Today's pickings.
First photo, one big string of 85 Ostrolist 316. I still have a few, maybe 20 or 30 leaves of this type to pick and string. I'll have to do that later today.
Second photo, Ostrolist 316 after its third priming. Except bagged plants, these will be cut off with the pruning loppers and whole stalk hung. As soon as I get around to it, that is. I still have a fair amount of leaf ready for its third priming.
As of today, I have three types (of ten total) that are ready to be cut off and whole stalk hung. Next project is to perform the last priming on 31 plants of Gold Leaf 939. I would estimate that particular priming should generate two big strings of 150 to 170 leaves total. Gold leaf 939 isn't a really big plant, 5 to 6 feet, but is a reliable producer of substantial amounts of leaf that is fairly easy to cure. This is my second year with GL 939, and I now consider it to be a "standard." As long as I continue to grow tobacco, I will always plant GL 939. I've grown a lot of other types in three years, and most of them have been a failure for any number of possible reasons. Things like yield, quality, foul taste, and the big one...curability, are all factors in making future planting decisions. I don't need plants that are desirable in most aspects, but hard to cure. I have lost too much leaf in the past either to green flash or rot during the curing process.
Harrow Velvet and Golden Burley are also two burley strains that I now consider "standards." I have grown both Ternopolskii 7 and Ternopolskii 14. Both types are easy to grow and cure. Both types produce good yields. But I didn't care for the flavor of T-14. T-7 is sweeter and mellower. In the future I will plant T-7.
I am hopeful that my newest strain, Ostrolist 316 will work out. 316 has passed the productivity, ease of growth, and ease of curing test. Now it will be interesting to see how it kilns, and if it is fit to smoke. You never know 'till the fire hits the leaf.
Wes H.