April 2018
I was expecting growth to start to slow down with our sudden drop in temperature over the last week. But apparently not.
The next lot that will go out now look like this. There are 12 potted plants in this container.
Remember my first plot:
Well it now looks like this:
I have extended it out another row leaving enough room for a mow strip before hitting the raised veggie garden beds. I need to turn the compost in again before planting.
I am harvesting off the second plot now which has around 60 Virginia Gold plants and a few burley trees in it.
Meanwhile…………
What I have learnt so far as a small Backyard Tobacco Grower newbie.
1) Don’t plant the seeds in coarse New Zealand potting mix if you want them to grow.
2) Don’t plant burley in the garden too close together. These plants grow into trees.
3) Don’t wash the leaves, drying them is a mission.
4) Use newspaper and not towels when colour curing. Newspaper does a much better job drying out the leaves.
5) Don’t let them dry out completely if green. They taste awful.
6) Wear disposable gloves for removing suckers/flower buds. Ones hands end up very sticky.
7) Wear disposable gloves when changing newspaper in box. Ones hands end up extremely sticky and
black.
8) Wear a hat when tending 9ft plants. Ones hair ends up sticky and standing up in the air like this:
9) Smoking is good for my health. I am getting a lot of exercise walking, crawling, climbing & digging.
10) A lot of new words as with curing, priming, casing and fermenting.
11) There are heaps of different varieties of tobacco.
12) Digging new gardens for more tobacco plants means a lot less lawn to mow.
13) The New Zealand Law is very strict on Tobacco growers. I can sell or give away seeds. I cant sell or even give away plants, leaves, ground tobacco or rolled tobacco.
14) I need patience. Tons and tons of patience.
15) And lastly ,through this forum, I have made some really nice new helpful friends. Thank you
Cheers
Jenny