Wildcrafted Apothecary:
A Foraging & Herbal Product Apprenticeship 

120-Hour Certificate Program

Co-Taught by Community Herbalist & Product Developer Lupo Passero, and Community Herbalist and Forager Melissa Fryar.

What you can expect

This course is designed for folks who want to learn how to design, create, formulate, label and market their own herbal products with herbs & mushrooms that have been foraged. By wildcrafting plants & fungi that grow locally, students will form a deep relationship with sustainably native, naturalized and invasive plants. Throughout the program we will use these herbs to prepare herbal teas, salves and tinctures and more. Students will learn and experience ethical foraging techniques throughout Appalachia, practice proper plant and fungi identification and harvest, prepare herbs according to medicine making or drying needs, all while co-formulating special herbal products and building the home apothecary.

Participants in the class will formulate and co-create one Community Apothecary Share (CSA), featuring six to eight different herbal remedies with the herbs they have locally wildcrafted. Students learn how to properly formulate, label and market their CSA shares and receive one share to take home after they are complete. 

“Wild Crafting Apothecary was one of my favorite courses I’ve taken with Twin Star, every month I looked forward to our outdoor foraging adventures! It felt like a vacation, and a much needed break from life’s mundane routines. The entire course was extremely wholesome, educational, & exciting! It was fun & empowering to work as a team to create an amazing offering for the community & to give back to such an important cause. As an aspiring entrepreneur, it answered all my questions about how to create & formulate products up to legal standards as well as the in’s & outs of marketing!”

- Marisa 2022 Graduate & Clinical Herbalist

What You wIll receive

  • Learn how to ethically forage and identify medicinal herbs and mushrooms across the Appalachian landscape. Discover how to build respectful relationships with the plants and ecosystems that sustain us.

  • Gain hands-on skills in preparing teas, tinctures, salves, and other botanical products using wild, naturalized, and invasive plants. Each medicine-making session deepens your understanding of how to turn raw materials into powerful healing allies.

  • Build your home apothecary while mastering proper drying, processing, and medicine-making techniques. The collaborative learning environment encourages creativity, confidence, and connection.

  • Develop the skills to formulate, label, and market your own herbal products from start to finish. You’ll be empowered to bring your vision to life with professional, shelf-ready offerings. You’ll leave with a solid foundation in the art, science and ritual of herbal medicine-making.

  • Receive a 120-hour certificate in wildcrafted herbal product making, taught by two experienced herbalists with over 50 years of combined expertise. You’ll leave with a solid foundation in both the art and science of herbal medicine-making.

  • Take your herbal business to the next level by understanding how to enter the marketplace and create products aligned with your community and clients. Whether you’re starting a business or expanding an existing one, or just want to create a home apothecary, you’ll gain the tools to do it right.

Enroll Now

Who is this for

  • You’re yearning for a deeper, more rooted and relational practice as a Community Herbalist

  • You enjoy a flexible learning format that fits your life and schedule

  • You’ve completed a foundational herbal program—or our Level 1: Foundations of Herbalism—and are ready for the next step

  • You’re interested in working in apothecary or community herbal settings and want practical experience to support that path

  • You’re considering continuing on to clinical herbal training and want a strong, rooted foundation and prerequisite

  • You’re ready to show up fully, engage deeply, and do the work

What you will learn

Wildcrafting & Ethical Harvesting

Learn how to identify, sustainably harvest, and work in sacred reciprocity with native, naturalized, and invasive plants and fungi of the Appalachian bioregion. You’ll develop a deep relationship with the land while practicing respectful, hands-on foraging skills.

Herbal Product Formulation & Medicine Making

Gain practical experience creating teas, tinctures, salves, and more—crafted from wild plants and mushrooms you gather yourself. You’ll learn how to formulate, label, and preserve remedies with integrity and purpose.

Herbal product Foundations & Market Readiness

Explore the fundamentals of creating, marketing, branding, and selling your herbal creations with the Community Supported Apothecary program. Leave with the confidence and knowledge to launch or elevate your herbal products or business.

Students will work on a collective project that will be co-created throughout the program based upon the passions and ideas of the group. For example, in 2022, our Wildcrafted Apothecary class was made up of a collective of female identifying people who were brought together at the time of the overturn of Roe v Wade. Each year our Wildcrafted Apothecary class has the opportunity to make locally foraged, professionally made herbal remedies to provide back to our to the community. Our 2022 students took the horrific injustice of the overturn of Roe v Wade as an invitation to stand strong in our collective strength and create an offering to bring empowerment to all. The Womb Warriors kit was handcrafted to raise awareness, to help support those in need, and to remain steady in our center, as we are, by unique and important individuals whose voices will not be silenced.

What makes our
Program unique?

  • Taught by two seasoned herbalists with over 50 years of combined experience in wildcrafting and product creation

  • Focused on hands-on, field-based learning with plants and fungi gathered from the Appalachian landscape

  • Emphasis on ethical foraging, reciprocal relationship with the land, and deep ecological awareness

  • Learn to create and co-formulate teas, tinctures, salves, and more using wild-foraged ingredients

  • Small group size for intimate mentorship, peer collaboration, and personalized guidance

  • Certificate of completion for 120 hours of immersive study in wildcrafting and herbal product making

  • Support in developing your own home apothecary and confidence to take your herbal offerings to market

“The Wildcrafting Apothecary course was a life-changing experience for me. Working alongside a great group of herbalists, foraging wild plants, processing herbs, formulating products, and marketing the final herbal kit–I learned so many valuable life skills throughout this journey, and I had such an amazing time. Thank you Twin Star team!

- Xan 2022 Wildcrafted Apothecary Graduate

Meet Your Teachers

  • Melissa Fryar is an Asheville born Appalachian herbalist who was lucky enough to be born in her favorite plant and foraging land. She has studied with some amazing herbal elders including Rosemary Gladstar and Deborah Francis, and more importantly, from her grannies and the plants and trees themselves. Her passions include:  food as medicine, folk and regional plants, a sweet old hound dog named Bocephus, and her family. She hopes to be a student for the rest of her life. Melissa has taught regionally for several herb schools and at various conferences throughout the area.

  • Lupo Passero is a Community Herbalist with over 25 years experience in the field of herbalism and natural health. Lupo has worked closely throughout the years within the natural products industry serving as a staff herbalist in a variety of local health food and herbal stores and has served as an educator and as a consultant for over 20 years for some of the best retailers, producers and manufacturers of herbal medicine in the country.  Trained as a Clinical Herbalist in Asheville North Carolina in 2003, Lupo has been working closely with folks of all ages and backgrounds, helping them to create healing herbal regimes for better heath and wellness as well as to help support specific ailments. In 2016 Lupo opened Twin Star Community Apothecary, a full service local apothecary, combining her expertise of natural products and her deep wisdom of herbal medicine. She has created hundreds of time tested and well loved herbal products over the years and is is always happy to help create a custom tea blend, flower essence or personalized herbal remedy and enjoys supporting all individuals innate ability to heal themselves with simple and effective plant potions.

when will we meet

Our program runs from April - October in our Twin Star South location in Asheville, NC.

We will meet in-person on the fourth Friday (May will be 3rd Friday) of each month April through October with our final class on the third Friday in November from 9:30 am to 5 pm. Full Days, In-Person 9:30 am to 5 pm: April 24th, May 22nd, June 26th, July 24th, August 28th, September 25th, October 23 & November 20th

All classes will be led and supervised by Community Herbalists Melissa Fryar and Lupo Passero, and will meet in or around the Asheville area, with special location destinations throughout the Appalachian mountains. Carpooling together to locations will be encouraged.

Investment

STEP ONE

$250

SECURE YOUR SPOT

Pay the deposit to secure your spot in the program before selecting your payment option.

STEP TWO

$2500

pay in full

Choose to pay the full price for the program and save $250. If you choose this option you are able to waive the deposit.

$313

PAYMENT PLAN

Choose our monthly payment plan option and register to save your spot. Please make sure you pay the deposit first.

Unsure if this Program is A Fit For You? Book A Call!

We are always available to help you decide which one of our programs is a good fit for you on your journey. Just use the button below to schedule a call. We look forward to connecting with you.

Frequently asked questions

  • Completion of a foundational herbal studies program or equivalent experience is required before enrolling in this 200-hour Community Herbalist Certificate, which also serves as the prerequisite for our Practicing Herbalist Clinical Program.

    If you have taken our Foundations of Herbalism program, that counts as fulfillment.

  • We have two in-person medicine making immersions on April 11th and July 11th at our Twin Star South classroom in the beautiful Asheville, NC and at our Twin Star North classroom in the beautiful New Milford, CT allowing you to be amongst the magic of the mountains and to learn from some of our amazing group of guest teachers.

    As a student, you also have the opportunity to join us for any of our in-person immersions:

  • Students are expected to watch each month’s lectures, complete homework, and attend LIVE classes to receive the certificate of completion.

    We allow one absence for our live class.

  • This program blends the heart of traditional herbal wisdom with hands-on practice, spiritual connection, and community care. With over 25 years of teaching experience, Lupo Passero weaves ritual, plant spirit connection, and ancestral remembrance into every lesson—offering more than just information, but a transformation. Students don’t just learn about herbs they learn how to live in relationship with them. Our hybrid format, in-depth case studies, collaborative learning, and guest teachers from diverse herbal backgrounds create a rich, supportive environment for deepening both skill and soul.

  • This program equips you with the skills, confidence, and experience to offer holistic, plant-based care to your community. You’ll learn how to assess imbalances, create effective protocols, and work with both the physical and energetic aspects of healing. It also serves as the required prerequisite for our advanced Practicing Herbalist Clinical Program.

  • Yes! We’re committed to making herbal education accessible. A limited number of scholarships and flexible payment plans are available. Please inquire within by email twinstaroffice@gmail.com—we’re happy to work with you to make this path possible.