Updated Pics of the Crop!

[cajunblaze]

Check out this leaf!

Me in the tobacco patch

Ready to be topped (remove the blooms).

How long does it take to grow that big? Great job!!
I wonder how my wife would feel about getting some gardening tools? Along with the homebrewery equipent in the spareroom!

 

[MrMaduro]

From the time I sowed the seeds it took about 15 or 16 weeks to get to where that pic was taken. It takes 6-8 weeks indoors or a greenhouse before they are big enough to transplant outside. You try to time this transplanting to take place right after the last frost. Then it takes 8-10 weeks to become mature enough to harvest.
As far as your wife is concerned, these make beautiful flowering plants. Place a few in the back of her flower garden. She'll really be surprised!!! Plus you can harvest yourself some tobacco leaves at the end of summer.

 

[MrMaduro]

A few more pics

Me in heaven!!!!

This is the Havana #608 notice the blooms to me left, I let 4 plants go to seed.

A close up of one of the blooms

On the lighter side my son took a pic as I was priming my irrigation pump. If you look closely you can see some of the cattle off in the distance to my right.

 

[Kingantz]

That's one helluva spray ya got there Brian! :laugh:

 

[MrMaduro]

I had planned on priming the crop this weekend, but due to several other must do chores it will have to wait until next weekend. However I was able to harvest the seeds for "OUR" crops next year. The first pic is all the seed pods from 4 plants of 1 variety. The next one is of the seeds hanging in a storage building to dry.

 

[punk_lawyer]

Fine work. Fine work, indeed.

Do you have any cigar molds for your project? Good luck with the rest of the work!

 

[MrMaduro]

As of right now I don't have any molds. That is something I need to find, or I might have to make some.

 

[ilcchef2]

JR Cigar used to sell cigar molds in the Paramus store I think...You might want to call around and see if any of the stores have them and will ship. Oh yeah and great pictures, thanks for keeping the progression on this thread!

 

[HenrysCigar]

Thank you for some awesome pictures.
I recall seeing some vintage La Aurora Molds on a certain, cigar bid site. Not sure if that will help.
Can't wait to see some finished pictures and reviews.
Hope all goes well and have a great day Brian.

 

[MrMaduro]

Well after many delays I was able to get the Connecticut Shade harvested today. Here are a few pics.
This is of me holding a stick with 5 stalks.

This is a stick hanging in the barn.

I also tried a couple of different ways, this is a bundle of leaves hanging.

Here I strung some leaves onto a section of wire. Just a little experiment.

 

[ilcchef2]

Wow that is impressive! I love checking this thread for new pictures every couple of weeks. It has been fun to watch. Thanks for keeping up with it!

 

[CigarStone]

Very impressive Brian :thumbs:

 

[MrMaduro]

I'm all done with the harvest. So here are a few more pics.

Ready to start.

Spearing a stalk.

Off to the barn. Each stick weighs close to 80 lbs.

A Small Stalk Black Mammoth leaf.

On the lighter side, my son feeding apples to a couple of the cows.

 

[Kingantz]

Here's mine. Gonna be pulling the bottom leaves in a day or so and get 'em hung up in the shed for curing out. Instead of having to go and research it, what's the basic next step once cured? Just put it all in a pile and let it sit over the winter?

 

[MrMaduro]

Greg, Sorry it took me so long to get back with you.
If you go to seedman.com he has free plans for building a kiln to ferment your tobacco. I printed a copy of these plans looks pretty easy to build, it even has a heating element to maintain the temp. I talked to Jose Oliva at a local herf and was telling him about my crop and plans for the kiln. He told me that in his opinion the heater wasn't really needed. He said just make sure the tobacco was good and moist when it was placed in the kiln. It might take a little longer. But after all we've got nothing but time anyway. Good luck.

 

[Kingantz]

Ah man, you mean I'm supposed to build something? :laugh: As much as I'd love to, I'll probably not go as far as building a Kiln such as the one on that site. Couldn't I just microwave the leaves for a few mintues? But seriously, Wouldn't packing it in a lock n' lock work for the very small amount that I have? The tobacco is supposed to heat up and will do so with a large quantity, however I don't think this small amount I have here will produce the heat required to ferment on it's own. Pack a lock n' lock full and sit it on a heating pad? Only thing is, what about mold?

 

[MrMaduro]

Greg,
I believe that any type of sealable container would probably work. I didn't look at the plans tonight but I believe that the kiln had some type of vent. I would use a container just big enough to hold the tobacco you have with no air space. Make a hole and put in a thermometerto keep track of the temp. I was thinking about this today at work, I'm going to ferment some in a gallon glass pickle jar. I'll drill a hole in the lid and insert a thermometer. This will be just a little experiment for future reference.

When I was younger we would make our own chewing tobacco, we would take 4 or 5 leaves remove the main stem then twist them tight into a loop, then hang them in the top of the barn. We would make these when we stripped the tobacco in Dec. or Jan. They would be ready to chew in late July early August after they went through a June sweat (fermentation).

 

[Kingantz]

Hmmm....I like the idea of a glass container of some sort as it would take heat better than plastic. I have a closet in the hall that has the water heater and stays quite warm, so would be good to keep the temps up. I'm thinking of adding some beads to help control the moisture. Should be interesting to see how it turns out!

 

[whopper]

Ah man, you mean I'm supposed to build something? :laugh: As much as I'd love to, I'll probably not go as far as building a Kiln such as the one on that site. Couldn't I just microwave the leaves for a few mintues? But seriously, Wouldn't packing it in a lock n' lock work for the very small amount that I have? The tobacco is supposed to heat up and will do so with a large quantity, however I don't think this small amount I have here will produce the heat required to ferment on it's own. Pack a lock n' lock full and sit it on a heating pad? Only thing is, what about mold?

Man up and build the thing.

BTW, Greg's plants are almost as tall as me. Well maybe not quite that tall. :whistling: They do look good though I must say.

 

[MrMaduro]

What a difference 2 weeks make!

I'll post some more pics in a couple of weeks.