This past weekend, I spent Saturday working at home on our burgeoning vegetable garden with my lovely bride.

This is no 3’ x 4’ “flower bed” with some seeds strewn in it. Rather, this is a 30’ x 12’ chunk of land that we have spent tens of hours on under the sun, digging, tilling, turning, raking, weeding, and planting. A whole lot of planning, sweating, and working have gone into this project of ours. Hopefully, at some point in the weeks and months to come we’ll be harvesting (and eating) our very own organic tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, zucchini, herbs, and the list goes on. If anyone reading this knows a thing or two about planting a vegetable garden, you probably know the kind of laborious (and sometimes tedious) work that goes into it.

Saturday, while my better half continued with weeding and planting, I was responsible for setting up the edging around the border and installing the wire fencing around the perimeter in order to protect against any hungry ‘critters‘ (yes, we live in “God’s Country”–and we love it there).

At one point in the day, I asked my wife the inevitable question: “Is this all worth it?” I mean, wouldn’t it be much easier to just go to the grocery store and actually purchase all the organic vegetables we would need? I suppose a combination of the heat, sweat, biting mosquitoes and gnats, and back-straining work were getting the best of me. My wife–who I will be the first to admit is the wiser, more patient, and much-better-looking of the two of us–then put it to me like this. Essentially, she explained that there are no shortcuts, and that despite whether our garden yields wheelbarrows full of food or not, the process is what it’s all about. It was–and is–about working hard together on a project. A case of “it’s about the journey–not the destination.”

She was right. It also got me to thinking about the parallel between gardening and bringing a cigar brand from a concept to actually getting it onto a retail shelf. I’m not referring to the obvious “seed to shelf” tobacco-growing aspect; but rather, all of the coordinated work and the team effort it takes to get it done.

In just about one month, we will be unveiling our forthcoming third Crowned Heads brand: “J.D. Howard Reserve.” When I look back over the last 9 months that the brand has been in development, I think about how much work was involved in bringing this vision to fruition. Starting with an idea for the blend, going to the factory and working with various tobacco combinations (not to mention regions, farms, primings), constantly tweaking the blend–finalizing the blend–coming up with the concept for the brand–the endless details of the packaging. All of this required a concerted team effort of a group of talented individuals whom I am so blessed to work alongside.

In the end, I think that the ‘process‘ is far more gratifying–albeit at times, challenging–than the end result. Sure, it will make me feel pretty good if and when I hear that someone has smoked and enjoyed J.D. Howard Reserve. But, just like that vegetable garden, the hard work of the process–working as a team–is what I will look back more fondly upon.

So, working in our garden alongside my favorite “outlaw” has brought be to draw this analogy. We’ve planted the ‘Outlaw‘ seed that is J.D. Howard Reserve. This has taken endless hours of work and ‘cultivation.’ Soon, everyone will have the opportunity to experience what we’ve harvested from that seed planted 9 months ago. When it’s all said and done, however, the process has meant more than the harvest. I sincerely hope that you all will enjoy the fruits of our labor.