FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Drive most any back road in West Virginia in the colder months and it will soon be clear that the state has an ideal habitat for wild icicles.  A new initiative at the Yew Mountain Center aims to help WV take its rightful place as a leader in the global wild icicle trade.  The U.S. Department Of Labor And Family Farms (OLAFF) announced today that it was awarding the Hillsboro, WV non-profit organization $4.1M to pilot a program aimed at growing the region's capacity to supply the world with sustainably-sourced wild and wild-simulated icicles.  

"We think this is an incredible opportunity to help mountain families, especially those that live near north-facing rocky outcrops, to earn a significant income while preserving the natural and cultural heritage of the region," said Will "Chill" Lewis, Yew Mountain Center's icicle farming coordinator.  "Many here take our icicles for granted, but around the world, Appalachian icicles are increasingly in demand for their clarity, size, and botanical content."  

This opportunity arose as an unlikely silver lining of the COVID-19 epidemic as new technology and better systems were developed for cold shipping and storage.  Costs of shipping frozen material have fallen in recent months, lowering an important barrier of entry for small producers of icicles.  

​The organization, known for its experiential education programs has planned a series of "mittens-on" workshops starting in Nov. 2021.  Participants will learn production techniques, ethical foraging practices, and strategies to sell their icicles to premium markets.   Visit www.yewmountain.org to learn more.  

By April Folle, Central Mountain Times
​“We hear all the time of people going into nature and finding inspiration, but what is inspiring the wildlife?” Erica Marks, director of the Yew Mountain Center an educational nonprofit organization in Hillsboro, WV, couldn’t get that question out of her head. Each trip into the forest revealed another reason to believe that inspiration was lacking among the residents of the natural world. “It’s a crisis no one is talking about. People speak of ‘happy little trees,’ but what if they aren’t? What if each ‘cheerful’ peep of a spring peeper is really an existential cry for help?”

After dwelling on this sad thought for months, she realized what was missing in the “red in tooth and claw” existences of wild creatures: art supplies. “If you think about it, wild animals and plants have extremely limited resources with which to express themselves. This is an underserved population,” Marks said. “We give our children markers, glitter glue, crayons…What do the animals have? Rocks and mud?”

Inquiries led her to Dr. Art Zeefardzi, professor of Bioart at the University of Dummköpfe in Frankfurt, Germany. Zeefardzi has been studying the effects an environment rich in art supplies on the wellbeing of blue foxes Vulpes gulpes. His research indicates that foxes who have access to tools with which to express themselves have a measurably greater sense of wellbeing as indicated by the bushiness and carriage of their tails, among other things. “Blue foxes raised with an inexhaustible supply of oil pastels were the most well-adjusted foxes in our studies,” writes Zeefardzi in a 2018 publication of the journal Natur.

Motivated to improve the condition of local wildlife, Marks set out to find funding for art supplies to meet the needs of the living things on the 500 acres at the Yew Mountain Center. She wrote letters, applied for grants, and eventually struck up partnership with an anonymous patron of both the arts and nature who donated $1.5 million to start a pilot program. “It’s a dream come true,” Marks said. “We are going big and seeding the forests, creeks, and meadows with a wide variety of expressive tools.” Beyond typical art supplies such as paint, polymer clay, and crayons, they will also be able to put musical instruments into the paws, fins, talons, of the wildlife.

“I’m so excited to see what they will create,” said Marks. “But more than that, I am thrilled that wildlife will now have an outlet for their emotions and ideas.” Marks said the natural works of art will not be for sale. “This isn’t like the elephants painting for tourists in Thailand. This project is about unleashing the innate creativity that we know is flowing through the veins and xylem of wild beings.”

For more information and to support the Wildlife Art Supply Project (WASP,) please contact the Yew Mountain Center. [email protected]

Photo caption: Bongos and watercolors await use at the Yew Mountain Center. Credit: April Folle

​Just like humans, wellness practices comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. We are thrilled to collaborate with local wellness teachers and guides to bring a unique and first time event for the Yew Mountain Center called Wellness Days. Experience a variety of practices that may help you find wellness in your life.
Take a moment to read about some of our guides and we hope you can join us in April. Our schedule includes more instructors, please check it out on our website or FB event page.

1. Who are you? Annette Naber, Ph.D.
   After 20+ years of working as a clinical psychologist, I have re-tooled as a life coach and offer self-development workshops and retreats. I am particularly interested in developing therapeutic techniques that reconnect us to Nature. My favorite process involves Forest Bathing and mindful earth art and journaling. You can find out more at: www.EmeraldMountainSanctuary.com I am also an amateur photographer and enjoy writing and have combined these two passions on my blog: www.BeautyAlongtheRoad.wordpress.com.
2. What workshop/class are you presenting at The Yew? Forest Bathing & Journaling
3. How has experiential learning made a difference in your life? Or how has your wellness practice made a difference in your life/life of others? I interweave my own healthy lifestyle (organic gardening, foraging for wild edibles and medicinals, creating my own medicinal tinctures, yoga and movement disciplines) with my teachings and retreats.
4. Describe a time you were inspired when being outdoors.
   When I found a discarded snake skin hanging from a tree, it moved me to contemplate and write about it, research the archetype of snake, and come to a deep realization about my own life that still reverberates in the way I choose to live.
5. What do you hope participants will get out of the weekend/your workshop?
   I am hoping that participants will re-connect deeply with the forest, enjoy the mindful techniques I am teaching and allow these to deepen their Nature experience

Sparrow Huffman, yoga instructor, owner of General Lewis Inn & Stardust Cafe

1. Who are you? I am Sparrow Huffman, native of Lobelia WV, and RYT 200 yoga instructor. I also dabble in restaurants and hotels when I’m not busy homeschooling and doing yoga.
2. What workshop/class are you presenting at The Yew? I will be teaching a Roots and Rise early morning flow yoga class where we will firmly establish our foundations, and connection to mama earth, then flow freely from that solid root system.
3. How has experiential learning made a difference in your life? Or how has your wellness practice made a difference in your life/life of others? I was able to fully heal from a lower back disc injury through yoga practice and so so much more. I love sharing this deep practice with others. The yoga asana practice brings me fully into my physical body, and allows me to release all the mind chatter in order to come into a meditative space.
4. Describe a time you were inspired when being outdoors. I am inspired by our sweet mama earth every day. I am in awe of our waters and our trees, and her innate ability to heal again and again and again.
5. What do you hope participants will get out of the weekend/your workshop? I hope to share my deep love for nature, yoga, and community with participants
6. Anything else you'd like participants to know?
   The Yew is the work of many hands and countless hearts. I am honored to add my hands and my heart to this incredible project.

Barbara Stanley, Ashtanga Yoga instructor
Who are you?
I am a 71 year old woman who is a mother, partner, graphic designer, fine artist and Ashtanga Yoga student and practitioner. I’ve been teaching for 15 years and practicing for 18. I have studied extensively with David Swenson, David Williams, Casie Tavares, Keiko Armstrong and currently Manju Jois, son of Ashtanga Founder Sri K Pattabhi Jois, who I study with regularly and who certified me to teach Ashtanga Primary and Intermediates Series.
What workshop/class are you presenting at The Yew?
We will explore Ashtanga Yoga, a system introduced by the world by Sri K Pattahbi Jois where breath is synchronized with movement through a set series of postures. In Ashtanga the focus is on the breath and energy locks, which builds intense internal heat, purifying the body by eliminating toxins through sweat.
How has experiential learning made a difference in your life? Or how has your wellness practice made a difference in your life/life of others?
Absolutely. Through an individualized hands-on approach, the Mysore Method, my teachers have instilled in my body and mind through asana, pranayama and chanting how to approach my practice and my life.
Over the years many students have told me I have inspired them. Some have gone on to also become yoga teachers, which inspires me.
Describe a time you were inspired when being outdoors.
I live between the Greenbrier River and the Greenbrier River Trail, which is always an inspiring place to be. Nothing inspires me more than being on a beach in Maui with fellow yogis or kayaking down the Greenbrier.
What do you hope participants will get out of the weekend/your workshop?
Not many people in WV experience Ashtanga Yoga, one of the oldest systems of yoga. There is a handful of Ashtanga teachers in our state, so learning it can be quite a quest. This system is designed to eventually be part of your daily life where you practice on your own, at your own pace, checking in with your teacher regularly. Originally, this system of yoga was used for healing and that remains the focus, if taught the traditional way. It is also designed to be individualized so anyone can practice. My intention is to inspire those attending during and after class and stress the importance and benefits of integrating a regular yoga practice into their lives.
Anything else you'd like participants to know?
This will be a no-stress class void of competition, doing the feel good.

Who are you?
Julie Hare, MD is a board certified Family Medicine physician and a certified Ayurvedic Health Coach. She works full time as a clinician at Pocahontas Memorial Hospital’s Rural Health Clinic, and serves as the clinic’s medical director. She owns and operates Allegheny Integrative Medicine, LLC. Dr. Hare came to Ayurvedic medicine through her own journey in dealing with chronic illness. The impact of this amazing medical system was so powerful she has shifted gears and gone from Ayurvedic patient, to student and now teacher and coach. She currently offers a twice annual online Ayurvedic group cleanse practice (free) and teaches a monthly meditation, movement and somatic therapy class for women 18 over.
“Experiential learning is what medicine is all about. In medical school there is a mantra: see one, do one, teach one. Immersing yourself in all aspects of the learning process, from the start, is how one gains true mastery. One of my most profound, experiential lessons early on was being a patient; I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in medical school. Becoming a patient with a difficult-to-treat, chronic illness taught me so much about being a doctor. It also illuminated the strengths and short comings of modern medicine and eventually led me down a different path. I have gone from working as a molecular biology researcher at the NIH to finding medicine in meditation and chanting in Sanskrit.
Our fundamental need as planetary creatures is creating a solid connection to the Earth. Paying attention to the cycles of the moon, having seasonal habits and practices, eating organic food, drinking clean water and breathing unpolluted air is our basic nourishment and medicine. I fell in love with West Virginia the moment I set foot here. As an urban child, I am amazed every day that I live on a mountain in the woods. It is my own backyard that allows me constant connection to my true physical world. I drink the water that comes out of the hills, grow my own food and wild gather herbs, mushrooms and plants from the surrounding forest.
My intention for this lecture is to provide an introduction to Ayurveda. It will highlight some core concepts and will provide some take-home knowledge and start using immediately. Specifically, we will explore the doshas together: the fundamental principle of physiologic uniqueness which helps us understand our own bodies and minds and guides us in how to best care for ourselves. Additionally we will look at how establishing a daily routine, a dinacharya, can support our individual fundamental purpose. In other words, how to wake up every day to your dharma.”
In love and peace, Namaste,
Julie Hare

Maya Angelou said, “I’m convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere.” And I have to wonder. At the Yew Mountain Center we try to be intensely local, inspired by the landscape under our feet and outside the windows of our cars and homes, fed by our neighbors’ livestock, garlic from our own gardens, and apples from homesteads past. We embrace this notion that local is good. And it is. And sometimes it’s good to look beyond our own feet and windows. Sometimes we want to speak Spanish and eat a pomegranate. Sometimes we want to fix the world.

​I have to wonder. Is learning to hand-tie a traditional Appalachian broom fixing the world? I have no idea. But here’s what I do know. When we all sat in the dining room, holding tension on the wet broomcorn with the weights of our bodies, we were drinking from a deep well of world-fixing energy. We sat still, but in an active, alert state of learning, questioning, doing, and supporting each other’s efforts. Then it became meditative, almost second nature to us novices—under, over, pull tight, repeat. The patterns emerge. The imperfections we were so worked up about become art. We had made something useful. We had made something beautiful.
Creating a field trip, making lunch, writing a grant, planting goldenseal, making dinner, doing the laundry, answering emails, fixing the well pump, hiring musicians…under, over, pull tight, repeat. Holding something tightly with the weight of our bodies, our ideas, and each other. We are seeing the patterns emerge in interactions with our students and our guests. We hear it when we are in gatherings of organizers and changemakers across the region. They tell us what we hope and believe to be true. We are making something useful. We are making something beautiful.
We have a neighbor who, when she comes over to visit and sees the chaos of our house, reaches for a broom and sweeps while we chat. And when she leaves, that little patch of clean floor makes me better able to handle the rest of my life. That’s what brooms and neighbors can create—little clean patches of floor and inner peace. (Is this what sweeping change looks like?)
I believe these little patches of good matter—especially when we look up from our own patches and find ways to connect them with others. Connecting the good pieces has been the best part of creating the Yew Mountain Center. Wait. Did I just I switch from the broom metaphor to a quilt metaphor in the final paragraph?! Is anything more Yew? Thank you for being a good piece.
Yours in Sweeping Change,
Erica
p.s. With deep gratitude for Brenda Harmon of Brenwood Forge and Brooms who led the broom making workshop with great patience and skill and for all of the other teachers who create a community of learning at the center.

         ​The importance of the art of grafting fruit trees was first on the list of things that Will Lewis explained at his grafting workshop on Thursday March 21st. In one simple statement he summed it up: “Most fruits that you eat are from a grafted tree.” Johnny Appleseed himself, as legend has it, was well known for sowing the seeds of apples far and wide, but perhaps this was because he understood that out of the thousand seedlings he was planting ahead of the settlers maybe one hundred would result in apples that were pleasant to eat. When fruits come from a seed there is always a possibility of cross-pollination that results in a diverse genetic structure. With this diversity comes variability and inconsistency—leaving you with apples called “spitters” that are so bitter they make you want to “spit” them out and are good for cider, but not for eating. The well-known apples we are all used to eating, gala, honey crisp, granny smith, and so on are all originally from a randomly delicious fruiting tree that was named and grafted.
            Luckily, we already have many delicious apples readily available, whether they are wild trees or cloned varieties, and can graft from existing trees. If we want to stand on the shoulders of Johnny Appleseed, the first step is to choose our scion wood and rootstock. Scion wood determines taste so that choice is easy: choose an apple you like to eat. Rootstock on the other hand, is what determines the size, height, disease resistance, density of fruit, years to fruit, and lifespan of your tree. Many are partial to dwarf rootstock for instance, because although the trees have a shorter lifespan and are less resilient, they fruit earlier so you get an earlier return on your investment and they require less work to cultivate and harvest. While scion wood can be easily harvested from a tree of your choice, the multiple factors involved in choosing root stock makes it worth getting from a reputable nursery supply so you can be sure of what characteristics you will be getting.  
           Once these choices have been made, it’s time to talk process. Although there are multiple methods of grafting, the workshop focused on the whip and tongue union. This method mechanically binds the scion woods to the rootstock, and the only tools you need are an exceedingly sharp knife (ideally flat on one side and beveled on the other), some wax (toilet bowl wax will do), some wet newspaper or peatmoss, and grafting tape (or flagging tape in a pinch). And of course a wealth of knowledge from a practiced horticulturalist and the company of other eager grafters-in-the-making helps. 
            The first step is to match your scion wood to a rootstock of a similar circumference. You then clip a section off the top of the rootstock right below a bud, exposing the cambium (a light green ring just beneath the bark that acts as the thoroughfare for nutrients and water). Using your knife, you cut that fresh end into a diagonal slice to increase the surface area of the cambium and increase the chances of your “union;” the more angled the slice, the greater the cambium contact between scion and rootstock. ​It’s important that the cut be one flat unified stroke to avoid gaps between the cambiums.

​       You then make a matching sloped cut at the tip of the scion wood, making sure that you have your buds facing upwards. The next cut you make is directly into your freshly cut ends, to create a little notch where you will fit the two together. With each piece prepped, you merge the two notches.  If you have more than three buds above the graft you have one final cut to make: cut horizontally above the third bud, because an excess of buds requires too much in the way of water and nutrient support and will take energy away from a successful union. 

​         Once you’ve achieved a satisfactory union, you wrap the point of contact with flagging tape to encourage the merger. You then coat the tape and the tip of the scion wood in wax as well. This step is particularly important because this seal is what keeps moisture in your scion wood, and if the scion dries out, you won’t get a callous to form joining your graft.

We are at the top of Briery for the super moon and vernal equinox, two celestial events that haven’t occurred on the same night since 2000 and won’t again until 2030. Although the alignment of cosmic elements isn’t something that typically attracts my attention, the intensity of this confluence peaked my interest. A super moon, or a “perigee syzygy,” is a full moon that coincides with the closest moment of the moon’s orbit. Based on my recent googling, the perigee is the point at which the moon is closest to the Earth in it’s orbit, and a syzygy is the lining up of 3 celestial bodies and occurs every full moon, new moon, and eclipse. So not only is the Sun-Earth-Moon system aligned, but the moon is half bathed in light, half shrouded in darkness. And this coincidence also happened to coincide with this year’s vernal equinox, the moment when the sun crosses the celestial equator northbound, making the day and night equal in length. And with a good bit of that night left, I decide to continue on my path.

As I walk and wonder how far I would follow the pull of the moon, I find myself at the edge of a large puddle where the road should be. The glassy surface creates another inverted universe, where the moon is still full, but shines up from the ground rather than the sky. As the season when days continue to get longer, Spring seems to be rife with the symbolism of things beginning again, rebirth, regeneration, renewal: to forward thinking and planning.

This night, however, seems to be urging me to reflect. To remember to look down and back, to take a closer look at the soil that gives rise to the Spring, and to seek the magic that can be found underfoot. To reflect on what has already been accomplished before surging forward with everything left to do and prepare. 

When I wake the next morning to say my goodbyes to the moon, following it once again up and over a mountain ridge, I am amazed to already find the first signs of Spring beneath my feet as they pass over the grounds of the Yew. Seemingly overnight, determined buds of flowers and ramps have been pulled up and over leaves and snow. As I sit atop a sandstone outcropping surrounded by mountain laurel, I feel a reverence for the winter equal to my excitement for the spring; it is periods of dormancy that allow for new growth. I listen to the birds as the day breaks
and find myself looking forward to a growing season in which I hope to find balance, to notice the reflections in the puddles, the dark side of the moon, and the ground beneath the sprouts.

Ruthie Cartwright
Education Assistant,
AmeriCorps Member