The Challenge is Approaching...
Garlic Mustard season is nearly upon us, and that means it's time for the Stewardship Network's second annual Garlic Mustard Challenge! Join us for one hundred tons of fun as we protect our natural areas from this agressive invasive plant!
  
These images will become buttons at the start of the Challenge! Check back then to start reporting your bags or making your pledges!
What is Garlic Mustard?
Garlic Mustard is an invasive plant that was brought over by European settlers as an herb. Unfortunately, with none of its native competitors, Garlic Mustard has spread unchecked across the contenant and can be found in over thirty states as well as parts of Canada. Not only does this plant choke out native wildflowers by out-competing them for space and sunlight, but it also puts out a chemical through its roots that prevents wildflowers and even young trees from growing. Garlic Mustard poses a dangerous threat to our natural areas' native biodiversity. Learn more about Garlic Mustard by watching the video below, which was created by Stewardship Network member Barbara Lucas (funded by Wisconsin Family Forests), or read about it by clicking here!
What is the Garlic Mustard Challenge?
The Stewardship Network's Garlic Mustard Challenge (or "the Challenge") started in 2008 with the goal of pulling 100,000 pounds of the invasive plant from across Michigan and the Midwest.
Between mid-April and mid-June, participants report their pulls through our website and we keep a running tally. Organized pulls are held at land conservancies and parks across the area and listed on our searchable events calendar for anybody who wants to attend, while other people pull in their own backyards. By the end of the Challenge last year, and thanks to the work of many individuals pulling together for nature, we shattered our goal and pulled a total of 128,470 pounds! See more 2008 Challenge stats!
Our local Stewardship Clusters also have a running competition to see which area can pull the most Garlic Mustard and win the Cluster Cup. In 2008, the West Michigan Cluster was victorious, pulling over 28,000 pounds from their area of the state! The Cluster Cup was returned in January at the Stewardship Network's annual conference and will be given to the next winning Cluster at the end of this year's Challenge. Help nature, and help your Cluster win the Cluster Cup, by reporting your pulls! Not sure which Cluster you're in? Click here to find out! If you live outside of one of our Clusters, there will also be an option to report your pull as "Out of Cluster area." Check back on this site once the Challenge has kicked off to find a link to the bag count reporting form.
What's new to the Challenge this year?
This year, the Challenge is going to see some updates. For starters, we're uping the ante and aiming for and even higher goal: 200,000 pounds! That's 100 tons! We're confident that together, we can meet this goal.
Another change is the introduction of our Garlic Mutard Free site certificate. After the Challenge, if you can walk your yard, your park or your preserve and tell us that there is no Garlic Mustard growing on the site, you will recieve this certificate. However, this certificate only lasts for about one year and will expire at the beginning of next year's Challenge.
Here's why: Garlic Mustard seeds remain viable for at least seven years. This means new plants can still come up after you've removed on year's worth of plants from a property. The fight against Garlic Mustard is an ongoing one. Folks will need to get out from year to year to walk their properties, pull the new plants, and renew their Garlic Mustard Free certification.
There will also be an option on this year's registration form to record whether or not your bags contain another invasive plant- Dame's Rocket. This plant peaks at about the same time as, or slightly later than, Garlic Mustard and is another member of the Mustard Family. Though the focus of the Challenge is Garlic Mustard, it's also a great opportunity to keep an eye out for other invasive threats posed against our natural areas. Learn more about Dame's rocket.
We will also have a prize for individuals this year (not just Clusters)! The top four pulling individuals this year will recieve their own copy of "From Pest to Pesto", a Garlic Mustard cookbook published and donated to us by the Kalamazoo Nature Center. Garlic Mustard is, afterall, edible- just make sure you only use plants that you know have not been treated with herbicides!
Useful tools:
| 
