orange and black butterfly on woodland sunflower, NW Georgia, July 2018, part of a natural yard

Wildflowers and Butterfly Beauty: Three For The Price Of One

Wildflowers and butterfly beauty is one of the best parts of rural life. As people go back to the woods or the fields, focusing on being self-sustaining and off-the-grid, one of the first questions they ask is: “What should I DO?” One of the most vital things I tell them is what they should NOT […]

My Thoreau-ly Walden-esque Experiment: Is This Lifestyle Sustainable?

Is Nature’s Guys nature-focused lifestyle sustainable? It is a question I’ve asked myself a lot, perhaps no more than yesterday when, with an allergy-induced fever, I worked myself into a sweat clearing away privet bushes, planting an elderberry plant and a yellow squash by the creek, cleaned out the ditch of old, disgarded tires; and […]

If I Knew Birds Songs Better: What Is It? Video

Yesterday, May 5, 2018, was a Big Day in birding, and it left me wishing I knew bird songs better. First, what’s a “Big Day”? If you’ve seen the Jack Black / Steve Martin movie “The Big Year”, it’s kind of like that.  www.eBird.org organized a world-wide “Big Day”, where birders all over the world […]

Life And Death — It Happens. Sadly.

Today, in a single, natural life and death moment, I rediscovered the phrase “To Kill A Mockingbird.” It’s spring. Birds aren’t known for paying attention when they’re in love. So it was, evidently, with the mockingbird that jumped into the path of my ragtop today. I didn’t even hear a thunk, but looking in my […]

Getting ready for wildflowers and pollinators -- Glowing goldenrods, flooded by the West Chickamauga Creek, April 2018, taken from Nature's Guy kayak

What To Do? Does It Matter? Just DO!

What should I do today? Do you ever ask yourself: Does it matter what I do? What should I do? When I made the decision to live a “Nature’s Guy” type of life, I don’t think I knew what I was getting myself into! There is SO MUCH to do! So much to experience! So […]

The Wildflower Fire Experiment + What Is This Flower?

A couple of months ago, I was mulling over what to do with the long grasses which are covering the north part of my property. I know some of the clumps are non-native and invasive species, while the other grasses seemed to be thatched pretty heavily, not allowing anything to grow. In addition, these grasses […]

Nature’s Guys Saturday Planting: It’s Not a Contest, Is It?

I have to confess: With all the things he gets done, my “little” brother Gene (the West Coast Nature’s Guy)  is sometimes a motivator … and sometimes I wonder if I can keep up with him in our rural life. His Live Innovations Farm and Education Center Facebook posting from Saturday said this: March 24 at 11:33pm Had […]

What Is It? Nature’s Guys Want To Learn!

I confess: Nature’s Guys don’t know everything! Especially about the flora and fauna of Northwest Georgia, where I just moved. But this morning in mid-March, a whole bunch of birds’ songs hit my ears. And I’m curious: What ARE they? So we decided to start a new section of Nature’s Guys, called “What Is It? […]