Growing my own tobaccos seems the best route for blending

[PoolShooter]

I’ve been posting about getting back into blending, and I was originally thinking of ordering leaf by the pound, but for the price of a few pounds of leaf, I can grow my own and have way more to work with, plus the reward is higher than purchasing from someone else. I don’t have experience growing tobacco, and I live in the desert so I’m going to wait until the weather gets a little warmer to avoid frost. Can anyone chime in with what I need to know, and/or point me in the right direction to get started on research?

Here are a couple blend ideas I have…

Friendly Neighbor: A black Cavendish/Burley aromatic flake, with a topping of cherry, chocolate and vanilla. I’m considering using deer tongue for the vanilla flavor. The cherry can’t taste like cough syrup, and the chocolate is only there to enhance the natural flavors of the tobacco, much similar to chocolate flake, barely identifiable yet still has an effect on the overall flavor. The chocolate would be cherry and vanilla’s sidekick, not exactly an equal counterpart to the cherry and vanilla toppings. The vanilla is there to smooth things out. Sorta like a marshmallow in a rice crispy treat. Strong, but not obnoxiously strong. I want to take a subtle approach and use no more than what is necessary to get the desired flavor. I have really good neighbors and they are good to me, so I want to return the favor.

Admiral Callahan: A street in Vallejo California. I got into pipes in Vallejo, so Admiral Callahan is something I’m considering calling my next blend. I’ll be using burley, Virginia, Perique and Latakia. I don’t want any of the tobaccos hogging the spotlight, so I’m thinking about 15% Latakia, 11-12% Perique, and letting the sweetness of the Virginia fill in for the boldness of the burley. And the burley will help keep the bite and burn at bay. It might take a while before I get it dialed in.

[ncrobb]

I have no idea but am interested in growing some as well. Like I need something else to chase.

[PoolShooter]

Yes, I understand the need for chase.

[Middle Earth]

There are a lot of online tobacco seed vendors. From what I have seen it is easy to grow and can be ornamental. Processing it is another consideration and probably more of an issue. Perique seems like too much of a science project for me. Fire and flue curing seems like another pain in the arse. If you have ever had a garden you should have no problem growing it. Turning the leaf into a good and useful product is where I think the cost benefit analysis and learning curve will determine if it s feasible and worthwhile for you. I have follwed along with others doing it. I will be most intetested to see what you do in this regard.
God Speed

[PoolShooter]

There are a lot of online tobacco seed vendors. From what I have seen it is easy to grow and can be ornamental. Processing it is another consideration and probably more of an issue. Perique seems like too much of a science project for me. Fire and flue curing seems like another pain in the arse. If you have ever had a garden you should have no problem growing it. Turning the leaf into a good and useful product is where I think the cost benefit analysis and learning curve will determine if it s feasible and worthwhile for you. I have follwed along with others doing it. I will be most intetested to see what you do in this regard.
God Speed

Since Perique is so strong, I’ll probably be getting it from an online retailer. In the long run, I can see myself enjoying the Latakia process. I used to smoke trout in Oregon for three days at a time, and bring it to the local natives and they loved it. I might process my own black cavendish, and I’ll definitely be growing burley, a few virginias, and some Kentucky. I plan on pressing a lot of my blends into flakes. I want to look into Luxury Twist Flake more and figure out a good bourbon flavoring process. Nowhere near as strong as the Borkum Riff whiskey flavor, just so subtle that it seems natural.

[MikeDennison]

I seem to remember that on the old PSF there were a few guys into growing their own tobacco. Sadly, I can't remember who they were...but one of them sent me a twist that he'd grown, and man, it was very good. Doesn't add anything to the thread or help you at all...just a comment.

[PoolShooter]

I seem to remember that on the old PSF there were a few guys into growing their own tobacco. Sadly, I can't remember who they were...but one of them sent me a twist that he'd grown, and man, it was very good. Doesn't add anything to the thread or help you at all...just a comment.

It helped me remember a time when Full Virginia Flake, Butternut Burley, Squadron Leader, Pelican, Bob’s Chocolate Flake, Glengarry Flake(heaven), and so many other great blends were easily obtainable. Someone posted on here about the tobacco apocalypse that was coming, and I erroneously failed to believe it because I was in denial. I think that was about six years ago. Right around the time I got sober.

Your comment added fond memories to the thread.

[rekamepip]

Growing should be no problem but with the thought of the curing process being an important factor and considering the learning curve of such
I was going to suggest buying the whole leaf until I looked at the current prices ……

I did a few blends in the past starting with whole leaves that were professionally grown and cured with success
But I didn’t add much in the way of casings or toppings and don’t really know where to start with that procedure

You might consider getting a little whole leaf and or preprocessed leaf that you could experiment with.
There are several great quality value tobacco brands that are reasonably priced that you could utilize for research and development purposes until you harvest and cure your own

[PoolShooter]

I’ve ordered whole leaf before and had really good experiences. I ordered Kentucky, a couple Virginias burley and Latakia all by the pound, and a couple ounces of Perique. I made about 8oz of an English blend that one person said was on par with some of his favorite English and Balkans. No toppings at all. Just cut and blended. I’m considering ordering whole leaf again, as well as Latakia, Perique and black cavendish. Maybe some deer tongue and tonka bean as well.

[Mr Beardsley]

Curing, casing, and mold inhibitors are the challenge here. After that you have topping, treating (to make your plug stick together) and pressing. Were it me, I'd order some whole leaf and save a couple of steps to see if I even want to tackle the rest