Finding Wonderful Hidden Wildflowers: Haiku

It is often so/ that when we clear dross and junk,/ we find wonderful. Using a loping shears to clear underbrush and non-native privet from around the hardwood trees in my back yard reveals an undergrowth of black-eyed susans and other hidden wildflowers. Sometimes you have to burn the grasses and weeds from large fields, […]

Trouble In Paradise — Dealing With Pests And Problems

Every place has pests and problems to deal with, its own Trouble In Paradise. Wisconsin mosquitos and cold, Arizona’s oppressive heat and poisonous bugs and snakes, Washington state’s rain and mold and rain and dampness, Georgia’s bugs and heat and humidity and CHIGGERS! As part of the #LightTheWorldNow #BuildHisKingdom project, I was thinking about the […]

Identifying Plants In Our Yard

Identifying plants — especially native ones — can be a somewhat difficult process, especially if you’ve moved (as I have) to a bio-zone different from where you’ve lived before.  I was talking about this issue with my brother Gene, out in Washington State. He’s gotten very good at identifying native plants on Vashon Island, where […]

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 […]

Using Carpet as Mulch and Weedkiller: Video How To

Rather than throwing old pink shag into the landfill, I decided to use carpet as a weedkiller and a mulch. As my dad said: Deprive weeds of light, and they will die. Four months ago, when I ripped out some old pink carpet from my house, I put it over a large rectangle of my […]

Finding And Completing A Cedar Circle

When my brother moved to Vashon Island, WA, he became friends with a couple who studied Native American traditions. One thing they did on their property was plant a group of cedars in a circle, creating a sacred space cedar circle. I’ve tried to respectfully learn more about this tradition, but haven’t found much. This […]

Fresh Seeds: What A Concept!

Being the frugal guy I am, if I don’t use seeds one year, I try them the next. Not that there is anything wrong with that, because seeds usually germinate for several years (although the germination rate goes down the longer you keep them in storage). My wife has A LOT of old seeds, so […]

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 […]

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 […]