Rewilding a Mountain with Paula Whyman, Bad Naturalist

Today I'm delighted to be joined by Paula Whyman, author of Bad Naturalist.

Inspired by Isabella Tree’s Knepp estate & Douglas Tallamy’s Homegrown National Park Movement, Paula set out to find a small rural escape & establish a meadow. But Mother Nature had bigger plans & Paula found herself becoming guardian to 200 acres of neglected Virginia mountaintop where invasive species were causing havoc to this important ecosystem.

Despite being a self confessed terrible gardener who knew nothing about plants, Paula threw herself heart & soul into her partnership with the mountain. She has already begun to tip the balance in favour of the native plants that support the insects, birds & wildlife of the region.

The lessons Paula shares remind us all, that there is no single path or categorically right option, everything requires a degree of trade-off, expecting perfection is a fools folly that leads to frustration. But if we slowly embrace nature’s timelines & make peace with tackling one challenge at a time, doing the best we can with the knowledge we have, it is possible to make a difference in this world. 

More about Paula

Paula Whyman decided to leave her Maryland / suburban DC empty nest to find a rural getaway, maybe a small farmhouse where she could put her interest in conservation to work. With little experience in gardening or conservation, Whyman had a crazy idea to cultivate a small native meadow to provide an acre or two where wildlife could thrive & she could explore with her poodle. Then she set foot on 200 acres of old farmland atop a Virginia mountain & her dream became a reality.

Paula consults with experts & gets conflicting advice on how to best restore her land. She has to fight invasive plants that expand & push toxic substances into the soil. But to her surprise, her lovely Virginia Blue Ridge mountaintop is full of life.  Native elderberries, wild bergamot & jewelweed spring up.  Lichens sprawl, bees bumble & butterflies return, songbirds call & a few plans eventually go right.

BAD NATURALIST: One Woman’s Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop, funded by the Maryland State Arts Council, author Paula Whyman explains how she cares for her mountain-sized ecological restoration challenge with a mixture of humility & humor.  She quickly discovers it’s impossible to be a “good” naturalist. This is a blend of memoir, natural history, & conservation science, a chronicle of her attempts to restore retired farmland to natural habitat.  Whyman leads us on an exploration of nature and human nature. How can we learn, adapt & find patience from one season to the next? When there’s no perfect option, does that mean there’s no good option? In the end, Whyman’s mountain is a metaphor & an inspiration for undertaking big, tangled challenges before we can possibly know what we’re getting ourselves into. What matters, is taking that first step.

Website: https://paulawhyman.com/bad-naturalist/

Paula’s Newsletter: https://paulawhyman.com/bad-naturalist-newsletter/