A “Bad Naturalist” Shares Her Rewilding Adventures on March 13 in Madison

Madison, NJ — When Paula Whyman, author of the new memoir Bad Naturalist, decided to turn a 75-acre Blue Ridge Mountain cow pasture into a biodiverse meadow, she had big dreams—and zero gardening experience. Her uphill efforts yielded a humorous, informative book that she will discuss on March 13 at 7:00 P.M. in an author talk sponsored by the Madison Environmental Commission and the Nature of Reading Bookshop.

Whyman will share images of her Virginia mountaintop and discuss her rewilding journey with Kim Correrro and Ann E. Wallace, hosts of the New Jersey Native Plant Society’s podcast, The WildStory. The event will be held at the Museum of Early Trades & Crafts Education Annex on 23 Main Street and will be followed by a book signing.

“The theme of Bad Naturalist is very familiar to the Madison volunteers who manage the 20-acre meadow at the Madison Recreation Complex,” notes Eric Range, Borough Council liaison to the Environmental Commission. “We had a prescribed burn just like the one in Paula’s book, and it was followed by a huge growth in native species—along with the arrival of a pernicious invasive plant, in our case, canary reed grass.”

“I love Paula’s honesty about all she didn’t know,” says Claire Whitcomb, Environmental Commission chair. “It took me quite a while to understand just how deeply native bees, butterflies, and moths depend on native plants and how barren imported species are for the ecosystem. Even though I’ve learned a tremendous amount from community members, I still feel like a bad naturalist at least one Tuesday a month.”

Whyman’s Bad Naturalist talk is the first in a Nature Lovers Speaker Series funded by last fall’s Eco Garden tour.

Prior to the discussion, from 5:00 to 6:45 P.M. registrants are invited across the street to the Nature of Reading Bookshop, 22 Main Street, for a private browsing event.

Admission is free, but reservations are required. To RSVP, please go to thenatureofreading.com/badnaturalist.