EPISODE 5

In this special Black Friday episode of Just Say KNOW, host Maria welcomes Penny Barthel, author of The Cannabis Gardener, to explore the art of homegrown cannabis and DIY cannabis creations. From homemade tinctures to delicious edibles and soothing topicals, discover how to turn your cannabis harvest into thoughtful, sustainable gifts. Plus, get expert tips on using cannabis for holiday stress relief and mindful self-care. Whether you're curious about growing cannabis or crafting plant-based products, this episode is packed with practical insights and creative inspiration!

Nov 29, 2024

00;00;03;07 - 00;00;36;28
Maria
Hello again and welcome to Just Say KNOW. That's KNOW with a k-N-O-W. I'm your host, Maria Calabrese, and you're listening to KCAA Radio 1050 AM, 106.5 FM,. In the room when the Empire and beyond. I'm so glad you're joining us today on this special Black Friday edition of Just Say KNOW. Because let's face it, if we don't carve out time for ourselves now, the next few weeks is going to feel like running a marathon in flip flops.

00;00;37;04 - 00;01;09;26
Maria
Joining me today is my dear, dear friend and brilliant author of The Cannabis Gardener, Penny Barthel. Penny has been profiled by the LA times as a pro when it comes to growing her own cannabis, crafting her own edibles and tinctures, and sharing with others how to add a little DIY magic to your self-care and holidays. She's here to show us how cannabis can be a game changer during this most stressful time.

00;01;10;03 - 00;01;25;03
Maria
So grab your favorite cozy beverage, kick back, and let's take a little break from the Black Friday chaos to focus on you. This is Just Say KNOW. Let's get started.

00;01;25;05 - 00;01;38;22
Intro Music
By 2020, Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimate that will grow to $35 billion, and many experts believe it could eventually reach $200 billion each and every year.

00;01;38;24 - 00;02;12;11
Intro Music
You make me feel good like no other. I just want everyone to see what I do. Sky. But when I'm with you, I go higher. You lift me up. Now I can see so much farther. While you're not rising.

00;02;12;13 - 00;02;30;26
Intro Music
I'm a butterfly who has only begun to give me a while to get it. How to live and cry. To appreciate life. And what you give me. Spike it when you hold me. When you hold me so close. Someone for the rain under your skin. When I leave I'm, I'm so that I can be welcome.

00;02;30;27 - 00;02;34;26
Maria
Penny, thank you so much for joining us today.

00;02;34;28 - 00;02;38;25
Penny Barthel
I am delighted to be here with you, Maria.

00;02;38;27 - 00;02;56;01
Maria
Wow. Well, we're privileged, and, I know everybody's dying to know a little bit about yourself and how you came to discover cannabis and what listeners can learn from your amazing book, The Cannabis Gardener.

00;02;56;03 - 00;03;21;12
Penny Barthel
Yeah, thank you for that. I'm going to say this. I came into cannabis very much sideways. I have been spent a lot of my adult life. I've always loved food. I've been a total nerd. I love plants, I am a lifelong gardener, a cook, actually sort of got myself, going with a food blog and, on that I had, a couple of awesome recipes.

00;03;21;12 - 00;03;57;23
Penny Barthel
One of them made it to Sunset Magazine in 2017. From that, I kind of got acquainted with the gardening culture. I always knew that there was weed in the Bay area. I was neither for it or against. I was just kind of beside it. But about a decade ago, I discovered that a friend of mine was putting in a brand new garden, tons of sun, and the person who was helping her put that garden in had stage four cancer, and he revealed to her how much he, used cannabis for his own well-being and to be able to help him withstand the rigors of chemotherapy.

00;03;57;25 - 00;04;16;24
Penny Barthel
And although she and I were not for or against cannabis, she thought, look, I've got this great new garden. Why don't I grow some cannabis for him and gift it to him? And so she passed me with figuring out how to grow it, because I'm just sort of an experimental gardener. I'm like, sure, I'll try that. And I had some friends in the Bay area.

00;04;16;24 - 00;04;41;24
Penny Barthel
We grew a couple plants together. We had a terrible grow. We did not know what we were doing, but through that I decided to do the research to figure out, well, how can she grow this plant. I fell deep in love with this plant, just fell in love with it, started taking my own notes and went looking for a book that I could give to her.

00;04;41;26 - 00;05;03;08
Penny Barthel
And there was not a book out there. There was lots of information for the commercial grower, lots of information for indoor grows, but nothing that situated this plant where I wanted to grow, which is in my garden. Since that time of a decade ago, or a little bit less than that, I have been on a journey of my own, growing the plant and then enjoying it and using and experimenting with it.

00;05;03;08 - 00;05;24;23
Penny Barthel
I decided to go a little deeper in, and I went to Oaksterdam, which is a school here in Oakland that teaches the cannabis industry, teaches people to go and work in the cannabis industry. So I took a horticulture semester. So I'm a certified cannabis horticulturist. I came in sideways as a gardener and a cook, and I ended up cannabis author and educator.

00;05;24;25 - 00;05;39;27
Maria
What would you say? It's true of anyone who's part of a backyard gardener that just has a love for plants, that if they become acquainted with cannabis, it's going to have the same effect on them. They're going to fall in love.

00;05;39;29 - 00;05;57;11
Penny Barthel
I think. So I, you know, I've got friends who grow it and don't use it. They have a lot of good friends that they give it to, but they are so in love with this plant. We'll get perhaps more deep into the weeds as like I like to say, on how to grow it. But I'll tell you one thing.

00;05;57;11 - 00;06;15;10
Penny Barthel
It goes from a tiny little seed to in my garden and nine foot tall monster of a plant in four months. So from seed to dry bud in my jar in five months. It's a really fun plant to grow. Real easy to do it is.

00;06;15;10 - 00;06;47;02
Maria
I actually tried it myself. And, we'll talk about that too, when we when we get to growing it at home. Today is our Black Friday special edition, and we're going to take our green take on on this Black Friday where we're prioritizing wellness over consumerism. And, did you know that Black Friday originally started in Philadelphia in the 1970s and had absolutely, positively nothing to do with shopping?

00;06;47;07 - 00;06;59;06
Maria
I like to make the metaphor that, cannabis started out as a schedule. But it really has absolutely, positively nothing to do with schedule one. But, no little.

00;06;59;08 - 00;07;10;12
Penny Barthel
Maria, I can say that I like to say cannabis was framed, right? Cannabis was framed. Doesn't belong there. Never did. It belongs in the garden. And I love what you said.

00;07;10;15 - 00;07;46;12
Maria
And, Penny, you know who else was framed? Eve. I always like to say evil spring started in the garden. It always starts in the garden. So they go. But, Yeah. What happened with Black Friday? I guess the, the, Please use that term to describe the chaos that was generated from shoppers wanting to get out early the day after Thanksgiving to hit the sales, but they wanted to get home in time for the Army, Navy football, game.

00;07;46;15 - 00;08;21;07
Maria
And it just was a frenzy. There were traffic jams and everything else. So it got coined by the police in Philadelphia as Black Friday. But then in the 1980s, retailers grabbed it. Hey, marketing, let's make it this shopping extravaganza. And it's, when the stores finally went into black and became profitable for the year. So, would you say from your experience that this hands on DIY approach, rather than just even in cannabis, there's so many.

00;08;21;07 - 00;08;42;16
Maria
I'm not badmouthing them, but there's so many emerging brands and products and gadgets. Would you say the DIY hands on approach, has it been more meaningful and sustainable way to to even nurture yourself, especially during the madness and pressures of, of the holiday season?

00;08;42;19 - 00;09;14;10
Penny Barthel
Oh yes, for sure. You can't. There are peop they're young people today who who have grown up, with just dispensaries, and they think that you go to a dispensary and you get stuff and that's cannabis. Someone it's there's a big analogy between cannabis, I think in food meaning if you've you've never lived on a farm, if you've never grown anything in a garden and you go to a store, there's a strong association between, here's this thing that I buy in a store and that's what we eat, right?

00;09;14;13 - 00;09;40;15
Penny Barthel
Well, there's a whole lot more to food, of course, than just going to a store. And I'm going to say the true the same thing is true with cannabis. It's only very recently that cannabis was considered anything other than a just one of many a medicinal, and I will call them culinary herbs in the garden. But today, just like how Black Friday transformed so recently, that's a very recent thing.

00;09;40;17 - 00;10;01;24
Penny Barthel
Cannabis just has never has. It's only recent that it's something you could buy and that it was in preparations. That's brand new to the human experience. But for all of human tissue. Let's go back. Humans have been interacting with cannabis for. We don't even know how long. 12,000 years. 15. There's documentation that goes a long time back.

00;10;01;26 - 00;10;28;18
Penny Barthel
So we've had a long time to experiment with cannabis and enjoy it, both as a a euphoria to something, for health, for fiber, for textiles, for food. You can use it for building materials, but it's only post prohibition, which was really started in 1937, and it still exists in some parts of the country today. That we've thought of cannabis as a, drug or be something you buy in a store.

00;10;28;18 - 00;10;31;08
Penny Barthel
Those two things are brand new. So for.

00;10;31;08 - 00;10;31;29
Maria
Me.

00;10;32;02 - 00;10;50;02
Penny Barthel
When my relationship with, with cannabis is very much as a being, in a way, it's a plant. And by the way, hot tip for gardening. You asked a little bit about gardening to grow cannabis is easy, but you have to know the plant and then give it what it wants. That's true for all plants.

00;10;50;08 - 00;10;53;17
Maria
Cannabis is not to say it's true for all. Everything in your garden. Right?

00;10;53;17 - 00;11;01;01
Penny Barthel
That's it. You know, like, how do you how do you grow a plant? Well, figure out what it needs and give it to it. That's gardening in a nutshell.

00;11;01;02 - 00;11;09;12
Maria
That's just. And it's the same for parenting. Find out what it needs. What it what what did you say the formula was for plants.

00;11;09;15 - 00;11;12;02
Penny Barthel
What does it need? Give it to it.

00;11;12;05 - 00;11;13;24
Maria
And get it to it. That's it.

00;11;13;25 - 00;11;20;19
Penny Barthel
Just give the plant what it needs and it will respond with huge abundance that's growing.

00;11;20;19 - 00;12;04;13
Maria
That's growing. And you, you share the gift of this abundance. I mean, just in the book, it's it's it's incredible. I, I really enjoy it. I enjoy reading about the science of cannabis and the molecules getting down to the molecular structure. But this is just it's it's such a unique, literary work because you really do treat it the way it should be treated like anything else in your garden, or that you would grow and if you don't grow them, that you would buy at a farmer's market or eventually at a supermarket.

00;12;04;16 - 00;12;24;14
Maria
So as we dream ahead of our gardens for the spring, what would would we be thinking about now when it comes to adding cannabis or. I mean, do you seeds how do you choose a seed? What what should we be thinking about as we're thinking about our spring?

00;12;24;16 - 00;12;44;17
Penny Barthel
But that's a great question to ask. If gardeners know that winter that gardening is year round, if even if you're not outside, you're gardening in your head. And so winter is the time when all the seed catalogs come to your door, and gardeners just, pore over the pages and salivate, ooh, I'm going to grow this this year and this and that.

00;12;44;17 - 00;13;07;04
Penny Barthel
So it's seed picking time. But with cannabis, I want you to back up one step and ask yourself this. Especially now that when entering the holiday season, you can have perhaps an additional, drain on your time and energy. A lot of people have gatherings they need to go to. Those with social anxiety might feel a little worn out by these things.

00;13;07;07 - 00;13;29;22
Penny Barthel
So ask yourself this in another year, how do I want to feel? Do I want to feel calmer? Do I want to sleep a little bit better? Maybe have less pain? Good, because that is the first question you ask yourself before you buy anything to grow cannabis, which is a summer annual. What do I want to feel? What am I want from this plant?

00;13;29;25 - 00;13;47;08
Penny Barthel
And then you can start winnowing down your needs and choose the right seeds to buy. So that's the first step is going to be of course, getting some information is very helpful and my book is a good source of that information. So that would be another thing to buy. But you can actually start deciding what do you want from cannabis.

00;13;47;08 - 00;13;54;02
Penny Barthel
And you have to know that before you can even decide what type of cannabis to buy seeds for.

00;13;54;05 - 00;14;11;28
Maria
You have to know the intention behind it. And I do that with tomatoes. When I start dreaming and thinking about my tomatoes, it's like, what do I want them for? Is it for sources or for gravy? We call it gravy in the East Coast Italians. Do I want to eat it raw? Do I want it for a salad?

00;14;11;28 - 00;14;21;21
Maria
So it's it's your interest. Some people don't even know what they could grow cannabis for. So can you just list? Yes.

00;14;21;23 - 00;14;42;17
Penny Barthel
I sure can. Let me. One of the classes that I teach is called cannabis. 101. And I teach this with my business partner Keisha through our business wondering about weed. And we offer classes to adults and we start every one of our classes with a question, why are you here? What do you need or want from cannabis? And I'll tell you here the top three things.

00;14;42;20 - 00;15;10;11
Penny Barthel
Number one, top three, number one pain. People come in and saying, you know, from little aches and pains to big aches and pains, I've heard cannabis can help with pain. Is that true? Answer yes, absolutely. It has wonderful health promoting properties and can be very effective at treating especially chronic pain, inflammatory pain, but also neuropathy. And there's more nuance to how that works.

00;15;10;13 - 00;15;31;10
Penny Barthel
But that's number one. Number two, how about sleep? You know, somebody said I should take a gummy. What do I do? I heard cannabis can help with my sleep. Yes, it can, and it's a bit bigger answer. There are a number of different ways and different cannabinoids, which is a special molecule group of molecules made by the cannabis plant.

00;15;31;13 - 00;16;00;15
Penny Barthel
So sleep is number two. Number three is anxiety. That's anxiety like can. And so those are the top three I would say health reasons or that people come to cannabis outside of the obvious which is I love getting stoned. And I'll say yes absolutely. Cannabis does that too. So that aside, and we're going to say that's why they call that the rec market.

00;16;00;20 - 00;16;19;29
Penny Barthel
It's build is that I like to use, say, the the term adult use. So there's medical and that's often how it starts. People get warmed up for using a medical license through state legislation. And that's how California started. And then there's adult use, meaning you don't need to have a medical reason. You can just enjoy it.

00;16;20;01 - 00;16;30;28
Penny Barthel
Those on the inside of cannabis would say even if you're using cannabis just to get high, it's still medical. It's still going to do some good for your body if you don't overconsume. But those top three.

00;16;31;00 - 00;16;49;24
Maria
Yeah, I agree. I mean, I mean, just like if you're, you know, drinking orange juice just for the pleasure of it, you're still getting you're getting health benefits, you're getting vitamin C, you're getting phytonutrients, you're getting fiber. All right. So now I come to your workshop and I say I want something for those top three guide me.

00;16;49;26 - 00;17;01;06
Penny Barthel
All right. Here we go. First of all, I'm going to ask you this question. How many do you want to grow. And let's just say you say how many plants you want to grow more you.

00;17;01;09 - 00;17;21;13
Maria
Well I am going to check down to my local county to find out how many I'm allowed to grow. I happen to live in Southern California and where I live. I've checked and as of now, I'm allowed to grow up to six plants.

00;17;21;13 - 00;17;24;20
Penny Barthel
Oh, fabulous. That's far more than you could ever use. Truly.

00;17;24;20 - 00;17;25;20
Maria
Oh, really?

00;17;25;25 - 00;17;44;22
Penny Barthel
I'm going to say this if you are growing just for yourself and you are a pretty average kind of new to cannabis consumer, but you'd like to have, you know, abundant, product at the end of the season, I'm going to say you can get away with growing two plants. I grew more than that. You so you could grow up to six and you can try that.

00;17;44;24 - 00;17;48;11
Penny Barthel
But let's just say you you just grow two plants.

00;17;48;13 - 00;17;49;00
Maria
Okay?

00;17;49;00 - 00;18;10;20
Penny Barthel
You could have at your disposal just about everything you need for all three of those different things that we talked about sleep, pain and anxiety. But there are two different types of plants. They're both going to be cannabis. They're both going to grow as it's summer annual. But one of them should give you a lot of THC and little CBD.

00;18;10;24 - 00;18;36;16
Penny Barthel
So I just used two words THC and CBD that might be familiar to most of your listeners, but if not, let me clarify. They are the two most abundant cannabinoids found in the resin on the cannabis flower. And those are the things that we are really after. That's what that's why we grow cannabis for the large part. So you want a high a high THC plant.

00;18;36;18 - 00;18;58;23
Penny Barthel
You have hundreds of varieties to choose from. That's very common marijuana in Hampshire, the same species of plant. They are both cannabis sativa. That's the botanical name for this plant that we're all growing, whether it produces a lot of THC, a lot of CBD, some of both, or even other cannabinoids. They are one species and they grow just about the same.

00;18;58;25 - 00;19;20;25
Penny Barthel
So you're going to grow two plants, one with high THC and the other one is going to be filled with CBD. In its ultimate product. So with those two plants, you now have the, the raw ingredients to create just about anything you could possibly make with cannabis. It's going to if you want to lean. I've let's just say you're feeling anxious.

00;19;20;25 - 00;19;47;29
Penny Barthel
You want something to calm you, then enjoy some of the plant that produces CBD. Let's just say you want to get really elevated. Well, you're going to want to lean a bit more heavily on that plant to give you a THC weed and for pain. It depends upon the type of pain. But let's just say every day pain you might have, something you want to, reduce the pain for in your body having a little bit of CBD and THC in the same preparation.

00;19;48;02 - 00;20;16;01
Penny Barthel
That's the golden ticket. So those are the only two plants now in my garden. Because I just love this plant. And there's a huge variety. Not just with cannabinoids, but then there's this other layer called turbines. And that's what makes cannabis smell. I think so delicious and so strong. At the end of the growing season, you don't smell cannabinoids, you can't smell them, but you can smell the terpenes.

00;20;16;03 - 00;20;38;22
Penny Barthel
So know that that's another class of molecules that this plant and all plants make turbines. By the way, not all plants make cannabinoids. Really. Only cannabis does, but all plants make terpenes. So you might have two different plants, both of which, get really big and look lovely. Two cannabis plants. One smells more like lemon and pine trees.

00;20;38;22 - 00;21;09;10
Penny Barthel
The other one has fragrances of vanilla cake and grape and cheese. It's amazing the amount of delicious smells, but those delicious smells work with the cannabinoids in your body to alter the perception of the cannabinoids. So one might give you a high that feels like you're like, real focused and, maybe a little bit, a very alert and awake activating.

00;21;09;17 - 00;21;32;00
Penny Barthel
Activating. We sometimes in the cannabis industry, they might call that a sativa leaning effect or a head high. Those terms are really changing. But that might be the old way of describing that hot other. Even just with a high THC plant, you may have turbines that make you feel calm or sleepier. So those would be maybe called a body high.

00;21;32;00 - 00;21;55;27
Penny Barthel
And I will say that most of that language body high versus head high, the keyword there isn't the body or the head, but the high. So the key thing to remember for people, especially if they're new to cannabis, is to understand how much THC or CBD is in any given product and then how potent is it? That is the key determiner.

00;21;55;29 - 00;22;23;01
Penny Barthel
Now, the nuances of how that THC might hit in your body or in your mind are going to be impacted by turbines, but that is of secondary importance. So focus on first on what's the cannabinoid content of weed fresh flower bud. If it's dry that you're going to smoke it or vape it, or more importantly, in edibles, it's very important to know how much THC and CBD that you're getting and especially how much THC.

00;22;23;01 - 00;22;29;10
Penny Barthel
That's really the one to pay attention to, because that is the only cannabinoid that makes you feel euphoric. The others have a.

00;22;29;12 - 00;22;36;06
Maria
That's a that's a whole other reason to grow your own, because then you can really know that with certainty.

00;22;36;09 - 00;22;47;13
Penny Barthel
Yes. For sure. So with that, Maria, you have every ingredient that you need. If you've got a high CBD cannabis and a high THC cannabis, that's most of what you're going to need.

00;22;47;15 - 00;23;12;05
Maria
I love dreaming about this. Now we're into the spring, we're doing our garden, but then we're just coming off of October. Crop tober. How do you like harvest that or dry it or cure it or store it in? And when is the best case use to use the fresher? Just walk us through now. Penny has a great Substack article.

00;23;12;05 - 00;23;27;10
Maria
I have all this weed. Now what do I do with it? We'll put that on our show page too. Oh, yes, but if you could talk a little bit about them, the harvesting it and the drying and the curing it, it it does feel a little overwhelming, but maybe not.

00;23;27;13 - 00;23;51;25
Penny Barthel
Yeah. It's it is a lot. I will say for first time growers, it's important to understand that you start with a seed. Although you can buy these little things called clones, they are not clones, they are rooted cuttings. I mean, I still steer all of my outdoor garden growers to seeds. They are healthier, you have a huge amount of variety and they tend to be very strong growers.

00;23;51;25 - 00;24;11;17
Penny Barthel
So you're going to start with a seed. That's key. Grape seeds other than good seeds, you need a garden spot that has a lot of sun. That's very important. So you can't get away with shade. And then you need good, rich soil. You water it through the summer because here in California we don't get much rain. That's that's that's it in nutshell offer.

00;24;11;17 - 00;24;31;00
Penny Barthel
There are two of my favorite seed companies. Once a grower in California, the others in Oregon. The here's why I love both Emily Google at Grow It from home and that Pennington's company, the Humboldt Seed Company, they are excellent breeders. They are scientists. They understand cannabis genetics and breeding. They have high quality seeds, but they also offer.

00;24;31;00 - 00;24;55;23
Penny Barthel
And here's a key. They offer feminized seeds, because that there's a special technique that you'll only get female plants from. They're from certain of their seed selections. So make sure you look for high quality seeds and feminized seeds. Go to the Humboldt Tea Company and grow it from home. You can also order these online. They will show up in your mail and that's probably the the greatest cost savings in the world.

00;24;55;25 - 00;25;20;03
Penny Barthel
If you were to get some high quality seeds, they have about a 100% germination rate. You need you need out of five seeds, you're likely to get five plants, maybe four if you're not terribly lucky. But that's a whole lot of cannabis people. I routinely get a half a pound of dried cannabis bud from each of my plants that are full sized plants grown in my garden.

00;25;20;06 - 00;25;40;15
Penny Barthel
Let's just say you got a quarter pound of dried cannabis bud in from each of your plants. That's a very significant amount of high quality cannabis bud. So if you spend $10 on one seed, which is kind of the going rate, it's still a bargain. And so look for some high quality feminized seeds. If you don't plant them all this spring, that's okay.

00;25;40;15 - 00;25;45;01
Penny Barthel
They will last for a couple of years, and you can plant some next year and some that the year after that.

00;25;45;04 - 00;26;01;05
Maria
Do you have to do anything? People ask me all the time, ask, girl, you're having penny baths. Allen. Ask her about propagation or putting seeds on paper towels or or they're all the no. Two plants is going to be enough. No. Yeah.

00;26;01;08 - 00;26;20;25
Penny Barthel
Seed. It's an easy to grow seed. It's easy. It's as easy as growing as planting a seed for a a bean and watching it grow. They're really that easy to grow. But you have to get the right seeds. You want to get high quality seeds and feminized seeds. So that in top of your mind, I need to buy a feminized seed.

00;26;21;02 - 00;26;57;12
Penny Barthel
That's key. So you won't have any males, male plants in your garden. You grow it throughout the summer. It grows beautifully. It grows fast. Of course, there's a couple of tips and tricks to that. So, you know, you might need to come to a garden workshop to learn that your first time growing, but then come in California when we harvest typical or photo period cannabis, which most of it is, it's going to actually, Los Angeles is going to harvest sooner than, for example, where I am in Northern California, and certainly sooner up then, Oregon, because it has to do with changes in daylight.

00;26;57;14 - 00;27;19;23
Penny Barthel
It is. And you have changes that are a little sooner than, than up north in terms of how daylight changes into nighttime throughout the seasons. So you're going to harvest it in September at the very latest October. Almost all cannabis is then dried and we're not saving the leaves, by the way. We're not saving the stems. We're not saving fruit.

00;27;19;23 - 00;27;45;07
Penny Barthel
We don't want it to produce fruit, which is seeds. We are saving the unfertilized female flower bud, inconsequential little flowers. They don't look like pretty flowers that you would see in a florist shop, because they don't need to attract pollinators. They are wind pollinated. So there are little, thick groups of flowers that we call colas. They're extraordinarily sticky with resin.

00;27;45;07 - 00;27;58;24
Penny Barthel
They smell and crash strong and fresh and wonderful. And then you dry it and boom, that's your weed that you have. It's ready to go by mid October or late October. It'll be dry and ready to use.

00;27;58;27 - 00;28;00;13
Maria
And how to store it.

00;28;00;16 - 00;28;26;10
Penny Barthel
You store it in, after it's appropriately dried, you just pack it into either glass jars that are airtight or, mylar bags. These are a food storage bags that kind of look silvery. They're widely available online, and you want to make sure that you're not using, like, a Ziploc bag or something. That's polyethylene. That's not the best way to store cannabis.

00;28;26;17 - 00;28;34;02
Penny Barthel
You want to store it in a cool spot in with no light. You don't want to have direct sunlight on it. You want to.

00;28;34;03 - 00;28;39;21
Maria
You could use a dark jar, or if it's, transparent jar, put it in a dark space.

00;28;39;27 - 00;29;11;18
Penny Barthel
Yes, a cupboard in a cool place. You don't want to have great fluctuations in temperature, so keeping it, you know, below 70 degrees. If you have a basement or someplace that's cool. That's that's a very good thing. It'll help keep your cannabis fresh for the longest period of time. No light and little oxygen because, oxygen, light, heat and then time are the four things that that make your cannabis, lose its peak of freshness over time.

00;29;11;20 - 00;29;22;03
Penny Barthel
Cannabis, good for about a year. And then I use it for something different for, for but for fresh use, dried cannabis. I like to use mine every year, so I grow it every year.

00;29;22;06 - 00;29;44;23
Maria
Not this is the fun part. Using it. So how do we savor the fruits of our cannabis? Is, gardening? Yeah, I mean, I, I'm going to let you run with this, but I saw something in here that caught my attention. Something called a vanilla bean infused CBD gummy. Whoa. You're not going to find that anywhere on Black Friday, let alone on sale.

00;29;44;27 - 00;29;46;22
Maria
I could tell you that.

00;29;46;24 - 00;30;09;18
Penny Barthel
Cannabis is you. So I said at the beginning, I came into the sideways, and I came in as a cook and a gardener. Those are two of the best skills you could possibly have for understanding and enjoying cannabis. I also have a degree in nutrition and food science from UC Berkeley, so that helped me with a bit of the biochemistry that this fabulous plant gives us.

00;30;09;20 - 00;30;34;09
Penny Barthel
But that does not mean that you need to have any education at food or gardening or anything. You can start out as a I've never gardened before. I don't know what I'm doing in the kitchen. And I like fine, you are in good company and you don't need to. Once you grow this plant, there are a couple of key things in which you take the goodness of the resin on the flower, and you make it available to our bodies.

00;30;34;12 - 00;31;00;12
Penny Barthel
So in my book we talk about how to make a tincture. So that's my number one product that you would make super easy to make. And it's very flexible. A tincture is something that is probably the oldest way that people have consumed cannabis other than, smoking or inhaling the charred vapor. A tincture is just. Do you take some sort of spirit?

00;31;00;12 - 00;31;26;19
Penny Barthel
I like to use Everclear or grain alcohol. You soak your cannabis bud in it, and then the the resin from the cannabis moves into the alcohol portion of that. You get rid of the plant material. You've got this neat little very potent, tincture. You will find tinctures. By the way, this is in dispensaries because dispensaries are not allowed to sell anything with alcohol in them.

00;31;26;22 - 00;31;31;10
Penny Barthel
They will sell cannabis drops, but they are oil based.

00;31;31;12 - 00;31;49;14
Maria
Okay, wait a minute. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I just we're not doing a legal update today, but that's amazing. Dispensaries. Legal dispensaries can sell anything with alcohol in them. But what about the corner liquor store? Okay. I'm just. I'm just saying. I'm just.

00;31;49;16 - 00;31;51;29
Penny Barthel
Like.

00;31;52;01 - 00;32;03;00
Penny Barthel
Oh, yeah. Oh, oh, the the tangled web that we need. If we just had left this plant alone, we wouldn't have these weird distinctions. Right? Let's just put it back in the garden where it belongs.

00;32;03;00 - 00;32;06;05
Maria
I did not know that. So they are.

00;32;06;08 - 00;32;28;06
Penny Barthel
Because they want to divorce or keep separate. Certain intoxicants, one of which is alcohol and the other, which is THC, is they want it. Okay. We can't let those two things mix because that's just too potent. And that sadly relates to even the minuscule amounts of alcohol you would ingest, taking a half of a milliliter of a very potent cannabis tincture.

00;32;28;11 - 00;32;45;09
Penny Barthel
Anyway, it's so inconsequential. But here's the cool thing you can make it at home. You can have it at home. You can't buy it anywhere. It's just not for sale anywhere. You can't buy this in a dispensary. You can't buy it in a liquor store because they're prevented with.

00;32;45;10 - 00;32;53;13
Maria
So it's now very, very cool. So the tinctures and dispensaries, it's, oil that it is, and they're wonderful.

00;32;53;16 - 00;32;55;04
Penny Barthel
There's nothing wrong with them, but.

00;32;55;08 - 00;33;00;14
Maria
Yeah, but they're not. They're not water soluble, and they don't mix so well. Go ahead. I'm going to let you know.

00;33;00;16 - 00;33;27;27
Penny Barthel
It's my starting point. If you just make one thing from your cannabis flower, make a tincture. But with any given flower you can make two tinctures. You can make one tincture with with bud that's just dried, but it has not been heat treated. Or the carboxylate ed. So you get access to the raw cannabis, the raw cannabinoids in that one or you carboxylate it, which is a pretty simple thing to do.

00;33;27;28 - 00;33;47;24
Penny Barthel
You just put it in the oven for a certain amount of time. And then you make a tincture with that, you get a very different cannabinoid profile. We like to call it. So you have two different products from one type of, from one type of plant. Just to say, let's just say you grew one plant. Will you have a sweet of you have two different main cannabinoids going on there.

00;33;47;24 - 00;33;54;27
Penny Barthel
One is the acid form and the other is the stable form, the one that you're more familiar with. So that's the tincture.

00;33;54;29 - 00;34;26;24
Maria
You have in the raw form from the CBD plant. You have CBD a yeah, in your tincture, or you could have THC and that in your tincture. Or you were saying you can apply heat to them or carboxylate them, put them in your oven and then have CBD or THC. So it's a theory. You could have a raw form tincture or I like to take tinctures that makes THC a with THC and CBD with CBD.

00;34;26;26 - 00;34;30;06
Maria
Yes, I feel I feel real benefit for pain.

00;34;30;08 - 00;34;51;05
Penny Barthel
You are and you have intuited something that cannabis cannabis science is starting to reveal in the lab as well. So having both raw and undeclared cannabinoids or the stable form cannabinoids together are fanning that researchers are finding the best and most profound, health benefits from the combination of those cannabinoids.

00;34;51;08 - 00;34;54;10
Maria
Wow, I experienced that. Oh, is.

00;34;54;12 - 00;35;17;07
Penny Barthel
Is that wonderful? So that's like that's just think about that. You grow this, you soak it in some alcohol. After a couple of days, you strain it out, there's a little bit more to it, but not a whole lot more to it than that. You've got this delightful, potent little transportable stuff. One of my favorite things to do with it that you cannot do with cannabis oil drops is to put it in a sparkling beverage.

00;35;17;09 - 00;35;19;03
Penny Barthel
It is delicious. It is.

00;35;19;03 - 00;35;44;25
Maria
Wow. Now be perfect for the holidays. Yes. Especially, you know, if people are cutting down on alcohol, you know, you talk about sleep, pain and anxiety. Alcohol's not so good for any of those three. So a lot of people are are looking for something different. So wow wow.

00;35;44;27 - 00;36;08;20
Penny Barthel
And the second thing now a lot of people might be familiar with cannabis brownies, right? There was a woman named Brownie Mary who was super famous, in the cannabis world for sneaking in cannabis infused brownies to those patients who were suffering from Aids. Miserable. She'd brownie brownies. All of a sudden they felt better. They could eat. They had better lives as a result.

00;36;08;22 - 00;36;13;26
Penny Barthel
She was quite a maverick in the day. But that pot brownie is a thing.

00;36;13;29 - 00;36;24;27
Maria
The brownies, though, when I talk to people, especially of my age range, they're really, really scared of edibles. Especially brownies.

00;36;25;00 - 00;36;51;21
Penny Barthel
Well, there's some basis for that. So, brownies. Pot brownies. I'll say this if you if you grow in it and you understand what's in your cannabis and you apply just a little bit of math and you make your own infused cannabis oil or cannabis butter, then you can do some math and make your own most delicious brownie recipe or cookie or just about anything.

00;36;51;21 - 00;37;13;19
Penny Barthel
I think I could actually infused anything that we could eat, but you can do so with, an eye towards how much THC and that's the big one to, to watch out for is in each serving. So by doing a little bit of math, you can control exactly how much THC is in any given serving of that batch of brownies.

00;37;13;19 - 00;37;40;11
Penny Barthel
And I give some, some easy to use formulas for trying to predict the potency of your cannabis butter, and then using that in just the right amount to get the right effect. Now, one of my favorite treats and it's very giftable recipes in my book is you make a cannabis butter or you infuse fat, then you use a certain amount of that and you make delicious chocolate sauce.

00;37;40;13 - 00;38;00;05
Penny Barthel
You can put it in jars. You label it with just exactly how much is in there, and then people will know, oh, I'm going to have one ounce of this or a little scoop on my ice cream. It'll be just perfect dose to be just the elevation I want. Now, those people who are more experienced with cannabis have a little bit higher tolerance.

00;38;00;05 - 00;38;21;01
Penny Barthel
They can make. They're stronger. But the reason why people were scared about cannabis gummies is because people were not, calculating just how potent those brownies could be. And as you and I both now with edibles, they take a long time to kick in. And by the time you've it's kicked in, you might have had too many brownies.

00;38;21;01 - 00;38;25;27
Penny Barthel
So it's real important to get that dosing just right.

00;38;26;00 - 00;38;51;23
Maria
Yeah. And the chocolate sauce, I mean, some people will say to me, and this makes sense. Oh yeah. But if you have brownies and the dosing is minimal, you'll have maybe 2mg to 5mg of THC per brownie. But I want to eat five brownies. Well, okay, I have one pot brownie and let me eat a couple other non and non spiked brownies.

00;38;51;26 - 00;39;15;12
Penny Barthel
That's right. And I think once you grow the plant and you spend time with it and you harvest it and then you do a little bit of research, it really demystifies this plant. And by demystifying, taking the fear out of it, you're able then to get a little bit more real and enjoy its health and enjoyment benefits without being worried about being overexposed to this.

00;39;15;14 - 00;39;15;21
Penny Barthel
And.

00;39;15;21 - 00;39;28;19
Maria
It's it's like cooking with anything else where I know how much hot sauce I could tolerate. And you know, I know some people are like, is there pepper in that? I can't eat it. Okay. Well, you know, you said you learned.

00;39;28;21 - 00;39;37;16
Penny Barthel
Absolutely. I think that hot peppers is a perfect analogy. But imagine a hot pepper where you eat it and the heat doesn't kick in for an hour.

00;39;37;19 - 00;39;40;26
Maria
Oh. That's great. So we get immediate feedback.

00;39;40;29 - 00;40;05;15
Penny Barthel
The other thing we taste. But cannabis is not like that. It takes a long time for edibles, especially fat based edibles, to kick in. And then it's got a long duration. So that's a great thing for other applications like sleeping is an ideal time to have just the right little edible because it lasts the whole night, or a good portion of it, but not so at a social event.

00;40;05;15 - 00;40;33;12
Penny Barthel
So but that's something you can do. And there's there's another little gift that's a little bit more advanced is I make a cannabis oil. Some people might know it as Rick Simpson. Oil is just a pure cannabis concentrate. I use, special piece of equipment for that. That's not all that complicated, but it just, allows me to concentrate my cannabis, and I put it in my favorite, favorite is a sav that I like to call magic sav.

00;40;33;15 - 00;40;43;20
Penny Barthel
And I've provided a simple recipe for that in my book. But that's like the third way, and that cannot get you high. But it's incredibly soothing, and it's something you use on your skin.

00;40;43;22 - 00;40;59;04
Maria
As a topical. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love I love a nice magic salve. For aches and pains. I've even used it for mosquito bites. And it's it's incredible for sure.

00;40;59;06 - 00;41;15;14
Penny Barthel
Yeah. As we're talking about Black Friday and gift giving, let's just back back that of one more step. Because the reason why we give gifts is that it's a season of celebration. It's also a season of we're wishing each other peace and goodwill.

00;41;15;16 - 00;41;17;02
Maria
Well and gratitude and.

00;41;17;02 - 00;41;54;04
Penny Barthel
Gratitude. You know, if you are giving people the gift that gives them the ability to have a little bit less anxiety, a little bit less pain, a little bit less sort of existential suffering in their lives. I just think that that's a perfect fit with the season. And then if you calm down and have a CBD gummy, get a little bit elevated in the evening, I think it's actually going to break cycles of anxiety and worry and, feeling this, I don't know, push to outdo one another, perhaps, which is antithetical to the season, but I just think it's a great fit with the season entirely.

00;41;54;07 - 00;42;22;12
Maria
Well, it's stressful. I mean, kids in college, patterns are interrupted. Everything is you seeing people you haven't seen in a long time who's still together, who, God forbid, passed away, who's no longer together. You know, you get big groups of people together that you don't normally do. Your off your routine. It's an exciting time, but it's a very, very stressful time.

00;42;22;14 - 00;42;42;18
Penny Barthel
It really can be. Especially for, those who, I feel the effects of social anxiety. And I think all of us get that to a greater or lesser extent. There are some who, people who just have a little bit more, sensitivity to, oh, I gotta go to the office party or it's going to be a big group.

00;42;42;18 - 00;43;04;22
Penny Barthel
And for whatever reason, I'm feeling a little nervous. I actually think that, a low dose edible or a low dose little tincture can really help offset that in a way that alcohol doesn't. It hits differently. I make a low dose gummies, and, I have named them. And for my husband, I'll just say I make them for him.

00;43;04;22 - 00;43;06;16
Penny Barthel
I call them mood lifters.

00;43;06;19 - 00;43;09;05
Maria
Because I was little party.

00;43;09;05 - 00;43;30;05
Penny Barthel
Girl. There is nothing that will, make me nervous going to a party. But, you know, when you go to it, you're just having one of those days. You need a little bit of mood switch. It's subtle and it's nothing you want to rely upon. Overly much, but it's just subtle, and it breaks a cycle of negativity sometimes helps you to enjoy situations rather than just enduring them.

00;43;30;07 - 00;43;55;28
Maria
It does. But I can say anecdotally, you don't rely on it. I, I haven't relied on it. I've the fact that it has changed my mood or lift that negativity, that I might be kneejerk jerk in certain situations, or that anxiety in a certain social having the experience of it lifted it. It becomes experiential. You've had this like corrective emotional experience.

00;43;56;05 - 00;44;12;09
Maria
Once you experience it and it helps you to experience it, then it's easier to not needed to get to that space. But, of course you've been to that space of relaxation. You don't know how to get there. You don't even know what you're seeking.

00;44;12;12 - 00;44;14;05
Penny Barthel
Yes. For sure.

00;44;14;07 - 00;44;21;29
Maria
So the chocolate sauce, the sav, the the tar sands. What are some of your fans favorites?

00;44;22;03 - 00;44;22;20
Penny Barthel
Oh.

00;44;22;23 - 00;44;25;06
Maria
Fan guide guide. Gosh.

00;44;25;06 - 00;44;33;03
Penny Barthel
So much. Well, I have to just say my number one fan favorite once people have tried it. Definitely the magic salve. So that is.

00;44;33;05 - 00;44;36;14
Maria
All over the chocolate sauce, over the chocolates, all over.

00;44;36;14 - 00;44;59;06
Penny Barthel
The chocolate sauce. Because that's for everybody. Even people who have really had a number done on them by the war on drugs. And I'll just say that's everybody over the age of 40. Number two would have to be the chocolate sauce. It's just absolutely delicious. It's super simple to make. Probably the third thing would be one of my many flavors of gummies.

00;44;59;06 - 00;45;21;14
Penny Barthel
Now we are aware of gummies at the store, the ones that I have in my recipe, in my book, are a little lighter and fresher. I always rely upon natural ingredients. Like yesterday in my class, we made Meyer Lemon Gummies and they were just with. So they use gelatin, they use some sugar, and it uses a cannabis tincture in the gummy recipe.

00;45;21;14 - 00;45;43;11
Penny Barthel
So it's a way of getting a low dose of cannabis, and you're in charge of what's in that tincture. It could be raw, it could be carb, it can be THC, it could be CBD, it could be the both. You can make custom gummies and they're fast to make and really delicious and quite low dose. So there's little risk of overconsumption because they're just one little gummy at a time.

00;45;43;15 - 00;45;51;09
Maria
It's fun. I mean, this is also the holidays gifting meaningful gifts and baking, cooking.

00;45;51;12 - 00;46;01;23
Penny Barthel
And in my book there is, oh gosh, gosh, the I have a recipe for giant cheesy goldfish and they look like goldfish crackers. They are.

00;46;01;26 - 00;46;02;19
Maria
Absolutely.

00;46;02;19 - 00;46;21;22
Penny Barthel
Delicious. And so again, they're they're one serving is one big cracker. So as long as you're like, how many crackers do I think people are going to make? Or maybe you package them up in like two little gum, you know, crackers and make sure that they're just like two milligrams each so people feel confident. Oh, they'll get a nice little buzz after a while.

00;46;21;22 - 00;46;25;24
Penny Barthel
But, you know, just eat that so you can do savory.

00;46;25;27 - 00;46;43;08
Maria
And for beginners, that's a really good starting dose. I would like to know, just for just everyday wellness, your self-care routine, just your baseline, what you take in the morning and throughout the day and in the evening.

00;46;43;08 - 00;46;45;03
Penny Barthel
So for sure. And you know.

00;46;45;03 - 00;47;13;27
Maria
How you, reap the benefits of your crop. Go ahead just for yourself personally, your self-care routine. And, look, I, I've never, ever, ever thought about Penny Barthel and Stoner in the same sentence. Not that you won't take it to elevate and on special occasions, but this days you are the epitome of someone who uses it responsibly.

00;47;13;29 - 00;47;15;15
Penny Barthel
Thank you, I appreciate that.

00;47;15;16 - 00;47;25;22
Maria
Sorry, guys. Yeah, it's going to lead to having your own beautiful backyard garden and having the most popular gifts. God, Penny, how do you. Yes. Great. It how do you take it daily?

00;47;25;22 - 00;47;46;19
Penny Barthel
People who are who express, surprise like you. You've got cannabis. I'm like, yeah, adults. Some get cheeky. You're like, why are you high right now? I'm like, I done. But, you know, I like to say this, I enjoy cannabis every day and I'm rarely stoned. If I want to be stoned, that's fine, but that's my reality.

00;47;46;19 - 00;48;08;05
Penny Barthel
So I love the. I make a raw tincture that has silica and THC a both in it. Every morning I take a pint of water. I throw in some lemon juice from one of my trees. I put in several squirts of my raw cannabinoids. Boom. I'm hydrated. I'm feeling good. And I trust that those things will help to keep down.

00;48;08;05 - 00;48;33;25
Penny Barthel
Chronic inflammation. Basic chronic inflammation due to just getting older. So that that's one thing that I do. I don't I don't have a sense of that. It doesn't make me alter my perception of myself at all. Often. Then times during the day I will rub a topical on my, my joints in my hands, my knee, if it's acting up, I mean, I, I was in a 10-K race this morning.

00;48;33;25 - 00;48;55;10
Penny Barthel
I will be using salve on my knee later on today, I can tell you that. And then often before I go to bed, I'll have, a little chocolate heart that I make that has a low dose of THC in it, which I find to be very helpful, and it helps to promote relaxing sleep. For me, that is particular to me, and each of you will need to figure these things out for yourself.

00;48;55;10 - 00;49;13;18
Penny Barthel
This is not a prescription, it's just my practice. And so with you and knowing what your health issues are, what your needs are, you have those things available to you. But that's just my baseline. And then there are times when I do want to, like, test out a new weed that I just grew. And here's one. It's on my desk.

00;49;13;18 - 00;49;20;28
Penny Barthel
This is a little sprig of, Royal Highness, and it's really powerful. It's delicious. It's really, cushy.

00;49;20;28 - 00;49;23;02
Maria
What does it smell like? What does it smell like?

00;49;23;02 - 00;49;28;09
Penny Barthel
Oh, it has what I describe as a classic kush smell. So here it is. Can you hear it?

00;49;28;11 - 00;49;30;04
Maria
Yeah.

00;49;30;07 - 00;49;43;27
Penny Barthel
It smells great. It smells fresh. It smells. It has a lot of hits of, like, pine and, just like you walked out into a wet forest in the northwest. It smells amazing.

00;49;43;29 - 00;50;06;06
Maria
And the nose. Nose. That's the nose. Nope. So that's another episode. But, folks, when you're worried about all the predictability now, I don't know how it's going to affect me. Well, Penny just did smell it. Just like you smell, you know, and see how it hits. You see where it hits you. Getting to your baseline. We're not saying to give any of these things up, but.

00;50;06;06 - 00;50;40;23
Maria
Wow. To add that pint of water with cannabinoids to my cup of coffee instead of just having caffeine, which is also legal, I think would probably do me good to add the magic salve and cut down on the ibuprofen. Oh, I think my gut would appreciate that so much. Definitely. And then in the evening, to take a chocolate heart instead of a pharmaceutical sleeping pill or a bunch of wine.

00;50;40;25 - 00;51;15;00
Maria
Nothing against that. You could still have that. You might find you're having less energy and you're having less of something that's serving you, but also has negative effects and you're replacing it or, you know, cutting down on it, diluting it with something that has the same effects and is actually, can't make health claims. But as the research will show, as we get even more and more studies.

00;51;15;00 - 00;51;51;23
Maria
But there's a lot of peer reviewed studies, about the antioxidant effects and the anti-inflammatory effects of of the medicinal benefits of cannabis. It's a magic plant. Yeah. Well, and then in closing, we always ask our guest, we, we have a segment called Nip It in the Bud because we want to break the stigma. And I'm going to ask you, what is maybe one of your top cannabis misconceptions, a myth you'd like to clarify?

00;51;51;23 - 00;52;01;05
Maria
It was framed. Let's nip it in the bud. Do you have, a common misconception that you'd like to, debunk?

00;52;01;08 - 00;52;19;19
Penny Barthel
Yes. The common misconception is that cannabis always gets you stoned. It does not. Cannabis is not one plant. Good one. It. If you buy cannabis, it's all CBD. Guess what? You can roll a joint, you can look as cool and a sip as you possibly want. You can smoke will not. You will not get stoned. You'll be super relaxed.

00;52;19;22 - 00;52;36;19
Penny Barthel
So you just got to know what's in your weed. But no, there's way more than THC. As much as that is a fabulous molecule. And it is medical in addition to being super fun and you get you high, cannabis is much more than just getting high.

00;52;36;21 - 00;52;56;18
Maria
It's much more than the promise of a high. And there's many things, hey, today people are chasing sales. Not not chasing a high, but, we'll say we'll say they might come over to Chase. I think they might want the CBD after the Black Friday. So, well, Penny and we have one other segment. We have consumer insights and tips.

00;52;56;18 - 00;53;13;09
Maria
I mean, this entire interview was one big consumer insight and tip. I really love knowing the intention behind what do you want to have your cannabis for? And understanding who's behind it.

00;53;13;11 - 00;53;39;20
Penny Barthel
Yeah, absolutely. There are in addition to the humble Seed company and grow it from home. There are a wonderful array of inc don't just delightful companies. I think the cannabis industry has some of the most creative and integrity filled people in business today, but they are under duress in terms of, the licensed dispensaries. There's a pretty onerous tax burden that we, the people in California, have put on them.

00;53;39;27 - 00;53;59;13
Penny Barthel
So be aware of how that impacts them. But there are some phenomenal products out there. Go to a really good dispensary. And by good I mean you get to know them. Who owns them, are they serving their community? Are they owned by black people, by women, by queer people? You got to figure out what your values are and then go find a dispensary that meets them.

00;53;59;13 - 00;54;19;18
Penny Barthel
So that's the first thing. And the second is then ask some questions. There are bud tenders who are really well informed, and they can help you, pick out products. Let's just say you haven't, grown your own cannabis, but you love using it. You can go try things that are dispensary and then think then then kind of, DIY them yourself next year.

00;54;19;18 - 00;54;40;02
Penny Barthel
That's kind of how I got started making my own products. I loved some of the things that I tried in dispensaries, and I still go to dispensaries and look at their offerings. I'll buy them on occasion. So it's not mutually exclusive to go to a really good dispensary and, try things there. And that will help inform what you make at home.

00;54;40;02 - 00;54;47;09
Penny Barthel
It's sort of like going to a great restaurant. You get inspired, you can come home and go, wow, I can make things like that too.

00;54;47;11 - 00;55;10;29
Maria
Yeah. Wow wow wow wow wow. What an amazing conversation today with you. Penny. I got to get you in studio because I would like a hug. Virtual, you know? Yeah, we'll do a virtual hug. This has just been such a refreshing reminder that, you know, we're we're at the beginning of the holiday season, but it's a season.

00;55;10;29 - 00;55;33;23
Maria
It's a season that should last all year, not be dictated. I like to say to people, it's a state of mind, guys, not a date. So, you know, the doesn't have to be about buying more stuff. I know, and I know I do it myself. I get you should see what what my how many treats and bones my dog has.

00;55;33;23 - 00;55;54;22
Maria
I just want to shower her. And it's it's is it that about me or is it about her. What does she need? You know it's not I know you want to. You want to make an impact on somebody. Buy this book, grow it from home. Make something. Yeah, you'll you'll be the most. I tell you, I've become the most popular.

00;55;54;22 - 00;56;00;14
Maria
And in our family. But, Yeah, I'm sure you I do, Penny. Yeah.

00;56;00;17 - 00;56;03;00
Penny Barthel
My business ranking did go up several.

00;56;03;00 - 00;56;04;26
Maria
Not right, doesn't it go up?

00;56;05;03 - 00;56;06;19
Penny Barthel
What? Oh. That's cool.

00;56;06;20 - 00;56;30;12
Maria
Oh, yeah. And it is cool. To recap on, the key takeaways from our talk today. Penny, you know, shared some fantastic advice on how to start planning your own cannabis garden. Whether you're dreaming about it now we're ready to roll up your sleeves come spring. It's the perfect time to think about what you'd like to grow and what you want to get from it.

00;56;30;12 - 00;57;00;19
Maria
Why do you want to grow it? You know, whether you're a seasoned grower or just starting out this book is fantastic. It it is not overwhelming. It's going to guide you through the process of growing, harvesting and all the multiple ways you can enjoy cannabis and all of its many forms, including gifting it. So don't forget, we've got more resources waiting for you at green Bay life.com.

00;57;00;22 - 00;57;25;28
Maria
She mentioned Emily. Gogol grow it from home. We have some fantastic growing guides and a whole playlist on GBL TV with Emily showing us how to make herbal teas, how to start your garden with seed to treats for your pets. Whether you looking to learn, create or shop, we've got something for you. As we wrap up today, I want to share a final thought.

00;57;26;01 - 00;57;54;13
Maria
Let's make this holiday season a time for mindfulness, relaxation, and creativity. Let's focus on what really matters. You know, just connecting while making the cookies, not whether your kid got the right amount of butter in it. I know that matters. And sometimes, you know you're stressed. You lose it. Let's remember what's important. It's the connection and the feeling that's being fostered.

00;57;54;16 - 00;58;24;19
Maria
You know, and then whether you're crafting your own cannabis infused holiday gifts or just taking a moment to pause and recharge, remember that you've got the power to make this scene, to make this season meaningful in a way that's meaningful to you. So thank you so much for joining us on Just Say KNOW Today. That's KNOW with the K,-N-O-W, we now have grown our know grow your know.

00;58;24;21 - 00;58;49;14
Maria
And I hope you you leave feeling inspired and ready to take a new green approach to your holiday season. At least your Black Friday. Until next time, take care, stay curious and remember your self-care matters. Keep exploring. Keep creating, keep listening. And as always, Just Say KNOW.

00;58;49;17 - 00;59;11;29
Maria
Just say know is a greenbeelife presentation airing live weekly on Friday afternoons from 4 to 5 p.m. Pacific on KCAA radio and KCAA TV. Archived audio episodes are on greenbeelife, greenbeelife.com, iHeart Radio, Spreaker and most third party major platforms.

00;59;11;29 - 00;59;13;14
Penny Barthel


00;59;13;16 - 00;59;48;26
Maria
For archived videos, check them out on GBL TV on greenbeelife, YouTube and Rumble. To follow us!
 Our Instagram and Facebook is at Just Say Know Radio to apply to be a guest on the show or for sponsorship and advertising opportunities, go to greenbeelife.com/just-say-know and feel free to reach out to me Maria for any questions

00;59;49;07 - 00;59;57;05
Maria
at Maria@greenbeelife.com or (818) 758-6925.