Garlic mustard, for those of you not in the know (and I was one of you up until last year), is an invasive, non-native species of leafy green flowering plant originally brought over by European settlers for food. In its normal range, garlic mustard plays a valuable role. But here in St. Paul, deer won't eat it, our local butterfly caterpillars won't eat it, and it doesn't play nicely with the native plants.
The nice thing about garlic mustard, though, is that it's easy to identify and pick, and it's edible. Karen Solas, the river stewardship coordinator who ran tonight's event, even brought recipes--garlic mustard salsa anyone? Tossed salad with smoked salmon, French sorrel, and garlic mustard? I'm hoping to try some of these recipes. Next time I pull garlic mustard (I'm committed to 6 more hours this month), I'll take a small container to bring some home. I just knew Brian would roll his eyes if I brought home a trash bag of weeds and tried to pass it off as a viable gustatory option.
Tonight's event was so lovely. Two families from our homeschooling/unschooling group were there, including Monique, a super-volunteer for the river who's only three weeks or so away from giving birth to her second child, and Jenni, who took breaks to nurse her five-month-old on the river bank while her husband watched their older two kids. It was wonderful to work while the kids climbed on logs, threw rocks in the Mississippi, explored a cave, and even did a little weed-pulling, too, all the while noisily, happily chatting and laughing away. Our homeschooling group has been meeting regularly at Crosby Farm Park this spring, so it felt good to take care of the park a bit in return.
While I pulled, I got in a little friendly conversation, both with the folks I knew and the ones I didn't, but I found that much of the time I just wanted to work quietly, focusing on one plant at a time, one small patch of woods, noticing the variation in size of the plants, length of roots, stage of flowering. All around me was the contented hum of nature-loving Minnesotans, finally getting their hands in the dirt and seeing green leaves again after the long winter.
As the event ended, the sky was turning gorgeous shades of pink, and the setting sun lit the trees across the river gold. We carried away many bags of garlic mustard and left much more still waiting to be pulled.
I once heard a Jewish saying that has really stuck with me over the years: "You can't do everything. But that doesn't mean you can do nothing." There are many times when I feel overwhelmed by the impossibility of the world turning out to be a good place for my children. Other times, like tonight, I feel that no matter what happens, it is always worthwhile to get down in the dirt with other people and help make room for good things to grow.
For more about the Friends of the Mississippi River and its activities, you can go to
http://www.fmr.org/
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