Plant In The Ant Hill: Gardening Experiment

Northwest Georgia is notorious for several things, including large fire ant hills and thick, sticky red clay. The clay is so thick, it is hard to imagine any plant can grow in it without a lot of compost or some other organic material to break it up. However, the fire ants make their hills in […]

Stung By Nature’s Plants? The Cure Is Nearby

Stung by stinging nettle and need a cure? Native American lore says that if there is a plant that can hurt you (stinging nettle, thistles, poison ivy, poison oak, etc.), the cure is always nearby. Of course, the best part of the cure is to avoid “poison plants” (i.e., plants that sting) by wearing gloves […]

Stinging Nettle Soup (with potatoes) : Try it! (Includes recipe and how-to video)

Out on Vashon Island, WA, many people think stinging nettles are obnoxious weeds, but they are quite healthy to eat! Eating from the wild: Potato & Stinging Nettle Soup…so good. Try it, you’ll like it! (To see the videos that go along with this, visit Gene’s “Live Innovations Farm and Education Center” Facebook page, or […]

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 […]

Saving Water – Bucket List Water Conservation

Most folks agree: Water conservation is vital, since water is the most important resource on the planet. Having running water is almost as important. Wasting water is something that’s bothered me since I was a teenager. Becoming an independent water user was one of the first items on my “to do” list when I moved […]

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? […]

Albino Grackle – What Is It!?!

A couple of years ago (July 2016) my dad said he thought he’d seen a white bird feeding with a bunch of dark (purple) grackles at a neighbor’s lake-side bird feeder (normally reserved for geese and ducks). Sure enough, when I went out to see, I was able to video this rare albino grackle! One […]