Letter Re: Growing Your Own Tobacco

Dear Mr. Rawles:
I know…I know…I know…it is bad for you. But I do enjoy my two cigarettes a day. I am also tired of reading apocalyptic books and watching movies in that genre where everyone is running around hunting down tobacco. So, last year I bought 250 tobacco seeds via the Internet. A fine blend of Virginia Gold for $5.00.

The seeds arrived. Each seed was the same size as a grain of salt. Thinking it would never grow I planted them in a corner of my greenhouse in late February. They sprouted.

In May I had about 75 mature tobacco plants all over my yard. They are beautiful, six feet to seven feet tall with huge broad leaves. Spectacular tubular pink flower heads full of ripe seeds.

Now my garage is loaded with curing leaves. I learned everything I need to know [about tobacco growing] from YouTube.com. I haven’t smoked any of it yet, I think it takes a year or so to cure. – Barbara B. in Southern California