Garlic Mustard and Milk

'Tis the season...  

The grass is growing, the violets are blooming, the animals are crying because I won't let them on the newly reseeded pasture....

The garlic mustard is taking over as it does all over the Midwest, anywhere it has gotten a foothold.  It's an invasive plant, and it is taking over and choking out native woodland species, here, in forest preserves, along the roadways, anywhere it can spread seeds and declare war.  We have it everywhere, and when we clear out old branches or trim up trees, the garlic mustard is the first thing to sprout the next spring.

Except....where the hogs rooted it out last year.  Literally, they dug up the dormant roots and munched them ecstatically on cool fall days. 

Except....where the goats and cow are grazing it this spring.  It's not their favorite, but it IS the available greenery that grows the fastest in spring.

Except....when I yank it out on the perfect day like today, when the air is damp and chilly and the soil releases the long roots without any fight. There's a small window of opportunity, when the rain has softened the soil, and the flower heads aren't quite open.  When the height of the weed itself is still below the knee level, and not up to your thigh as you wade through the thickets of it...

The seeds from the white flower heads can still germinate 6 years later.  It will take years to eradicate it here on our tiny 2 acre property...  It's maddening.

Every year I wage this battle, and every year we get a little bit closer to not letting any of the thigh-high weediness go to seed.  Last year I lost the fight, and it took over faster than I could pull and dig and shovel.  The pigs helped, but we fenced the area too late. 

This year....the photo of what looks like nearly bare earth?  That's where the pigs killed the garlic mustard.  It's seeded with grass, and the goats are managing the new seedlings of weeds while the grass establishes itself.

What better snack for piggies and mama, holed up in the barn stall until the rain stops later this week?  Freshly pulled garlic mustard, topped off with a sip of fresh warm milk.  :)

 

Laura