Bad Naturalist: One Woman’s Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop

by Paula Whyman

With humor, humility, and awe, one woman attempts to restore 200 acres of farmland long gone-to-seed in the Blue Ridge Mountains, facing her own limitations while getting to know a breathtaking corner of the natural world.

When Paula Whyman first climbs a peak in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in search of a home in the country, she has no idea how quickly her tidy backyard ecology project will become a massive endeavor. Just as quickly, she discovers how little she knows about hands-on conservation work. In Bad Naturalist, readers meander with her through orchards and meadows, forests and frog ponds, as she is beset by an influx of invasive species, rattlesnake encounters, conflicting advice from experts, and delayed plans—but none of it dampens her irrepressible passion for protecting this place. With delightful, lyrically deft storytelling, she shares her attempts to coax this beautiful piece of land back into shape. It turns out that amid the seeming chaos of nature, the mountaintop is teeming with life and hope.

Genres: Nature, Memoir, Nonfiction, Science, Gardening, Environment, Biography Memoir

256 pages, Hardcover

Published January 7, 2025

About the author

Paula Whyman’s new book, BAD NATURALIST: One Woman's Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop, is out from Timber Press/Hachette. It’s a memoir about the author's attempts to restore native meadows on a mountain in the foothills of the Blue Ridge--the obstacles she encountered, her mistakes and successes, and the connection she made with the land, its plants and wildlife. Her first book, the linked story collection YOU MAY SEE A STRANGER, won praise from The New Yorker, a starred review in Publishers Weekly, and was awarded the Towson Prize for Literature.

Whyman's writing has also appeared in The American Scholar, McSweeney’s Quarterly, Ploughshares, VQR, The Washington Post, and on NPR. She is a fellow of MacDowell, Yaddo, VCCA, and The Studios of Key West.

Whyman's work on BAD NATURALIST was supported by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council and residencies and grants from Oak Spring Garden Foundation.

Reviews

[Booknblues · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Paula Whyman visited the Galapagos Islands she was impressed by the damage done by invasive plants and animals. It was something that stayed with her and she felt the urge to create an environment with all native flora, somewhere, perhaps a small meadow would do. She held that thought and returned to it when she and her husband became empty nesters.

They wanted just a small acreage with a house, instead they found 200 acres without a house on a mountain in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. It was just an idea, although the desire was there Paula did not really have a clue.

She enlists the aid of several different "experts" who often tell her conflicting opinions about what is best. Paula is an impatient person who wants to start right away and she does, but this is an overwhelming task in so many ways.

Whyman takes the reader on a tour of her farm, what she learns and the missteps she takes. I enjoyed finding out all of the little details. For instance I learned more about voles even though I'd never had an interest in them before:

"Is there a vole problem similar to the deer problem, in that the vole eats too many acorns I’d rather see grow into mature white oaks? Wait, though—I said it collected the acorns; I didn’t say it ate all of those acorns. When the vole hides acorns, it spreads them far and wide, and (similar to the jay, whose habit of hiding acorns is detailed in Tallamy’s book) not only does the vole often forget where it hid them, if one vole finds another vole’s secret stash, it will steal those acorns and hide them somewhere else ... and lose track of that hiding place in turn. Many of those lost acorns will germinate and become oak seedlings. Voles will move acorns hundreds of feet, even a thousand feet, from the parent tree. That makes the vole an important distributor of white oaks on the mountain. "

I think about all she did and I can't help but compare what she did with what the experts did in eradicating the invasive species on the Galapagos Islands that I read about in On the Backs of Tortoises: Darwin, the Galapagos, and the Fate of an Evolutionary Eden They killed the goats and just left them to rot. It seems that she followed her conscience and did the best she could. I don't think she is a bad naturalist at all, just perhaps an ignorant one to begin, but she did work to understand the problem and help others to do so.

[Haly Hoards Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not going to be for everyone, but for me it is a five star read. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Paula Whyman takes us along on her journey to turn one acre of her two hundred acre Blue Ridge mountain top homestead back to it's native habitat. It sounds easy to do. Like the saying goes, "Easier said than done."

I admire Whyman's willingness to learn everything she thinks she should know before she endeavors to start her project. Whyman shares all of the ways every plant, grass, tree, insect and animal affects the soil as well as the microbes within the soil. Everything is so interrelated.

As an herbalist and naturalist myself, I became somewhat saddened to learn just how much damage humans have done to the earth. And, sometimes the damage is irreversible. Yet, I also found myself cheering Whyman on when she made a breakthrough, regardless of how small the achievement was in relation to the big picture.

I will definitely recommend Whyman's book to anyone interested in conservation, naturalism or restoration of the land.

[KDub · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up 


A light-hearted but informative memoir of a woman's attempt to restore some farmland in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. I loved all the detail and that she wasn't afraid to admit her mistakes, which were misfit dealt with grace and humor. If you love the outdoors, I highly recommend this one. 


Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good book, inspiring though also very depressing as I look out over my o

[Al Sferra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent Read on Re-Wilding

The author leads us through her education and experiences as she tries to re-wild an old pasture on a mountain top. I especially appreciated that she wasn’t focused only on plants, but wanted the area to host any animals, including reptiles and amphibians. I admire her gumption to tackle such a large area!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars, but just. This was more of a “textbook with interesting facts and connections regarding a piece of land in Virginia” than the story of a woman trying to get rid of invasive plants and encourage natives. I would have liked more of her narrative- her writing style is good and her humorous inner thoughts/commentary were amusing.

I learned a ton about Virgina flora/fauna and its interactions…but I don’t live there and would rather learn about my own local floral/fauna. That being said, a couple of major takeaways for me are that many invasive plants actually poison the soil around them to prevent other plants from growing and the relationship between voles and white oaks is fascinating.

All in all, a good illustration of how incredibly complicated ecosystems are and my hats off to those who work to conserve and preserve.

[Isabella Fray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m currently in the process of turning my 6.5 acre property into a permaculture farm/managed native shrubland, so I could relate to a lot of what the author was talking about in the fight against invasive plants. As I write this, I have multiple thorn tips lodged in my skin from clearing multiflora rose plants that pierce gloves as if I wasn’t wearing any. The tops of my ankles are pebbled with the spines of burdock seed pods (truly hateful) that I found can best be removed by scraping a pen knife at a 90 degree angle over my skin. It’s a JOB to clear out invasives so I can’t imagine doing it near solo on a 75-acre mountain top where I didn’t even have a house. Because of that, I wish the author had given a little more insight into how she chose this as her life’s mission when she did, beyond the context that she’s the type of person to become obsessed with something and go all in.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

very enjoyable read with a lovely mix of observation ( plant, animal, human impact on the Earth) and the story of a woman batting non-native plants and other factors to encourage her corner of wilderness. In the world. I liked her writing style and the slowly evolving journey. Thank you to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

[Rachel Gable · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fascinating read! You can easily see Paula Whyman's love and passion through all the hard work and obvious research she did to understand how land conservation works. I loved her writing and learned a lot at the same time!

Thank you to NetGalley and Timber Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a nature nerd or outdoor enthusiast, you will enjoy this book. Humorous at times but also scientific at times. I enjoyed the insight into the massive undertaking the author took on by moving to the mountains to start a new chapter in life. It was slow in some spots but overall an enjoyable read.

[Breyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I work for an environmental nonprofit that specialized in native plants and habitat restoration. That said, I didn't learn much in Paula's book. However, I was cheering her on the whole time and have loved sharing this title with clients/visitors.

One thing I did learn was to adapt more of Paula's patience--her patience towards Adams was astounding. I will carry that lesson with me.

[Matthew Farley · Rating 5 out of 5]

great start to a summer of reading. very very well written

[Henry T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

My wife and both read Whyman's book and enjoyed it immensely. With a sly sense of humor, Whyman tells a personal story of her efforts to restore 200 acres of forest and meadow that is inundated with invasive trees, grasses, and vines. We learned a lot about mountain ecology--the history and life of knapweed, autumn olive, and stiltgrass, among other invasives--and also a lot about the author's life--her attempts as a child to rescue horseshoe crabs on a Delaware beach and the impact of her brother's suicide.

The best parts of the book are when she comes to terms with the success of her efforts to rid her mountaintop of unwanted plants. "I've gone from saying I'll get rid of the invasive plants on the mountain to say that I'm managing them, as if they're bankable but unruly child stars....What I mean is, I've come to terms with imperfection. This is hard for me."

For anyone who has ever gardened or farmed or worked around living plants and animals, these words ring true. We've all be humbled by nature's complexity.

"If I'm honest," Whyman writes, "I'll say I'm most alive when I'm trying to fix something, trying to solve a problem." The book is full of problems that never quite get solved. And so, the book is full of stories of her efforts to solve them. In short, the book is full of life.

[Amy Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to enjoy this book. A woman and her husband buy mountaintop acreage in the Blue Ridge foothills of Virginia with the goal of restoring it to its natural state. This restoration is a tall order for someone with no experience in doing so, and the author realizes very quickly that she has taken on a rather mammoth and expensive project. Along the way we meet people who help her out in this quest to reclaim the land from invasive trees and plants, and we experience her frustrations with the pace and scope of the project. I enjoyed her relationship with her neighbors, the few we met.

The story was not as interesting as I expected it to be, there was a lot of minutiae about the various species of invasive plant interspersed with an occasional funny anecdote about her inexperience. At times it felt repetitive. If you're really into the flora and fauna of mountain foothills, you'll enjoy this book. For me, I was hoping for a more conversational tone about how the rest of her life was going as she and her husband planned to reside on the mountaintop, and a more satisfying resolution to the state of the mountaintop.

I appreciate NetGalley and Timber Press giving me an advance copy to read.

[Olivia Morgado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whyman writes as if you are a friend, talking about her journey maintaining native plantings on a mountaintop. While at times you wish you could change the subject, I do love how open she is about the setbacks, or the frustration of missing a season for a gardening task. She embraces that there are no perfect interventions, and that in today’s world intervention is sometimes necessary with all of the introduced or invasive plants. It is a personal account with self deprecating humor that is both easy to identify with and a bit over the top. All in all, I think it is a great book that paints the real picture of what it is like to try to transform(or at least maintain) a landscape that helps sustain local wildlife. I appreciated the parts when she describes the various insects, birds or lichen she sees amongst the plants. I do wish she had focused a little more on the beauty of the wildlife her property was supporting, and maybe a little less on how difficult it all is to keep together. Although, as a landscaper myself, I do recognize that the work is all consuming and it is easy to get sucked into all the things that aren’t going right. Whyman seems like a client that I would both love and hate to work with 😂

[Yelda Fortney]

This one is excellent for the nature lovers! Paula Whyman shares her journey of purchasing and restoring 200 acres of farmland in the Blue Ridge mountains by encouraging native plants and battling invasive species. This book was packed with so much information about conservation, ecological restoration, and wildlife- with all the grace of someone who definitely didn’t know what she was getting into. Her plan to restore the meadow came with a lot of setbacks and while she doesn’t have all the answers, we learn with her along the way. It was an amazing reminder of how unique and complex a piece of land can be, and how much it can teach you- about nature, about patience, and about yourself.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author sets out to preserve acres on a mountaintop in Virginia... and learns a lot about how hard it is to keep invasives out and to do the right thing for the habitat. It's complicated, of course, as she resists mowing, burning and using pesticides. All laudable and ultimately confusing as she gets conflicting information from experts. I was moved especially by her musing on the fact that we don't "own" land so much as caretake it.

She was inspired by Wilding: Returning Nature to a Farm and I'm reminded of Ethan Tapper's How to Love a Forest.

[Reba Richie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of her trial and error - and isn't that just the way of things. Quite natural ;) In the process of her learning, I too got to learn, and that feels like hope. I know they say the way to hell is paved with good intentions - but how do "they" know!? When it comes to engaging with nature and trying to live with the land, humans have done a lot of ignorant damage, sure... but I feel like this book and this experience is an example of how some people are really trying to make a change for the better?

[Peg Lotvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

No matter what she says, she is not a bad naturalist. Maybe she bit off a bit more than she could chew trying to rehabilitate 200 acres of nearly abandoned mountain top in Virginia, but she put her heart into it. Eventually she learned to take it by pieces, just ignoring the rampant blackberries while clearing and replanting smaller areas. I hope she writes another book as she reaches her final quest on the mountain.

[Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book, it was a nice light read and well written. I wish it had been more of a memoir focused on the authors experience. It was mostly information on ecology and restoration that is available from other, more expert sources. As the author is an admitted non-expert, I feel like it would have made more sense to focus on her own story. It almost seems like she wrote this book too early in the process of restoration and just didn’t have enough to write about yet.

[Julia Rinehart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars for the audio version. The reader took glib, sarcastic and funny lines and made them sound pedantic. Spoiled an otherwise fine, meandering memoir/account of a woman’s chosen mission to return a Virginia mountaintop to its wild origins. But it’s hard to determine what wild is, and harder still to return to it when you’re constantly battling invasives hidden in the seed bank. DNF due to dislike of narrator but would like to read the ending sometime.

[David Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little bit disorganized but a fundamentally solid description of the process a land restorationist pursues when tackling a new project--in this case, the rehabilitation of a 75-acre invaded, overgrown, weedy Virginia mountain old field. The writing is compelling and enhanced with some self-deprecating humor. The science is spot-on (with a few ultimately insignificant minor mistakes). Full review to follow.

[Pat Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a journal for trying to naturalize mountain acreage. It provides some very useful information on the practices of removing invasive species and returning the native species to the land. It is an excellent description of the trials of doing this and the unknowns involved in the process. The vigilance and dedication that are required along with the willingness to hope and persevere for the long-haul are evident in the telling of frustrations and victories.

[J.H. Diehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Bad Naturalist is an engaging, relatable, and beautifully-written memoir of land stewardship. It is also magnificently researched. Whyman's self-deprecating humor buoys her account of obstacles and setbacks, missteps and steps forward, and yet always leaves room for poignant reflection and wonder. I can imagine her right now, walking her land, noticing signs of invasives, native plants and wildlife as she figures out how a human can best care for a Virginia mountaintop that supports so many ecological systems.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. this would have been fine as an article or series of articles but was not effective as a book. i get it that the point is the author is not an expert taking on this project, but I’m not sure what was learned in these early stages of her mountain restoration plan. Many parts were repetitive and not really interesting glossing over details i would have loved to hear more about.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly humorous at times, overwhelmingly boring on occasion, with quite a bit of interesting information in the middle! Sometimes it just got a bit more scientifically involved in technical. Overall, this is a good read especially if you are a nature nerd or an outdoor enthusiast.

[Courtney Warta · Rating 4 out of 5]

witty and educational. very specific ecology tale with the identification of plants. was interesting and made me start looking up to see if certain plants were invasive in my state as well. a fun book to listen to while you do your spring gardening.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! I learned a lot and enjoyed reading Paula Whyman's stories of her own learning on "her" mountain. I appreciated her perspective of trying to serve as a guardian, or caretaker, for the land. If you enjoy nature, read this book!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading about the author's experiences with restoration work on property she bought. I found her experiences, trials and tribulations, and humor engaging and enjoyable to read about. Highly recommend!

[Lauren Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

She tried to write a restoration ecology book but it felt just like it glazed over things and more like I spoke to this person and this is what they said instead of a more holistic journey of her land...