Stinkwort is thick along 280 and beginning to spread. Learn to recognize it . Wear gloves and pull out the new green plants, so that it can not get established on your property.

Would it help to hire goats (they seem to tolerate weeds that other grazing animals can't) to eat the stinkwort, or would they just poop out the seeds which would then create new plants? How about a controlled burning of the plant? It would be a shame if pesticides were used. I remember, back in the 70s when toads/frogs were abundant in the local creeks and yards in Palo Alto. They're all gone now and I suspect that pesticides are the culprit.

I remember years ago that Stanford tried to irradiate the wild mustard growing on the hills surrounding "The Dish" by covering the mustard plants with large tarps for long periods of time. Did that work?

Our local hills are covered with invasive plant species. The wild oat grass that turns the hills green in the spring and golden in the summer was imported by the Spaniards and their cattle when they settled in California, completely changing the local landscape.

Oops - I meant to write eradicate instead of irradiate when referring to destroying the mustard plants.

It was yellow star thistle, a particularly vile weed.
I believe they had trial eradication areas all over the hills, including tarps, goats, plowing and such. I've never heard the results though. It's not always easy to get rid of something once it gets a foothold.
I've heard scattered conversations, though, that they seem to be making some progress in a lot of areas.

Not mustard at all: thanks for the clarification! I thought they were trying to kill the mustard plants.

Posted by Dorthy, a resident of Crescent Park

>> Would it help to hire goats (they seem to tolerate weeds that other grazing animals can't) to eat the stinkwort,

This online brochure from UC Davis says that it isn't known that they will eat it. Web Link

Also, it is known to be harmful or even fatal to sheep: Web Link

According to this article:

"The weed defies control and is known to return after wildfire. The only reliable method for getting rid of the flowering plants is removing by hand; spraying them with herbicide prompts the production dandelion-like seeds."

Web Link

Nasty stuff. The article suggests "kill on sight" (by hand).

A ploy by Mother Nature to get us off our screens and back outside, hiking and exercising.

Is there a way to volunteer and get trained?

If you want to see the brown, going to seed, Stinkwort plants, there are many on Sandhill Road near Woodside Horse Park.
Pretty soon there will be many new tiny green Stinkwort plants. When the ground is wet and the plants are tiny, you can easily pull them out. Just leave the plants to dry, because there are no flowers or seeds. Remember to wear gloves. Many people get a poison oak type reaction when they have direct contact with the Stinkwort plants.
We all can help stop the spread of this invasive plant.

What's worse? Stinkwort or puncture weed?