"Harvesting Hope: Molly Cronk's Cannabis-infused Community Gatherings" Molly Cronk from MJ Haberdashary joins Susan Burns to share her remarkable journey into the cannabis business. Molly, a farmer and founder of MJ Haberdashary, recounts how her brother's leukemia diagnosis sparked her interest in cannabis as a healing tool. Inspired by Rick Simpson's advocacy, Molly delved into creating Rick Simpson Oil (RSO), which she now produces using organic farming practices on her three-generation family farm. She discusses the transformative power of RSO, her commitment to transparency, and her mission to empower others to grow their own medicine. The conversation also touches on Molly's unique farm events, including cannabis-infused dinners and upcoming weddings. Throughout the discussion, Molly's dedication to promoting plant medicine and building community shines through, making her a true steward of the land and the cannabis plant.
"Harvesting Hope: Molly Cronk's Cannabis-infused Community Gatherings"
Molly Cronk from MJ Haberdashary joins Susan Burns to share her remarkable journey into the cannabis business. Molly, a farmer and founder of MJ Haberdashary, recounts how her brother's leukemia diagnosis sparked her interest in cannabis as a healing tool. Inspired by Rick Simpson's advocacy, Molly delved into creating Rick Simpson Oil (RSO), which she now produces using organic farming practices on her three-generation family farm. She discusses the transformative power of RSO, her commitment to transparency, and her mission to empower others to grow their own medicine. The conversation also touches on Molly's unique farm events, including cannabis-infused dinners and upcoming weddings. Throughout the discussion, Molly's dedication to promoting plant medicine and building community shines through, making her a true steward of the land and the cannabis plant.
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Bodacious Women in Cannabis podcast, the show where the bold and brilliant women cannabis business leaders share their journey and their expertise. Here's your host, Susan Burns.
Hello and welcome to Bodacious Women in Cannabis. I'm your podcast host, Susan Burns. A lawyer by day and a podcast host by day also, I guess nothing delights me more as a lawyer in the cannabis business than showcasing bodacious women in cannabis. Today you are in for a treat, really. We have Molly Cronk from MJ Haberdashery, [00:01:00] uh, owner, founder of MJ Haberdashery and a farmer.
Yeah. Molly, welcome. Thank you, Susan. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here. Yeah. So I already said you were a farmer, but you're many, many other things. Um, tell us about what brought you into the cannabis business, what you do. Tell us about the farm. I would say, uh, it's a big question, but just start, it's a big question, but I'll, I'll, it's a good place to start.
Yeah. Um, so I was not your typical cannabis, uh, consumer. I had really nothing against it, but I really, it really wasn't in my wheelhouse. It just wasn't really exposed to it. Uh, but in 2016, my brother was diagnosed with leukemia. And that's really where the whole thing started with leukemia. You said [00:02:00] leukemia.
Yeah. Oh my gosh. Um, I'd already researched a little bit about it. I didn't know about Rick Simpson oil, but I knew that cannabis was good for, uh, cancer. And so, uh, I found a podcast, like you're, you know, Right? Uh, and I was a cook in Arizona at a dude ranch, and I was listening to a podcast on these exact headphones, as a matter of fact.
Uh, like four o'clock in the morning, I'm making the biscuits, making the hash browns for the dude ranch. I hear this podcast and there's a gentleman on there. His name was uncle Pete. What was it? Uncle Pete. His name refers to himself as uncle Pete. Yeah. He was on a podcast. Um, it was called cannabis health radio.
And she asked him what types of cancers respond the best to Rick Simpson oil. And [00:03:00] he said, without hesitation, Blood cancers. That's what these that this works the best for and so I Teared up and you know tuned in and listened to the rest of the podcast And then as soon as I got off of work as soon as breakfast was served.
I went back to my room I called uncle Pete said my brother has leukemia. It's a blood cancer What should I do? And he,
I didn't know him. He never met me before, but he donated a whole 3, 000 worth of Rick Simpson oil for me. And he said, I can't mail it to you, but if you could get to Michigan, I'll give it to you. Oh my gosh. How generous. Yeah. You know, I. I, I wanted to learn how to make it. I wanted to grow it because like you said, I'm a farmer where people, you know, we're deal D U I's D uh, yeah.
Yeah. [00:04:00] Thank you. Um, he said, Molly, you don't have time. If it was my brother, I would get it in him as fast as you can. So, just come and get it. And I promised him to pay it forward. And I have been doing that ever since. So, that's what got me started. I was donated some Rick Simpson oil, and it, uh, it changed the trajectory of my life.
And I've been donating it and giving it to people ever since. And then halfway through, uh, me perfecting what I consider perfecting Rick Simpson oil, Minnesota passed the law that it was legal. And now I'm sitting, talking to you. Yeah, that's great. So for people who don't know, for our listeners who don't know, tell us about Rick Simpson oil.
Because it's a, it's an old, An old, old, old, [00:05:00] old. Yeah, I think it was 2003 that, uh, Rick Simpson did this video and it was basically a F you to the, uh, doctor that denied him, you know, he, he had cancer. He cured the cancer, skin cancer with this essential oil that he made from the cannabis plant. And the, uh, the doctor said, you were misdiagnosed.
You never had cancer. And so he was like, well, I'm just gonna, I, you know, he was a very, he is a very brave man. He made a video that shows how to make the oil and showed it to everyone that said, you could do this. He empowered. Thousands and thousands of people went viral. It's called run from the cure or Phoenix tears.
And it basically showed people how to make an essential oil from cannabis with, uh, a rice cooker in some, uh, [00:06:00] Everclear. That's not how I make it now, but that was the first step. Yeah. So when it comes from the hemp plant, well, can it come from either hemp or marijuana? It needs to come from, uh, depending on what you're, what you're, uh, treating.
Most of the time you really need that high THC. And, and in the video he used the term hemp, but that was really just for safety reasons, you know, and he was in Canada and that's just, uh, the terminology that was out there, but. Uh, today I make it with both plants. I make it with marijuana plants and I make it with hemp plants.
And it, what happens is, uh, you wash the plant with the solvent and then you, um, reclaim the solvent out and you're left with, uh, a black tar. [00:07:00] And then that. tar or oil can connect to a fat. I, I like to use coconut oil and then you can put it in suppositories. You can use it as topical, you can put it in gel caps and take it, uh, internally.
Um, I like to put it in my coffee with, uh, you know, warm coffee cause it melts and then you have like a sublingual, uh, drink. Yeah. Which I guess if you're drinking it wouldn't be necessarily sublingual. Well, yeah. You just see a beverage. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Um, so, and you do, you do so many other things on your farm as well.
Yeah. So you grow, you grow camp. Yeah. Yeah. I was, you grow hemp and you make Rick Simpson oil. And, and I, I, I do regenerative farming and. Um, [00:08:00] uh, biodynamics is my, uh, my practice that's, you know, um, we do sprays, uh, biodynamic sprays, which is really just cow manure, which I'm in the process of switching over to horse manure.
Uh, cause that's the animal that I use as horses instead of cows. Uh, let me back up a minute. I guess the best way to say it is when I found the Rick Simpson oil for my brother and he did eventually pass away. Uh, sorry. Thank you. I went to Colorado to learn more about this. I was like, this is a big deal.
It's it's it's I mean, his, his blood work changed immediately. Like in, in six weeks he was back to normal. Yeah, it's amazing. Wow. I, I came across a hemp farm that was doing [00:09:00] things organically and they had an intern practice. And so I, I stayed there for a whole year and I, and I was the cook there, uh, to feed the whole crew that was working, growing hemp.
Uh, and I learned a lot from them. I learned a lot of their processing and I, uh, Integrated some of their things that they were doing, but the biggest thing that I think set us apart is that once I was able to make the Rick Simpson oil, instead of just connecting it to a coconut oil, like, uh, Uncle Pete had suggested I started using, um, CBD oil CBD coconut oil, because that's what I had.
I was at a CBD farm and they. You connected their CBD to a coconut oil. And so instead of just taking that Rick Simpson oil and putting it with. Uh. With coconut oil, I was connecting it to a CBD coconut oil. So you got a THC [00:10:00] CBD combo. Yeah. Yeah. So then when I started messing with that, then, then that's when I saw some really good results, you know, friends and family were coming back and like, what is going on with this oil?
I can't believe it's just everything from bumps on your skin to. Allergies to cancers and MS and diabetes and just so many great things were happening. Uh, and like I said, I mentioned before that my mom is a big part of my, uh, my person, my, my business and my life. She's a retired hospice nurse. And so that's where I started getting all of all of her friends started coming to me and like, My arthritis.
I can't sleep at night. I can't, you know, my, I'm having problems in my marriage, you know, just things that were happening to that 70 plus group ladies. And I started just messing around, trying to help them [00:11:00] out and. Bam. It just, it just took off. So those are my people, the old, old ladies. And then I have a tagline on my fridge that says, uh, weed grown by old ladies for old ladies.
Well, no, it's not just. Just old ladies, you told me before we started the interview that you're on a three generation family farm. Yeah. That is true. You have three generations of women. Yeah. So this farm Tell our listeners about that. That's awesome. Yeah, it is neat. So, um, the farm that we have is only 10 minutes from St.
Paul, but it's a, it's a, um, was originally a dairy farm and my parents bought it 50 years ago. And it is set up with three Three households in this one house. It's got three different addresses and separate entrances, but it's, uh, I have the top two floors and I have the processing room in the drying room and [00:12:00] my office and all the, all the business stuff is on the top two floors.
And then, uh, the first floor is my mom. She's the queen bee of the whole thing. She runs, but she, you know, she, her job is to, she's in charge of, uh, Uh, neighborhood relations and planting flowers. Uh, and then my niece, who is, I believe she's 32 now, Izzy, she lives in the basement and she's in charge of the chickens.
So, uh, biodynamic piece that I was telling you about, uh, we rotate animals and plants over the land to have the best plant health and the best, uh. Land health. So, um, we have, I was counting this morning, I have, uh, two dogs, three horses, um, four beehives, and 15 chickens and 15 acres, and it all works together.
So [00:13:00] all wow. The bees pollinate everything. We have the best honey. Um, and. I don't, the, the chickens are free range. So they go around and they eat the bugs and they fertilize the plants. The cow, the horses are my cows because I live in town. I can't have cows, but, uh, they're a big part of the workforce because I plant the grass.
They eat the grass, they chew it up, and then they compost it in their bellies. They poo it out the other side. And then I collect that with, along with the chicken manure. and table scraps, the biodynamic sprays, and we, um, we make our own soil. So I don't buy any fertilizers. I don't use any bat guana or coconut hulls or anything from the grocery store.
I'm making everything with my own hands. The animals and the, um, rotating the pastures. That's amazing. It [00:14:00] is really amazing. It's, uh, it keeps you very busy. Yeah, it is. It is so joyful and you know, I'm kind of, I see myself maybe as a Lance Stewart, more than a farmer, or even more than a cannabis.
enthusiast. I'm, I'm foremost taking care of the land. That's what I do. And when I do it right, I have a little extra cannabis and a little extra, uh, organic fertilizer and I have a little extra honey and that's what makes everything work. Mm hmm. Raise the bills. Nice. So, and you also have had some events on your farm.
Yeah. Yeah, the, uh, because our location is so close to the city, it's really is, uh, a, a, a really nice destination. Um, we've had, we have Reiki training. My, my aunt is a Reiki master and we, we [00:15:00] sometimes do Reiki right outside. Like I'll plant the plants in a big, uh, labyrinth or a big circle. And then we bring the, the, um, Reiki masters out into the outside.
And then you have your, your. Uh, session outside this really special horses will come right down and come right in there. And sometimes they don't. Sometimes we have deer that come through and we have turkeys and eagles and, um, a lot in nature because on two sides of our property, we have 350 acres of park land.
It's a park reserve and it makes our footprint a lot bigger. Yeah. I'm a Reiki master. Are you really? Yeah. Oh, that's awesome. Probably 20. Really? Yeah. Oh, you have to come on. I don't put it in my lawyer's aisle. No, but it's powerful, isn't it? It is. It is. It's [00:16:00] amazing. I learned how to do it, um, when my thyroid was off, probably like, probably like 15 years ago.
My aunt taught me how, and I can bring myself out of a panic attack, so I still haven't, uh, I do it on the plants, on the medicine, um, I do it on my horses, uh, but my niece and my mom are, and my aunt are really much better at doing it on other people. Hmm. Yeah. It's an, it's an amazing gift. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. So you have healings and didn't you have some fancy dinner or something? I couldn't. Oh yeah. And they were close in proximity and, and I wanted to, that's the first time that I was talking to you. I was kind of dreaming that up right there and yes, it has morphed into is that every year. My, my top customers, you know, the people that, that [00:17:00] supported me the most, I take like a, I think last year I had 12 people, but I just take like 10 or 15 of the, of, of the top customers.
And then I make a big harvest dinner for them. We have cannabis on the tables, table arrangements, and every, all the foods infused both ways. So if you want a drink or if you want the food, or if you just want to puff. We have, uh, joints that go with, you know, the menu. Um, and then we do a whole tour of the, of the farm and how it's all connected.
And, you know, so you see the chickens and you see the horses and you walk through the hills and it's, uh, it's. But this year we're going to have even bigger than that is I have two weddings scheduled on the farm. One is, uh, one is my son's and he could really care less [00:18:00] if it's cannabis or not, but, uh, it will be cannabis.
Because I'm going to decorate with the hemp plants and I'm going to make like a pathway that goes down and swerves around with sunflowers all around it. And big, my plants are big. Um, they're sometimes they're like eight feet tall. I had one plant last year that gave me three pounds of flower. They're just from one plant.
Yeah, yeah, because I've like, really tweaked in this outdoor grow, which most people don't do, most people grow indoors, but I grow outdoors and I, uh, because of that soil bio going on, that's, so my, my plants are all Eight feet tall. Some of them are 12 feet tall. They're really big. Um, because you have a lot of, you have a lot of diversity in the soil then that allows for so many other things that Merchant doesn't have time to get to [00:19:00] that point.
Yes, exactly. Uh, but this year I'm on. You're six and I have some big, big things planned. So, uh, there'll be walkways that you go through like a maze and then at the end, it'll be a circle where, where, uh, we could take pictures like Photoshop shoots of the circle of the wall of cannabis plants. And then there's going to be.
Zinnias all through, um, like a big field of zinnias and then on the outside of that will be all clover and, uh, I have them planted along the barns cause they get like Christmas trees and then I have like, uh, flowers around the house, you know, flowers around the bottom so that they look like. You're going into Bachman's or something.
It's very pretty. Um, so two weddings. Uh, I can't, I don't, well, I'm not going to say her name, but I'll tell you [00:20:00] afterwards who the other one is. But she's a big deal in cannabis, uh, the Minnesota cannabis industry. She's going to get married here. The week after my son. Oh, so we're going to be busy. We have, uh, the big tents are coming in and the big bathrooms and we're going to have caters come in.
It's going to be beautiful. Um, and what is the other thing that I was going to say? Those two weddings. And then I have a, uh, kind of a campaign going about trying to get Willie Nelson to come and visit the farm. I saw that on social. Yeah. . So I got a, a media, uh, you know, uh, person that's helping me with it.
And we're just gonna, we're gonna make t-shirts and we're just gonna get everybody behind it. . And, uh, I don't [00:21:00] know if you'll come or not. That's not really the point of it. The point is just, uh, he has always been a hero of mine. You know, he is not just a, a pot smoker. He's like this holistic TaeKwonDo.
spiritual being. He's an artistic hero of mine, and so, we're just gonna try to have some fun with it. That sounds fun. Yeah. It looks like you're having fun. Speaking of social media, I usually do this at the end, but since we're talking about your social media campaign, tell people where they can find you, how they can find you.
Thank you. Thank you. So what I put the most effort into is that, uh, Instagram and I'm under my name, which is Crock Molly. And then it's, uh, at Instagram and then it has MJ Haberdashery. I think you can find it both ways, but the, but I originally set it up with just my name. So at Cronk, C R O [00:22:00] N K, Molly, M O L L Y.
Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Or MJ Haberdashery. And MJ haberdashery. Yeah, we have a website and you can order some of the CBD products on there, but if you're interested in the RSO or the other things that we do, you, you need to come to the farm and we're open 2 days a week. Actually, I just, for this month, opened up another one.
Uh, so I'm three days a week now. I don't know if that will sustain through the winter. When the summer comes and I'm, I'm more busy, I might go back to one or two days, but currently you can come to the farm on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. And, uh, mjhabadashary. com, and I do, Spell it incorrectly on purpose.
Um, well, it's how you spell it. It's, it's M J haberdashery with all A's. So it's H A B [00:23:00] A D A S H A R Y dot com. And you can schedule, uh, a visit there. Which I hope you do soon, Susan. I didn't know that you were a Reiki master. Well, I don't, I don't, I don't, I think this is the first time I've said that out loud in a lot of years.
You know, I don't have occasion to do it. It's not my main practice. Yeah. So, you know, uh, along with your bodacious women message is it is primary, a lot of women that are in the, the Reiki thing. And if you, we do, uh, we might have like five or six of them and we'll do like a little circle and we'll just meditate together and it's, It is a really powerful, I imagine it is some of the, uh, the biodynamic, uh, practices are, are a [00:24:00] little witchy on their, on their own, you know?
Um, and so 1 of the guys I like, his name is Brian. He says, uh, sometimes we do dance around in the moonlight. But that's just because we want to that's not because it's not required. It's not required. We just like to, yeah, but it is, it is, um, it is about being tied into the seasons. And I think that's a big part of what we do here is that.
Every, every season has a reason, and that we're really tied into what time of the year it is, what we're doing, what we're eating and Um, where we are in the solar system at that point. So it's, it's, uh, it's simple and complicated at the same time. Yeah, it is. So, um, tell me, [00:25:00] Ms. Molly, what is your unique brand of bodaciousness?
What makes you Yeah, I would say the thing that really separates me is the farm in Rick Simpson Oil. Those, you did a nice job on, oh, hold on. That's my tax man. Um, a great job of leading me through this, but I would say it is Rick Simpson Oil, which is, Uh, a concentrated form of, of cannabis oil. That's widely known for cancer treatment.
Um, I'm using a full plant extract, which is also uncommon in Minnesota. Uh, I try to be transparent. So I want people to come out and see the plant, see where I process them, see what's going on, see the lab tests and touch the plant and really. Have a relationship with me because [00:26:00] I want. people to know that they can trust me.
They can, they can come to, you know, my family is well known and trusted. We're good. We've been here a long time. We intend to be here for a long time. We want to build a community where people can grow their own medicine. So that's another thing. Uh, I could make a list of things that separate me, but, um, I think that, you know, my, my, my mission statement is to promote and protect the ability to have a plant medicine.
And that's really what I, what I intend to do is, is to eventually get so good at this that I don't have to do it anymore. And I'll make myself grow myself right out of this job into my rocking chair to what other people. Can grow, make their own Rick Simpson oil for their friends and family. And I can just, [00:27:00] uh, uh, be rocking in my rocking chair.
People can come and ask me questions. That's my goal. Or visit. Yeah. Come and visit, have some tea on the porch. There you go. That sounds great. Well, Molly, you've been an amazing steward of the land and the plant and thanks for protecting plant medicine. Well, thank you for promoting women and to have this basis for me, because, um, the opposite of your question of what makes me bodacious, I would have to fill in my weak spot is promoting and, uh, marketing.
And so thank you so much for, uh, giving me this platform and, and asking me these wonderful questions. Oh, you're welcome. Happy to do it. Yeah, actually, so just for the listeners to know, Molly and I live in the same vicinity and I, we were, she was [00:28:00] exiting and I was entering a building and I overheard a conversation that Molly was having with her friend about a cannabis infused dinner.
And as a cannabis lawyer, of course, and it was so new in Minnesota back then, you know, I piqued my interest. And so I started asking Molly questions, and then it wasn't until now that we were able to reconnect, but I've been fascinated by. what you do since that conversation. I'm fascinated by you too.
It's very serendipity, isn't it? Yeah, we like that. So anyway, I'm just delighted to have you and thank you so much for making the time and I'm sure everybody's going to love listening to you. Oh, thank you. You have a great day.