Smoking Mud Lugs

[Jitterbugdude]

I love this time of the year. It is the time when I can walk through my garden and pick sun cured mud lugs off my tobacco. It gives me a chance to smoke some new varieties now, instead of waiting until the winter. The sun cured lugs are always low in nicotine but I look forward to the taste of something new. So far I've smoked Sacred Cornplanter and Duale- both were excellent. Today I'll be trying some Bitlis.

 

[bonehead]

i never tried smoking the dried up bottom leaf i guess i might have to stop throwing it out and give it a try.

 

[johnlee1933]

Hi, Haven't heard from you since back in January. Nice to see you back. How's you grow going? Mine is about average. Did you get hit hard by the big storm a couple of weeks ago? Did the patch over at Emily's work out?

 

[Boboro]

I got 2 paper bags full of them. Dont know what Ill do with them. Mite see if they make good hookha baccer.

 

[deluxestogie]

I call those spontaneously browned mud lugs "dirt-cured." The combination of sun, heat, and soil moisture allow them to either rot or cure--luck of the draw. In the past, when priming the good mud lugs, I would include those that were half-browned, and they would go with the rest into the shed. Those half-browned leaves never came out as nice as the ones that had not been partly cured in the field.

This year, whenever I saw a half-browned mud lug, I primed it, then laid it carefully on the dirt beneath the plants. I'll go back and collect them when they are "done." It's a perfect opportunity for a good corncob pipe, carried in my pocket. When I see a perfect dirt-cured lug on the ground--one in just the right case, I can knock off the dirt, stem it right there, and crumble it into a pipe. They are nearly always smooth and flavorful, mild and...well, "earthy"--ha!

Bob

 

[bonehead]

i didn't get hit hard with the weather in southington. if anything it is too dry around here. everything flowered in my patches except some of my flue cured. i have been priming for about two weeks. my burley is getting more suckers than i can keep up with. i find more everyday. it is hard keeping up with the tobacco. i grow most of my vegetables using hydroponics and there is a lot less work.

 

[BarG]

i never tried smoking the dried up bottom leaf i guess i might have to stop throwing it out and give it a try.

Try a couple few hours after sunrise when it is in just the right case. Not to wet ,not to dry. I do that regularly and since nic is low you can try several after short intervals.

 

[BigBonner]

Those bottom leaves are not the prettiest on a tobacco plant but they are good to use .
I have a lady who buys only the lowest leaves I have on my Burley and Maryland tobacco .
Big tobacco buys all of the bottom leaves they can get .

 

[BarG]

Those bottom leaves are not the prettiest on a tobacco plant but they are good to use .
I have a lady who buys only the lowest leaves I have on my Burley and Maryland tobacco .
Big tobacco buys all of the bottom leaves they can get .

I can imagine why after trying some of your tops. Wow! If you need a kick to your cig blend just a dab el do ya. Great in cigars.

 

[Chicken]

i chunk all those leaves to the side as '' junk ''

im in the market for a nice mature leaf.

 

[Michibacy]

Call me insane, but I baby those mud lugs so I can get a taste of what the plant might taste like. I groom them, clean them, sometimes even sing some Otis Taylor to them.
This is one I just pulled off this morning to try out. Not bad for a stage 1 leaf

 

[johnlee1933]

Call me insane,

OK. You're insane. (Glad to be of service.) LOL
Yes it is a nice looking leaf.

 

[grgfinney]

since reading this i went out to my patch and picked them all up to try later

 

[indianjoe]

I caught a few floating by from the rain, maybe a few weeks and they will dry out.

 

[Knucklehead]

I'm curing some cigarette variety lugs now. Since these aren't separated by plant position the way cigar leaf is, why not just add them to the pile and shred them with the rest? Poundage is poundage. Pennies add up to dollars. Waste not want not. A lug saved is a lug earned. etc. etc.

 

[DGBAMA]

I caught a few floating by from the rain, maybe a few weeks and they will dry out.

any I might have had have been carried away too. after today will be over 9" of rain for the month, normal for the whole month is 4.5"

 

[marksctm]

JBD,
Thanks for this thread.
I was not aware mud lugs were worth messing with, and last year left them for compost.
This year I look for them to get a nice color to them, and in the pipe they go.
So far I've got to sample some of my silk leaf, TN-90, izmir, ohio dutch, and little dutch.
Their mild and mellow, but gives you a good hint of whats to come.

 

[BarG]

They are good but I keep them separate. They are usualy my charity contribution when someone wants free leaf. I separated all my mud lugs before packaging recently, but am saving for the right person to give to. I tried not to pick many this year and my patch has been littered with them. I gave away a lot of effort last year to a needy person.

 

[Boboro]

Could they be a sub. for oriental.

 

[BarG]

Nah, they are more bland, particularly on the cigar varietys. The mud lugs on my bursa are good mixed with the upper leaves, like a filler. some of the upper leaves on bursa can be strong. I have some samsun this year and I like it but the plants didn.t produce a lot of leaves . My sucker crop is looking real good, I have been pruning it and can't believe the way some of it is looking. The mud lugs are good to keep but you need to differintiate from the flyers. I collected every leaf at first and I don't recommend that.