Garlic Mustard Challenge 2022

2022

The City of Green near Akron, Ohio and the Portage Park District have issued the Put-in-Bay Township Park District 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. Last year we filled a dumpster with garlic mustard and were successful!! Over five hours, thirty-four PIB volunteers removed 1,845 pounds of garlic mustard from the woods! They pulled 56 lbs/person with a figure of 24/lbs/per person/per hour. Lets see if we can top this year!

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 7 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! 

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 a grand prizes for those pulling the most that day. Register by emailing leiconservancy@gmail.com or 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 Cooper’s Woods Preserve and Dodge 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.