Hi from Arkansas

[rose]

[FONT=&amp]Greetings,[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]In my quest to find organic leaf I wound up here from a link on wholeleaf where it is rumored to have organic burley/plan on calling Don tomorrow. We plan to grow next spring if at all possible. Having a thriving holistically centered sanctuary for special needs animals some of our best laid plans don't always get laid/but this year we are even more determined. We only smoke organic but don't care if it's certified (meh) just not grown with commercial fertilizers (the polonium thing) or pesticides. Grown in well water (or any water not chemically laden) even more of a plus. Seems organic growers had a poor season due to rain. I'm hoping to find some growers here that have tobacco that meets my desires and also learn how to grow our own. Your growing section is amazing and I've been reading for hours.[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Hubby and I long time pipe smokers. My preference is churchwarden.[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Much appreciation,[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]~rose[/FONT]

 

[Knucklehead]

Hey, Rose. Welcome to the forum. We need a couple more pipe smokers around here. You'll really like Don's leaf, it's amazing.

 

[MarcL]

Welcome to Fair Trade Tobacco. I think your in the right place.

 

[indianjoe]

Welcome

 

[Boboro]

Wellcome to FTT.

 

[Rickey60]

Welcome

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Aaah, A rose by any other name.... Welcome. Do you smoke strictly a pipe or cigarettes etc?

 

[johnlee1933]

Welcome to our merry band. You'll fit right in here. You can organically grow your own, cure it, learn to make Cavendish and perique and make some pretty nice blends.

John

 

[rose]

@ Jiterbugdude

Yes, a rose by any other name

True story…I have always loved roses since a child. Times of 'special' moments with the unseen things you can't explain the smell of roses would fill my experience. When I started the internet experience had to pick a user name and I chose 'a rose' bc a rose by any other name…is still a rose. Years later on a sugar glider rescue forum young friend said why don't you change your name to rose? Pondering thought right, didn't like my middle name anyway. So I changed it when I renewed my drivers license (the days of less paranoia right) and then homeland insecurity starts this all names have to match social insecurity blah blah so I did the legal thing and officially became 'rose' as my middle name. I've always believed in changing one's name when it suits and homeland insecurity was not going along with all my name changes over the years, one legal change (before rose) and several before and after the legal change. My social insecurity didn't match my birth certificate, or my first legal name change early 20's or subsequent changes. For the legal forms you have to put a reason why changing names and I put it brings me joy. The judge didn't roll with that and called me booming…IT BRINGS YOU JOY…what kind of reason is that? I said I'm getting an atty to file and she said GOOD. Courts are not so kindly to doing your own legal work and I had already had my paperwork returned twice. My atty was great with a sense of humor, saw where I was going but modified my papers to fit into the 'norm'. And natch my DL had expired (always have trouble keeping up with dates/rules etc) plus I wanted to catch a plane and now days you have to practically offer your first born as sacrifice much less have all your 'papers' in order. And did you know, to change social insecurity you have to have a doctor to verify you are you…wth?...and I don't go to doctors but thank god/dess a dentist can verify you are you. It's nuts.

More than you wanted to know lol…but yes, a rose by any other name and the reason I don't capitalize the r, still smoke a pipe and a pipe only. I rolled my own for decades but when I started using a pipe my love affair began. My pipes are all vintage eBay finds and to feel the wood, know that it has passed thru so many hands at moments of celebrations and passing's gives me a sense of connectedness to all that is, and will be. Some ebayers know the history of the pipe which is fascinating to me. Often I can trace the history of the pipe to point of manufacture and the craftsmen, their expertise, that is a walk in history. I have one little pipe from a soldier in WW2 who bought it vintage in France but I traced the pipe to Germany. The briar is over 400 years old and she has a real amber stem. I'm connected to all that held that little pipe and a magnificent old tree/how cool is that?

I've smoked for 50 years, quitting here and there for brief periods. Once I quit for 4 years but did not turn into a smoking nazi/always loved tobacco/just something I thought I should do for my health. Then I read a series of articles on suppressed information that smoking actually protects the lungs from radiation so I started smoking again for my health. Imagine how that explanation goes over with tobacco snobs With Fukushima, the gift that keeps on giving, I consider tobacco one of my first lines of protection.

I considered if posting this much might come off as 'weird' but then smokers are a very tolerant lot

'a rose'

 

[NRustica]

Hi from the beautiful Lake of the Ozarks.

 

[Fisherman]

Welcome to the forum

 

[rose]

@NRustica

About 4 hours from moi give or take so our growing seasons should be similar. That's good/I can learn from your experience (if you grow).

 

[rose]

...Judge Judy before all the judges start thinking that her type of action is the "norm"
Oopss. to late.
Welcome to the forum

My judge's name was Judge Gunn...nuff said

 

[rose]

Welcome to our merry band. You'll fit right in here. You can organically grow your own, cure it, learn to make Cavendish and perique and make some pretty nice blends.

John

And blushing, I know next to nil about blending so hubby and I are most excited. With all the animals we intend to do certain things but...but. This time/it's time.

Question...another grower I've been conversing with (strictly organic) who didn't grow this year/rains/said he processes leaves with either blender or food processor/works wonderfully. We have a kick ass processor (hand me down) and vintage vita mix (another kick ass) that was a score at a thrift shop on half price day for $5.

Any comments on this?

 

[Fisherman]

I think the best "kitchen-aide" is the pasta cutter. The site store was or is gonna sell an improved version but I am not sure the status of it lately.
These work great for small batchs.
The blender and food processor tend to cut stuff to small . Mite work in a pipe tho but no good for cigs.

 

[rose]

from my grower friend when I asked about smoking burley...

truth is I don't smoke so I cant say for sure.
as for shredding tobacco simply use a food processor or blender.
that's what I used when I shredded it for friends

my friends do all the testing for me.
they smoke it and tell me what they think.
yup just toss a few leaves at a time in the blender hit high for a few seconds and its ready for cig tubes.
most of the shredders sold don't work for sht any way,or at least that is what every one tells me who has bought them.

re pasta cutter, have read that before. Thing is if it's now china made it's a keep fingers crossed. I've taken a few appliances apart and omg, the innards look like something you would find for a kid's toy. I'll be on the lookout for a vintage pasta cutter. Are you talking hand or motor driven?

As far as small batches/we grind our own flours for point of use, make most everything from scratch so small batches no problem. When I rolled my own had one of the old timey bugler rollers and would make my cigs each morning for the day (but not bugler bleh). It's kinda nice being in the moment with what I consume/sense of now ya know?

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Even pasta cutters from the 70's have cheap pot metal for gears. Pasta makers are great if you do small amounts and do not push a lot of leaf through all at once. Personally I think a blender/Vitamix/food processor really sucks for "shredding" tobacco. It just rips the leaf into small chunks of various sizes. A pasta maker with angel hair attachment is way better than a blender etc. If you have a Kitchen Aid mixer you can use the angel hair attachment for it. The problem with the Kitchen Aid attachment is that it has a nylon bushing in it that shears pretty easily. Your best bet would be to get the new pasta maker ( when it is available) from Don or if you want to spend big bucks the absolute best shredder on the market is the Powermatic.

 

[rose]

K, thanks. We do have a Kitchen Aid/for 129 and nylon bushing/um, could be a waste long term. The Powermatic is wayyyyyyyyyyy over our budget/we can feed lots of animals with that kind of cash. I'll keep an eye out for the new pasta maker/and haunt the thrift stores bc I've turned up all sorts of cool treasures.

Talked with Don/no organic or 'natural' (no commercial stuff, just not certified). He might have some organic in few weeks/not sure. Might have some organic or 'natural' in Nov so I have his blessing to converse with growers/sellers here. Each growers crop would have nuances so the potential to get a variety and start blending our own is very exciting to say the least

 

[Fisherman]

I just ordered the powermatic
The pasta maker I have is from Italy and is good but the motor I bought was cheap and stripped in one use. Has plastic gears. Some say to use dry leaf and I used medium case ones. If to wet they wont shear correctly .... if to dry they wont pull into machine. You can use a dremel and score the rollers and they grab better.

 

[deluxestogie]

For pipe tobacco, you can compress stemmed leaf into a cigar shape in your hands, then cut it into a coarse shred (perfect for pipe) using scissors, a sharp knife, or (most easily) with a rocking kitchen blade, such as an ulu. A $16 "kulu" is shown in the Black Cavendish thread: http://wholeleaftobaccollc.com/forum/showthread.php?637-Making-Black-Cavendish-Pipe-Tobacco#2

I have used a single kulu for years now in all my shredding for pipe blends, as well as for a chaveta in cigar rolling. It stays sharp, is very quick, is less tedious than scissors or standard knife, and is much safer for your finger tips.

Bob