Weekend event: Pull - and eat - that weed!

Want to help a local park and acquire a new taste at the same time? Try the 11th annual Garlic Mustard Challenge Sunday (May 2) at Patapsco Valley State Park in Baltimore County.

The event features individual and team contests, plus non-competitive pulling of garlic mustard, the herb imported from Europe long ago that has proven incredibly invasive. Volunteers get together every spring to curb the weed's spread and have some fun in the process. Over the past decade, they've yanked more than four tons, but there'll be plenty more to find on Sunday.

Besides weed-pulling, there'll be a "chef challenge," where cooks compete to produce tasty dishes including garlic mustard. And there'll be a poster contest for kids, educational exhibits about the Patapsco Valley ecosystem and its history, live music, scavenger hunt, bubble-gum blowing (?) and more.

You must register by Friday to enter the mustard-pulling or cooking contests. To do so, go here.

It's from 1 to 4:30 p.m. at the Avalon/Glen Artney Area of the Patapsco Valley State Park. Entrance is off US Route 1 at 5120 South Street in Halethorpe. Go to Pavilion 104. For more about this or other park-related activities, go here.

(2008 Baltimore Sun photos: Patapsco Challenge, by Algerina Perna; garlic mustard, by Chiaki Kawajiri)

Weekend event: Pull - and eat - that weed!

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