Stone Tolan Clean-up Day

Our club has enjoyed a long-standing and enjoyable commitment to the Stone Tolan House in Brighton. One of the most fun annual activities is our spring “Clean-up Day,” when a team of members descends on the museum to weed and help with other garden maintenance. We missed 2020 because it was the beginning of the Covid shutdown, and volunteers weren’t allowed on the property. So the dozen plus of us were even more eager (including one dedicated member with a broken wrist!) to get to work on our designated May Monday, which turned out to be beautiful, if a bit crisp. 

Before...            

...and after!

Garlic mustard weed is invasive and will outlast the human race. Still, we engage in a yearly battle to beat it back, and take some satisfaction when we clear a patch, even just temporarily. It’s best picked when the ground is moist, because of its its long tap root. If you don’t pull carefully, the plant surrenders the above-ground parts easily, and the root bides its time. Even pulling the entire plant and piling them on the street, as we did, isn’t ideal, since the plant can still disperse its seeds if it isn’t burned or bagged. 

In addition to pulling garlic mustard weed out front, we cleaned up the Kitchen Garden and the Butterfly Garden and pulled dead limbs and shrubs to the street. Two hours after we began, we broke for lunch. The remaining fields of weeds would need to wait for the other local organizations that also volunteer at the site. It was great to back to work as a club!