Current State of Deeming Regulations?

[Kooky]

That's not a bad thing for me. I much prefer to know dosage ahead of ingestion, as it's a regular thing for me, once or twice a day.

Is prohibition of making personal use alcohol a state thing, local or federal? Yes, I know I could friggin google the federal stuff, but want to know of state regs, too.

As a homebrewer and fermentation enthusiast, the moment distillation becomes legal in Florida I know the still I’ll be buying… until then…

I much prefer tequila unfortunately but the hobby itself I predict will be rewarding.

Maybe I should buy it now and just store it as a “display”.

 

[pantsBoots]

I do things for the enjoyment of the thing itself. To me there is no reason to grow the tobacco, the very growing of it is the reward. The act itself is the purpose and end goal. There’s nothing like seeing the seeds germinate… pesky seed especially. Seeing the plant grow up. Etc.

If I can feed myself (and if I were ever to pursue a career in farming I hope I could!) I wouldn’t mind how much I made. I’m a simple person anyway. I just love foodstuff. I really have no interests elsewhere. Foodstuff includes tobacco, beer, kombucha, mold fermentations, among your standard things.

I know nothing about scales though so I’d imagine switching crops incorporates factors related to things I don’t worry about small scale, like labor and machines. I’d be working the fields with the labor, that’s all I know.

Very interested in anything you manage. Not a whole lot of open air info. All of this stuff seems to be trade secrets.

Third wave coffee is booming. We went from drinking motor oil to single origin varied process Ethiopians that taste like blueberry tarts overnight.

If this happens to tobacco I’d rather be on the ground floor. I am too poor unfortunately and anti-social to ever pull something like a new Florida tobacco farm off.

there are some smoking tobacco germs in first pic, and just today I got my first Huichol germ… microscopic and stubborn. Extremely fragile I imagine. Native to Mexico and super potent.

It sounds like you've got your head screwed on straight. It's very hard to make good money off farming, unless you own or lease large amounts of land. The price of labor is a significant factor in that equation, unless you can do like one farm does that I worked on outside Miami - the proprietor had an acre under cultivation, but was able to pull in just over $100K (gross) due to the fancy varietals she grew, plus being a mainstay at some very high-end farmers markets, as well as a CSA she was able to cobble together with other local farmers.

I do all of my own hobby farming by hand, for many reasons. Tobacco is definitely labor- and resource-intensive. Especially if you're priming your leaf (such as with virginia), you'll spend a lot of time hand-selecting leaves at the peak of ripeness. Burley is easier as it's typically stalk-cut and either air or fire cured.

Good luck with the Huichol tobacco. I'm assuming it's yellow-flowered Rustica? I've grown Rustica the last few years and it is indeed stout stuff. Makes a great snuff additive, both for nicotine content as well as its unique floral qualities. I do not like it in a pipe so much.

As a homebrewer and fermentation enthusiast, the moment distillation becomes legal in Florida I know the still I’ll be buying… until then…

I much prefer tequila unfortunately but the hobby itself I predict will be rewarding.

Maybe I should buy it now and just store it as a “display”.

I know a few folks with stills and there are many more among the locals in rural Tennessee. The licenses are very expensive, IMO, and the market beguiles me - it's absolutely flooded, and yet demand keeps growing. I try good and bad whiskey, but typically stick to the bigger companies because they're bringing some great product to market that's time-tested and fairly affordable. I've been talking with one friend about wanting to try our hand at a tequila. He's much more traditional with his corn and barley mash. I just need to see what is available commercially as far as raw agave squeezings.

 

[Kooky]

Hobby farming on how much land? My head might be on right but I have not much to show for it. I will be visiting a farmer's market this year (I hope) with rare organic hot peppers and Japanese vegetables. Big tip from a fellow gardener, Japanese vegetables love Florida's hot humidity... I am a bit anti-consumerist, and generally a loner. If I could homestead and trade, I would. I've been looking at land recently. Unfortunately I feel like society set itself on an anti-self resilient path long ago.

I have the personality that if I can do it myself, I will. I would sacrifice money for knowledge of how to do something and the enjoyment of doing it every time, no matter how dull or basic other people think it is. I am growing about 2 dozens medicinal herbs used in America, China and Japan. Knowledge from ancestors most of us have forgotten or never experienced, like using yarrow to stop bleeding, extremely suitable after a nick from a shaving razor, just an example. Does this make me more selfish than a standard consumerist business lover? I don't know, it's an interesting thing. Society has made my place in this world so uncomfortable. It's too expensive to move out of society...

This is the basis of a community. Why the hell isn't there a store in every neighborhood, filled with things people do or make within that neighborhood? Oh right, single family housing zoning laws that force you to own a vehicle so you can buy oil and gas.

I'd pick countryside over the city though even though I'm a hippy hipster that needs his daily espresso and pastry (which I do make myself with flour I mill and coffee beans I roast, agricultural trading is cool by me).

Brick and mortar life.

I've got one agave growing in the backyard... Don't have space for more

 

[OverMountain]

It sounds like you've got your head screwed on straight. It's very hard to make good money off farming, unless you own or lease large amounts of land. The price of labor is a significant factor in that equation, unless you can do like one farm does that I worked on outside Miami - the proprietor had an acre under cultivation, but was able to pull in just over $100K (gross) due to the fancy varietals she grew, plus being a mainstay at some very high-end farmers markets, as well as a CSA she was able to cobble together with other local farmers.

I do all of my own hobby farming by hand, for many reasons. Tobacco is definitely labor- and resource-intensive. Especially if you're priming your leaf (such as with virginia), you'll spend a lot of time hand-selecting leaves at the peak of ripeness. Burley is easier as it's typically stalk-cut and either air or fire cured.

Good luck with the Huichol tobacco. I'm assuming it's yellow-flowered Rustica? I've grown Rustica the last few years and it is indeed stout stuff. Makes a great snuff additive, both for nicotine content as well as its unique floral qualities. I do not like it in a pipe so much.



I know a few folks with stills and there are many more among the locals in rural Tennessee. The licenses are very expensive, IMO, and the market beguiles me - it's absolutely flooded, and yet demand keeps growing. I try good and bad whiskey, but typically stick to the bigger companies because they're bringing some great product to market that's time-tested and fairly affordable. I've been talking with one friend about wanting to try our hand at a tequila. He's much more traditional with his corn and barley mash. I just need to see what is available commercially as far as raw agave squeezings.

What kind of varietals?