Yesterday I joined my 8-year-old Brownie, others from her troop, and Concord-area Girl Scouts of all ages as we “pulled together” to rid Fairyland (the Hapgood Wright Town Forest) of garlic mustard, an invasive weed whose rapid growth chokes out native wildflowers, posing a threat to natural biodiversity. I’ve read various accounts of the weed’s entry to North America (via Europe and/or via Japan); it’s now found in over thirty states and parts of Canada. This page at the Massachusetts Audubon site gives more info about garlic mustard.
Garlic Mustard
The area chosen for the pull was the Hapgood Wright Town Forest, the “fairyland” near the Walden Woods. It’s referred to in the journals of Thoreau, the writing of Louisa May Alcott, and other other historical documents. The area is now town conservation land, and was named in honor of a benefactor in the early 1930s.
From the publisher’s synopsis of Flower Fables:
“Fairyland” was familiar territory to young Louisa May Alcott and her sisters, for they had often romped there and explored its secrets under the guidance of family friend, Henry David Thoreau. Fifteen years her elder, Thoreau led the Alcott girls and their friends on berry-picking expeditions in the wooded land around Walden Pond, which he fancifully called “fairyland.” It was on a piece of this land, owned by neighbor Ralph Waldo Emerson, that the girls’ father, Amos Bronson Alcott, helped Thoreau build the now-famous cabin where he lived “deliberately” and wrote Walden. With Thoreau as a guide, Louisa and the other children learned much about nature, but Louisa in particular delighted in another aspect of Thoreau’s point of view. The very fact that he called the woods “Fairyland” opened up a new way of thinking in the young writer’s mind. Whether he pointed out a new animal track, made a perfect bird call or discovered a bit of a cobweb and called it a fairy’s handkerchief, it was all magic to Louisa and fodder for her lively imagination. On many of her walks around Walden, Louisa shared original fairy stories with her sisters, Thoreau, and friends. One of these young friends was Ellen, the daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Six years her junior, Ellen looked up to Louisa the way Louisa looked up to Thoreau. Ellen was so captivated by the fairy stories that Louisa eventually wrote them down as a present for her.
The Girl Scouts (and assorted siblings) pulled and pulled and pulled! They filled a dozen of those huge lawn
bags with the invasive garlic weed, to be incinerated, so it doesn’t further spread. They saw in action the proverb “many hands make light work.”
If you’re curious about where Fairyland is, I’ve attempted a screenshot of a Google map (click to enlarge). Fairyland/Hapgood Wright Town Forest is marked with the A. The Orchard House is about 3/4 of a mile to the north-northeast, and Walden Pond is another half mile south. The green-keyed areas are town parks, town conservation land, and the Minuteman National Park. Walking from Orchard House on Lexington Road to Walden Pond, on a path that follows much of this “green” area, it’s easy to imagine that one is walking in the footsteps of the Alcott sisters to their play Fairyland.
Now I’m in the mood for reading some of these fantasy tales!
I’m in the middle of The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott right now, which completely brings the author to life. Knowing that you and your Brownies helped improve this “famous” area of woods is the coolest thing I’ve heard all week.
Way to go, Brownies!
I will look for this mad weed. how cool for your good citizens to help out and learn some history, too.
Is there actually any use in cooking for garlic mustard, or is it just a pest? Whichever the case may be, it’s cool that you got the Brownies out there doing a little bit of clean-up that was eminently necessary!
What a great service project for the Brownies!
Sandy – my younger daughter is really into this – sees it as one small step she can take to help the earth. She’s drafted a letter to the neighbors and to the local paper to let people know how they can dispose of garlic mustard (and why they should!)
Softdrink – I’ll pass that along
care – it was very cool to see that even the youngest (kindergarten) girls understood that this invasive weed can keep other plants from growing.
zibilee – I’ve read a few dozen online articles about garlic mustard, and am unable to find a current culinary use for it. Only one article indicated that it was originally used as an herb. When we pulled it, there was a distinct smell of garlic, but it has a taproot, not a bulb.
bermudaonion – and something they’ll take into their own yards and neighborhoods. It was like a big game of “I Spy”, they had fun spotting the garlic mustard plants.
What fun to go rambling in Louisa’s woodlands! Combining an environmental project with literary history – what could be better??
I recently read The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott (a novel) and then a biography of her. She was a very interesting woman, with an unusual family situation.
I love that you did this!! We considered a “field trip” there with the summer symposium folks from Orchard House but heard it was a bit rough travelling. Maybe your Brownies made it more passable!
You should check out the summer happenings for the symposium at Orchard House — hope to see you there, Dawn!
It’s fantastic that your daughter and her troop members tended this beautiful and historic area. I think it’s so cool that you were on land that some amazing individuals (Louise May Alcott, Henry David Thoreau etc. wow!) and fantastic authors also walked over and then some! Great job!
What a cool project- historical, literary, environmental.
Really nice post. I’m going to reference it on my Louisa May Alcott blog. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to grab a paragraph and a couple of photos and then end with a link back to your site so they can read the entire article.
Daniel Shealy gave a wonderful presentation on how Louisa May Alcott quietly revolutionized fairy tales through Flower Fables but unfortunately nobody really noticed. Too bad! Maybe that part of her work will finally have a revival too someday.
[...] wanted to share a wonderful post I found on Dawn’s “She’s Too Fond of Books” blog where she describes an outing with her girl scout troop to Hapgood Wright Town Forest in [...]