Last year’s garlic mustard and dame’s rocket will be up and obvious this time of year! Both invasives are biennials and have first year plants that stay green under the snow, so as soon as the snow melts you can start looking for the second-year rosettes to pull. Remember when pulling to leave the pulled plants somewhere where the roots will not come into contact with soil (like the crook of a tree, or on a rock, or in the municipal compost bin). They are very hardy plants. If you pull now, you can safely compost the plants. More mature plants (after they have bolted) may still go to seed after being pulled and should only be composted at a municipal facility where the temperature of the compost rises high enough to kill seeds.
Pull pull pull! – Dana
Photo of garlic mustard from http://plantsci.sdstate.edu/, the South Dakota Plant Science Department.
If I could just find a good recipe for the stiuff…any ideas?
Comment by MK — March 31, 2010 @ 10:59 am
You can use it much like spinach, though it has a stronger garlic taste so you may want to adjust for that. And… Kalamazoo Nature Center published a whole cookbook, actually!
From Pest to Pesto: A Culinary Guide
Published by Kalamazoo Nature Center
http://www.naturecenter.org
Here’s the title recipe:
Garlic Mustard Pesto
3 cups garlic mustard greens with stems
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped garlic mustard root
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
¼ cup pine nuts
salt to taste
Put everything into a food processor and blend until smooth. Cook your favorite pasta and toss with pesto mixture while the pasta is hot. Garnish lightly with Parmesan cheese if desired. Add salt to taste.
—
-Suzie
Comment by landconservancy — March 31, 2010 @ 11:18 am
[...] species” and a discussion of threats to wildflower areas, including invasive plants such as garlic mustard. Then, participants will hit the trail at Creekshead to see what they can find and identify. [...]
Pingback by Learn to Identify Spring Wildflowers! « Land Conservancy: Notes from the field — April 9, 2010 @ 11:25 am
[...] “indicator species”, and discussion of threats to wildflower areas, including invasive plants such as garlic mustard. Then, we’ll hit the trail to see what we can find and identify. By the end of the [...]
Pingback by Space still available – Sign up today! How to identify wildflowers, Sunday May 2 « Land Conservancy: Notes from the field — April 27, 2010 @ 4:19 pm