Garlic Mustard flowering–Glenn Miller, Oregon Department of Agriculture

Put-in-Bay Garlic Mustard Pull Competition!

The City of Green near Akron, Ohio has issued us a challenge as to which community can pull the most garlic mustard in a day!  Lake Erie Islands Conservancy has accepted the challenge, but needs your help and lots of volunteers.

There is such a big problem with the invasive wildflower garlic mustard 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 of EnviroScience will be here Saturday May 8 from 9:00 am-2:00 pm 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 into a dumpster for removal so that seeds are removed from the site. After the bag is empty, grab some water and return to the woods to refill your bag. Southgate park in the city of Green is much larger at 200 acres but the density of garlic mustard is much higher at our 30 acre Coopers Woods so with enough helping hands we could win this. 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! Refillable water bottles will be available for those who participate.  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! Prizes include certificates from Reel Bar, Cameo Pizza, The Goat, Lake Erie Islands Historical Society, The Forge, and the Put-in-Bay Gazette. Register by emailing leiconservancy “at”
gmail.com or by texting Lisa Brohl at 419-366-2087. Walk ins welcome, but registering will help us in planning for prizes. The first 25 volunteers will receive a free t-shirt.

We are working with EnviroScience to remove invasive plants/trees from our Cooper’s Woods Preserve with funding from the Conservation Fund. They will be removing amur honeysuckle later this year by cutting and applying herbicide to the base. You can see their work from last fall with the piles of the cut brush left behind. This garlic mustard challenge and the Earth Day Challenge are all part of controlling the invasive plants so we can have a healthier Cooper’s Woods for the future–with native plants and trees that support native wildlife!