What do you get when you combine a mysterious berry, a bottle with David Bowie on the label, and an herbalist determined to get everyone dancing? In this episode, I sit down with my good friend Mel Kasting to discuss aralia berry (Aralia racemosa), an herb that I admittedly knew almost nothing about before our conversation! Mel fondly refers to aralia berry as “dance berry” because of its remarkable ability to help people feel more at home in their bodies and more connected to one another. She also talks about the many other gifts of aralia berry, including its ability to support people who feel depleted, disconnected, or weighed down by prolonged stress or grief. Beyond aralia berry, Mel shares insights from her work as a clinical herbalist, including a powerful lesson she learned early in her practice about the importance of meeting people where they are. We also discuss the role mentorship can play in helping herbalists build confidence, deepen their understanding, and develop their clinical skills. You can download the beautifully illustrated recipe card for Mel’s Life of the Party Elixir, a delightful mixture of aralia berry and other herbs, here. But be careful—it might just inspire you to get up and dance! By the end of this episode, you’ll know: ► Why Mel sees aralia berry as a plant of connection and restoration, rather than simply another stimulating herb ► What makes aralia berry different from other herbs commonly used as social lubricants ► Why Mel prefers working with aralia’s berries instead of its more well-known root ► How aralia differs from its cousin ginseng and other adaptogenic herbs ► Where to find aralia in the wild ► Tips for growing, wildcrafting, and ethically harvesting aralia berry ► and so much more… For those of you who don’t know her, Mel Kasting is a clinical herbalist, educator, and botanist with more than ten years of clinical experience. As Clinical Director and Free Clinic Manager at the Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine, she oversees accessible community care and helps train emerging clinical herbalists. Her work integrates traditional Western herbalism, clinical nutrition, somatic practices, public health, and harm reduction. Through Forest Edge Herbals, Mel offers consultations, mentorship, plant walks, and community education. In her clinical practice, she supports people navigating chronic illness, mental and nervous system health concerns, and mast cell and allergic conditions, including alpha-gal syndrome, with individualized, person-centered herbal support. I’m so excited to share our conversation with you today! ---- Get full show notes, transcript, and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com Would you prefer watching this episode? If so, click here for the video. You can find Mel at ForestEdgeHerbals.com. For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram! Working successfully with herbs requires three essential skills. Get introduced to them by taking my free herbal jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter. If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it! On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health. Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com. ---- Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here.
