A.L. Nickerson caught the community gardening bug while training to be a Dallas Master Gardener.
He led tours at the East Dallas Community Garden on Fitzhugh and helped build the infrastructure for Hope Community Garden near the Tenison Park golf courses and Our Saviour Community Garden on Jim Miller.
But “when you live in Lake Highlands and your garden’s in pleasant grove, and you have to drive 45 minutes each way to turn on the water faucet for 15 minutes,” well, it’s a bit counterproductive, Nickerson says. He brought up the idea of a Lake Highlands community garden to Dallas code inspector Bob Curry, who helped Nickerson start the Hope and Our Saviour gardens, and Curry told him: “Go forth.”
Nickerson followed the command, literally, to Goforth and White Rock Trail behind the U.S. Army Reserve Center, where 31 plots with 150 to 200 square feet each will soon be sprouting tomatoes, squash, green beans, cucumbers, cantaloupes, basil, flowers and more.
The garden grew so popular among neighborhood residents that it now has a waiting list, and Nickerson now hopes to start another garden on the west side of White Rock Lake.
For information on the Lake Highlands Community Garden, including volunteer opportunities, e-mail A.L. Nickerson at gardeners@tx.rr.com.
