples and oranges to compare the garden to the Town Center. Even so, it’s interesting to note that un-paving a plot of land has yielded so many benefits for our neighborhood.