Take the pledge to pull garlic mustard at Crosby Farm Park [FULL]

Sorry! This event has reached capacity and we are no longer taking registrations. If you'd like to be added to the waiting list, contact Amy at akilgore@fmr.org or 651.222.2193 x31. Please consider another educational or volunteer event on the FMR calendar. 

Nestled at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, Crosby Farm Park is a natural oasis in the heart of the city. Enjoy the beauty of early spring at this riverside park while helping protect native plants beneficial to our local wildlife and waters.

Alongside FMR staff, volunteers will be working in an area home to a striking array of spring wildflowers native to Minnesota — Dutchman's breeches, trout lily, and Jack-in-the-pulpit, to name a few. After a brief introduction and training, volunteeers will help protect these and other important members of the native plant community by removing the extremely invasive plant garlic mustard, then pledge to return to the area to continue this much-needed work.

Although a serious threat garlic mustard is not only easy to identify but quick to pull by hand, making its removal the perfect restoration activity for volunteers who want to continue to improve wildlife habitat and the health of their watershed after an event, at times most convenient for them.

Thanks to continued volunteer efforts, we've been able to see slow but steady improvement in the ephemeral patch, and have even expanded the volunteer restoration work-areas to include the Crosby lakeshore!

About the Pledge

Please note that we ask all participants in this particular event to sign a Pledge to Pull, promising to remove garlic mustard in this area of Crosby Park in the weeks following this training and evening pull.

•All kickoff volunteers receive a signed card certifying their participation in the training and granting permission to independently return and perform this volunteer service in this special area, part of the City of St. Paul park system and the Mississippi National Park.

•Volunteers pledge to a total of 8 hours of garlic mustard removal -- 2 hours for the training plus an additional 6 hours coordinated on your own. If you bring someone with you, their hours count towards your pledged time. For example, if you participate in the 2-hour training and removal session, then bring 2 friends, classmates or family members to the site for a 2-hour session you scheduled, that's 8 hours of garlic mustard removal time. 

•Most volunteers complete their pledged time in May but volunteers can extend their pulling into mid-June or so to better fit their schedule.  

Pulling technique and details will be covered during the training. 

Can't make it?

• To receive notices of all FMR events, sign up for our twice-a-month e-newsletter, Mississippi Messages 
• To be notified of future events at this particular location, contact FMR Volunteer Coordinator Amy Kilgore at akilgore@fmr.org or by selecting Amy by name under "Category" via the FMR contact form 
• •Check out additonal volunteer opportunities on the FMR calendar.