Merrimack Girl Creates Winning 'Green Up!' Patch

No garlic mustard, please! This isn’t about condiments, but about an invasive species, the garlic mustard plant, that is one of the focuses of a council-wide take-action project for Girl Scouts.

Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains has partnered with The Stewardship Network of New England during April, May and June of this year to get to the root of the garlic mustard plant problem.

This aggressive invader came to the U.S. from Europe centuries ago. Once established in an area, it grows out of control and emits chemicals that harm native plants.

Grace Musto, 12, of Merrimack is a Cadette Girl Scout in Troop 12129. She created the winning design for a patch that Girl Scouts who take on the garlic mustard challenge can earn.

A Girl Scout take-action project, as opposed to just a service project, has four components. It requires that girls solve a root cause of a problem, plan for a sustainable solution, educate others about the problem, and advocate for change.

For 103 years, Girl Scouts have been caring for the Earth and participating in conservation and environmentally themed programs and projects, from creating a pocket garden at the youngest levels of Girl Scouting, to restoring a wildlife habitat destroyed by a tornado, as older girls did a few years ago.

Go to newengland.stewareshipmetwork.org to learn more about how you can help, and how to tell this invasive herb from harmless native plants.

Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains serves more than 10,500 girls across New Hampshire and Vermont, thanks to more than 4,000 trained and dedicated volunteers. See girlscoutsgwm.org or call 888-474-9686 to join or volunteer.