A Threat to Our Woodland!
It’s spring again and the woods are full of beautiful wildflowers for you to enjoy. Now imagine that a single plant has taken over the woods, pushing out all of your spring favorites. Unfortunately this woodland ‘super plant’ is all too real, and it’s spreading through the woods.
It’s called garlic mustard and it was brought to the US by European immigrants who used its nutritious garlic flavored leaves and roots. Unfortunately, it escaped from home gardens and has caused great damage to woodlands in the Eastern US where it grows aggressively and shades out native plants.
Garlic mustard is biennial, meaning that it lives for two years. It sprouts in the early spring (its leaves have a natural anti-freeze) and develops into a low growing cluster of rounded leaves that resemble violets or creeping charlie but smell like garlic when crushed. In its second year of life garlic mustard sends up tall leafy stems tipped with white flowers that develop into long skinny seed pods.
Garlic mustard spreads when its tiny black seeds are unintentionally carried by people and pets to new locations. You can keep garlic mustard under control by hand weeding it in springtime before its seeds develop. The entire plant, roots and all, must be removed, so a dandelion digger is helpful. The plants must be completely removed from the woodlands in bags. They can be landfilled (not composted) or if you’re adventurous, eaten!
Garlic mustard leaves get bitterer as they age, so it’s best to use the tender young leaves. They can be mixed in salads with milder greens, used to make pesto or steamed like spinach. The leaves are high in vitamins A and C. The following recipe was developed by Robert Dunn, Executive Chef at the Belmont Conference Center in Maryland.
Whatever you choose to do with your bags full of garlic mustard, it’s important that you get out there and start pulling as soon as possible. It may seem like a lot of work for little green plants, but the future of your forest is truly at stake.
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 | Garlic mustard in early spring | Photo courtesy of the National Park Service |
| | ![Garlic mustard in early spring[4]](/Handler.ashx?Item_ID=E757E801-8FCE-4E25-8F63-DA24906BE0D8&type=thumb) ![Garlic mustard in summer[4]](/Handler.ashx?Item_ID=992FB435-FB46-49A5-97B0-E90E3ABDC1F5&type=thumb) |
Garlic Mustard and Spinach Raviolis with Garlic Mustard Pesto
Raviolis:
4 shallots / 1 clove garlic
2 cups spinach
2 cups garlic mustard
4 oz. ricotta cheese
2 oz. Parmesan cheese
2 oz. chopped sun dried tomatoes
6 sheets fresh pasta
Sauté shallots and garlic in 2 Tbl butter until tender. Add spinach and garlic mustard greens & wilt. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from pan and cool slightly. Squeeze excess liquid from green and chop. Combine all ingredients and season to taste. Cut pasta sheets to desired size. Eggwash pasta and fill with garlic mustard and spinach mixture.
Pesto:
1 cup garlic mustard
½ cup basil
3 cloves garlic
2 oz. toasted pinenuts
4 oz. olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
In food processor combine all ingredients except olive oil. Puree and add olive oil with processor running. Toss cooked raviolis with pesto.
Time required: 1 hr. Serves 10
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