This week, in author Willie Carver, Jr.’s new book, he reconsiders a negative childhood experience with a neighborhood girl who might have just been looking for a friend. Also, a southwestern Virginia community rang the alarm after more and more of its children were diagnosed with cancer. A local journalist is trying to unravel the cause. And, the city of Asheville has a new crusading reporter. He’s a puppet.
There are many folklores and charms when it comes to getting lucky in Appalachia. It’s been said that it’s bad luck to eat lettuce on a hot summer day. People also believe that placing parsley seeds on a fence post and allowing the wind to blow it off to sow it will clear them of any bad luck.
But, the most famous good luck charm in the world has got to be the four-leaf clover. One old mountain lore is that a green salve of four-leaf clovers rubbed over your whole body is said to make you invisible but you cant miss even one wrinkle.
Chuck Kleine
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Can you find the four-leaf clover in this picture?
Red clover and white clover are the most common types of the plant we see in West Virginia.
Neither of them are native to the area and are considered one of the earliest plants brought by Europeans. Both red and white clover are edible and are often used like spinach in a salad.
Some folks use the flowers to make a clover jelly or steep them in water to make tea. The leaves of thye red clover can also be dried and used as a vanilla extract substitute.
Chuck Kleine
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Red Clover
There are a few native clover in West Virginia. The native Running Buffalo Clover has recently been removed from the endangered species list. Kate’s Mountain Clover is another native species, it is rare to find and stunning when in bloom.
Take some time to glance down at the next clover patch you see and have a closer look. The flowers are just beautiful, and maybe you’ll even find some luck hidden under your feet.
EDIBLE MOUNTAIN – Clovers
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On this West Virginia Week, the air around the site of a chemical leak near Institute is determined safe, the state reaches a settlement with Roblox, and Charleston photographer Perry Bennett represents Team USA in Iceland.
This week, in author Willie Carver, Jr.’s new book, he reconsiders a negative childhood experience with a neighborhood girl who might have just been looking for a friend. Also, a southwestern Virginia community rang the alarm after more and more of its children were diagnosed with cancer. A local journalist is trying to unravel the cause. And, the city of Asheville has a new crusading reporter. He’s a puppet.
Kentucky writer Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr’s new book Tore All To Pieces weaves poetry and short stories into a narrative about people and place. Inside Appalachia’s Bill Lynch recently spoke with Carver and brings us this conversation.
As the U.S. approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Americans are debating not just politics but the nation’s past. In this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay brings together student and academic scholars and community members at Marshall University in West Virginia to examine what the revolution means to us today.
