The growing part is easy. Starting the seeds just takes planning. But, for months all you have to do is check them for worms, and pick them off as you find them. Topping is easy. But, I find gardening easy anyways, and my daughters all love to help me. So, yeh, curing and fermenting and sweating is the art and science part. It’s where the magic happens.
I have just been using my shed and a tiny bit of electricity to flue cure, but this year I am investing a lot more to get a fire cured Virginia. But, it’s a hobby for me, a chance to get something i cant buy. So cost is nothing, although I hope to use the smokehouse for years and maybe for deer jerky (stealing your idea rajangan).
But, getting into pipes, I tried just mixing some stuff to get blends, but it felt like I was just working with someone else’s artwork. As it just didn’t feel creative, to take someone else’s cured and cased tobacco and mix it with other cured tobacco. To me, it’s as creative as putting together a jigsaw puzzle, and I would rather paint the picture from scratch. (Not to disparage our resident mixers and blenders). But, I just want to control the art from the beginning to end.
The problem is that books on curing were way too technical and boring. Websites and forums were unreliable with sketchy results at best. And, tobacconist never responded to requests or they had no idea about the detals that it takes to cure. Not to disparage them, as they most likely just never had to deal with it on that level or they just don’t have the time to teach a dweeb like me. But, I have a couple of fellow growers that I correspond with and Mark Ryan was a wealth of information when i visited him for a tour, and he “gets” the hobby growers. Great guy.
At this point, I too am still experimenting, but I am freely willing to help anyone who wants to grow. Because someone just getting into this may discover something that I overlooked. IMO, am an open book. I have no secret recipes and no products to protect. Hopefully, we can get more people into this aspect of the hobby, especially if the cigarette industry buys out or ruins our current market for finer tobaccos due to the FDA.
I have just been using my shed and a tiny bit of electricity to flue cure, but this year I am investing a lot more to get a fire cured Virginia. But, it’s a hobby for me, a chance to get something i cant buy. So cost is nothing, although I hope to use the smokehouse for years and maybe for deer jerky (stealing your idea rajangan).
But, getting into pipes, I tried just mixing some stuff to get blends, but it felt like I was just working with someone else’s artwork. As it just didn’t feel creative, to take someone else’s cured and cased tobacco and mix it with other cured tobacco. To me, it’s as creative as putting together a jigsaw puzzle, and I would rather paint the picture from scratch. (Not to disparage our resident mixers and blenders). But, I just want to control the art from the beginning to end.
The problem is that books on curing were way too technical and boring. Websites and forums were unreliable with sketchy results at best. And, tobacconist never responded to requests or they had no idea about the detals that it takes to cure. Not to disparage them, as they most likely just never had to deal with it on that level or they just don’t have the time to teach a dweeb like me. But, I have a couple of fellow growers that I correspond with and Mark Ryan was a wealth of information when i visited him for a tour, and he “gets” the hobby growers. Great guy.
At this point, I too am still experimenting, but I am freely willing to help anyone who wants to grow. Because someone just getting into this may discover something that I overlooked. IMO, am an open book. I have no secret recipes and no products to protect. Hopefully, we can get more people into this aspect of the hobby, especially if the cigarette industry buys out or ruins our current market for finer tobaccos due to the FDA.