Tobacco growing

[delcecchi]

Youse guys might like this article and pictures. 

http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2015/09/30/sarah_hazlegrove_photographs_tobacco_farmers_around_the_world_for_her_project.html

Here is a picture of bobby processing his crop....

[Bobby Bass]

December update

December update

Has been awhile since I updated this thread so I took a few pictures to get you up to date. The first one here is off a HAND of tobacco. This is a way of storing your tobacco and making it easier to handle. I take 10-15 leaves when they are moist enough to handle with out crumbling and lay them out on a table. I then smooth them out by hand and stack them on top of each other. A smaller leaf of the same tobacco is then wrapped around the top of the stems. This holds the HAND together. I throw a rubber band around the top of the hand and add a small tag to tell me when I made the hand and what it is. The hands are then stored in plastic totes that have a seal on the lid. I keep track of the humidity inside the totes and try to keep it as close as I can to the magic 70/70 Temperature and Humidity.

Here is a picture of several hands from a tub of Virginia Tobacco which will be used I hope in a few more months for pipe tobacco / cigarette.

　

I check the tubs once a week and they are very strong smelling as they cure. I expect the Connecticut and Dominican will take more then a year before I can start playing with them for cigars. The Burley and Virginia colored cured quite nicely and the Connecticut leaf is a light shade of brown. The Dominican leaf is either very dark or still green turning slowly.

　

I still have some more leaf out in the greenhouse that I am letting age out there and I did take about a dozen plants that still had a lot of leaf on them and nailed them upside down in the boat house. I am waiting to see If they will dry out over the winter. So the leaf has now been drying for about four months and we will check back and let you know how it is going. The Small Black Mammoth leaf that I grew last year is almost gone as I have been shredding it up and mixing it with pipe tobacco. Everyone who taste it says it smells like a cigar so I may grow some more of it next season.

[Bobby Bass]

Update: well the tobacco has been in sealed bins for the past 7 months kept as close to 70 degrees and 70% humidity. This afternoon I shredded about a dozen leaves making a blend of Virginia and Burley for cigarettes. I was right on for shredding as if the leaf is to damp it will clog the shredder or to dry and it because to brittle and turns to powder. Rolled a cigarette for a test and it past the tests, It packed just right, it lit, it stayed lite and the ash fell out but continue to burn on the cigarette. It was also a surprisingly mild smoke, I am not a cigarette smoker but could easily fill my lungs and hold it. Does have a buzz too so the nicotine level is there. Originally the thought was to grow this and then cut it with store bought tobacco but the wife said it was good enough to stand alone. Now the batch should only get better as the leaf continues to age, will only shred what is needed.

Next up is some cigars that is what I really grew the leaf for, I am going to roll a few of them and then they will go in to a humidor to age. 7 month leaf is too young but I will of course take a few puffs to find out what it tastes like, I expect maybe at a year they will be good enough to smoke we will see. Of course I have few buddies that will smoke a roll up newspaper so they will be my testers. I was on the fence as to growing more leaf this summer but I am going to go ahead and plant some, The hobby continues..

[Bobby Bass]

Here is a picture of the finished product, about 2.5 cups of tobacco from fifteen leafs, I have about 300 leaves to process for tobacco and another 300 for cigar leaf.    {22,484}

Edited March 14, 2016 by Bobby Bass