Herbal Medicine Weekends Offered at Wellspring Mountain, as well as special events and primitive camping

LOWGAP, N.C. – Wellspring Mountain Retreat and Educational Center, home of the Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine, will host three herbal weekend intensives this summer. Each weekend intensive is designed to educate members of the general public about a key component of the herbal medicine field. The sessions are: Plant Medicine Making (June 11-12); Wilderness Herbal First Aid (July 29-31); and Medicinal Mushrooms (Sept. 23-25). “Our goal is to offer quality education and life skills in order to help people become closer to their natural surroundings,” said director of operations Terrie Easley. Terrie Easley and her husband, Thomas Easley, a clinical herbalist, opened Wellspring Mountain last summer on the 497-acre site of the former E-Mun-Talee Eckerd Youth Alternatives camp. The retreat is located halfway up Saddle Mountain, a 3,300-foot peak about 20 miles west of Mount Airy. Terrie Easley worked at the Eckerd camp in 2003-2004, and returned last year with her husband to secure the land for Wellspring Mountain with help from Piedmont Land Conservancy. Thomas Easley will teach the June 11-12 weekend that focuses on making medicines from plants. He is a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild and has seen more than 10,000 clients during his 12 years in the herbal medicine field. Sam Coffman, author of The Herbal Medic, will lead the July 29-31 weekend. It focuses on herbal first aid in the wilderness and includes a 16-hour Wilderness First Aid (WFA) certification, along with eight hours of herbal first aid training. The Sept. 23-25 weekend focuses on medicinal mushrooms and will be led by Robert Rogers. Rogers has more than 40 years experience as an herbalist and teaches at Northern Star College in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Enrollment for weekend intensives, which includes camping privileges, is $150 for the plant medicine session, $250 for the first aid session, and $175 for the medicinal mushroom session. Wellspring Mountain also offers a community potluck and free herbal class the second Friday of every month at 6:30 p.m., and primitive camping with bathhouse facility is available to the public year-round. For information, call (336) 352-3323, or visit: www.wellspringmountain.com.