Come one, come all. May 7th will be a lovely day for a little exercise and a lot of good when you join me to pull out the Garlic Mustard that
threatens the native plants in the Heinz Woodlot. Last year, Patricia McGorman, Henry Driedger, and Linda and Ernie Kennette joined my sister, Linda Code and I, and we made a difference! We filled many garbage bags, did a little bending and stretching, and admired the plants coming up in areas where last year there was nothing but Garlic Mustard. The thing about Garlic Mustard, you have to do this for a few years to win the battle. Every year we will have less to remove, and we may even get a chance to skip a year. The seed remains viable for at least 7 years. Its a biennial, which means it makes a rosette the first year and seeds the second. That also means if we have a warm early spring, we can pull out some of next years plants as well. There is a corner we missed last year that I plan to tackle personally, but the woodlot is small and we should be able to, with a little of your help, cover the whole thing. Garlic mustard comes up before the native plants, and makes a chemical that impairs the ability of the good guys to germinate. If we don’t pull it, it will eventually become the only ground cover. That is not a pretty sight. The E.C.F.N.C. worked very hard to protect this green space, please don’t let our labours, and raffles, and door to door fundraising be for naught. We start at 10, park behind the old Zellers (turn left (east) just before the Canadian Tire) on Erie Street south in Leamington. If it is drizzly, I will still be pulling. If it is raining, I will be out there the 15th. Come one, come all. Give your mother a bag of Garlic Mustard for Mother’s Day. Yes, you can eat it!
For additional details or better directions, email me at or call 519-839-4635.