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Garlic Mustard Challenge 2023
The Portage Park District and Stark Parks have issued the Put-in-Bay Township Park District and Lake Erie Islands Conservancy, a challenge as to which community can pull the most garlic mustard in a day! We have accepted the challenge but need your help and lots of volunteers. In 2022, our numbers were down as the ferries quit running that day but our hardy volunteers still managed to pull over 800 pounds of garlic mustard. You could see the beauty of the lavender appendaged waterleaf blooming and other spring ephemeral flowers flourishing last spring in areas that have had previous garlic mustard removal efforts.
There is such a big problem with the garlic mustard out-competing the native wildflowers in Cooper’s Woods we need help! The best way to get rid of it is to hand pull it before it goes to seed. It pulls easily just after a spring rain!
Brendan Morgan and Michael Marefka of EnviroScience will be here Saturday, May 6th, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Cooper’s Woods parking lot to arm us with strong garbage bags. Come for whatever time you are available. Volunteers will head into the woods after an educational session on what garlic mustard looks like and how to pull it. We will fill our bags, take them back to the parking lot for weighing before dumping them into a dumpster for removal so that seeds are removed from the site. Weight will be calculated as total pounds pulled and pounds per volunteer hour. The grand prize for winning this friendly competition is bragging rights and a sense of accomplishment.
Bring garden gloves to wear if you can. Some folks have had a rare allergic reaction to the strong garlic scented oils in the plant. We will have some garden gloves for those who need them still. We will also have cold drinking water in a large cooler container-please bring your own water bottle for a refill!
And remember you can take some garlic mustard home to eat-great in chip dip, pasta, salads, etc. Just do not take it home to plant!!!
There will be a prize for each person pulling at least two bags of garlic mustard and grand prizes for those pulling the most that day. Register by emailing leiconservancy@gmail.comor by texting Lisa Brohl at 419-366-2087. Walk ins welcome, but registering will help us in planning for prizes.
EnviroScience removed invasive plants/trees from our Duff Woods Preserve last year. This Challenge and Earth Week Challenge will help us to restore the native plants and animal community of the Cooper’s Woods Preserve and others.
The previous piece is published in this month’s Put-in-Bay Gazette. The Gazette has been producing incredible independent Put-in-Bay island news for over 40 years. If you have any interest at all in what is happening on South Bass Island, we urge you strongly to subscribe to the Put-in-Bay Gazette. One-year online subscriptions are only $15, and print subscriptions are available as well. To subscribe please visit the Put-in-Bay Gazette subscription form. This piece of Put-in-Bay journalism has been provided to putinbayohio.com courtesy of the Put-in-Bay Gazette, Put-in-Bay’s only local newspaper. Visit their website putinbay.news for more information and to subscribe!
