Hi, everybody. This is Joe Lampel, the Joe Behind Joe Gardner, and welcome to the Joe Gardner Show.

Today, I am very excited to be joined by Paula Wyman, the author of The Bad Naturalist,

One Woman's Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountain Top. What an intriguing title. That

certainly hooked me right from the start, and I'm glad it did.

This, her latest book, chronicles her efforts to restore 200 acres of former farmland in the

Blue Ridge Mountains. It's part memoir, natural history, and conservation science. In this deeply

personal and reflective journey, Paula examines what it truly means to coexist harmoniously

with the land, drawing lessons from both its resilience and its resistance. Now, with recognition

to the fact that a 200-acre mountaintop property is more than most of us can relate to, many of her

challenges are still very relevant to those of us trying to tame and naturalize even a small urban backyard.

Paula's book takes us deep into her struggle, chronicling her efforts to tame her land in an environmentally responsible way while working to remove invasives and restore that land with natives.

But as she soon discovered, nature doesn't always

cooperate. And being a good naturalist isn't as simple as it sounds. And we'll talk about what

inspired Paula to write this book, the hurdles that she faced along the way, and what lessons she

learned, both from the land and from herself. And of course, we'll explore where she stands today and what work

remains unfinished. I found it to be a fascinating, thought-provoking conversation. So let's get into it.

And as we do, thanks to our sponsors for today's episode, Soil Cubed and Malorganite.

Hi, friends. Having access to good quality compost is my not-so-secret weapon for the success of everything

I grow in my garden.

That's why I'm so proud to be partnering with soil cubed.

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