Confessions of a (former) Ky Dark Fired Farmer
- Thread starter tinsel
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Welcome to the forum and thank you very much for sharing such a great information with us. Please post more, I will be reading for sure.
Well ...
My last name is pretty close to "Tinsel" anyways. But more importantly, My hair started going silver in my teens. in my early twenties I started wearing my hair long and there were all these silver strands that shined like the "tinsel" that you decorate your christmas tree with.
Since my friends thought it was a funny way to make fun of my gray hair, and it bears such close resemblance to my actual last name, it stuck.
Thats the short version of the story anyways
Looks like vimeo took them down. That's lame.I would love to see the video but it seems to be gone now....
I couldn't find them using google. Also, they were embedded in this thread from 2013 : http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/farming-in-the-black-patch-video-on-dark-fired#post-544321
but now they "don't exist".
Too bad. Excellent videos.
@Tinsel and @everyone
Being from Indiana and having spent many years in Southern IN, I recall many stories of the plight of those farmers due to "middle men" and ultimately tobacco execs using the "its not as good as we'd like it to be" lines and others, as well as nature taking her share every year. My father came from a farming lineage and grew up on modest means in a large family having to forage for berries and hunt to supplement the dinner table. Now, I stir shit as a matter of course and have no problem owning mistakes I make, but I think this is a good idea. I'll preface my idea by saying I'm positive the tobacco people associated with this site pay honest and fair wages for what they get and I realize the importance of Mr. Pease in his ability to identify good tobacco and blend it. I can't do that and don't know anyone personally who can. I'm just wondering how much per ton the farmers get for their KDF crops. I know the price varies from year to year and is determined by the amount of available tobacco, and the demand for said goods, and how much people are willing to pay. I am also interested in how many tons per acre, per season they get on average. My idea is that when I finally get some extra money in my hands, I'd like to buy Kentucky Dark Fired Tobacco straight from the farmer who grew it. Out Of The Barn so to speak. Now, depending on how much a hand weighs (if it is even based on weight, I'm guessing its whatever fits in the "Hand") we may have to come to a dollar per pound rate instead of dollars per hand. Better still, maybe a Co-Op would be a good idea. I've heard of farmers getting screwed my whole life and remember many farms in northern Indiana closing one by one until I can't think of the name of any farmers I know today. I am only 45 years old. If I had a whole lot of money, I would probably go down and buy some of Mr. Pease's fine blends, or order it online which I may still do. But having looked at the prices, I doubt it. I started smoking a pipe recently in the first place, cause it was cheaper to spend the money up front for abundant and inexpensive pipes and then 6 to 9 bucks per week on tobacco, than for 6 bucks a pack for an air dried virginia/burley as something that would last a day and a half. Incidentally, I found my "First" recent pipe at a house I was staying in, which I was helping clean out. After two months the pipes I bought on ebay have paid for themselves. I doubt I am putting Mr. Pease or any of the people who advertise on this site in jeopardy, but if I am, somebody ought to speak up now and tell me why. I like the idea of putting money directly in the hands of farmers who grow these fantastic tobaccos I'm sure I'll get to smoke SOMEDAY. If I have to, I'll personally go down to Southern Indiana and find a good farmer who grows Kentucky Dark Fired and talk to him or her about what it would take to buy some portion "out of the barn" every year to keep myself in stock, but I wanted to take this opportunity and see if members on THIS SITE could make it happen. You people seem awful proud to "cellar" quantities of tobacco every year. Why not "Barn" some for a while and share the wealth so to speak. Now, I know my idea reeks of communism and is anti-capitalist somehow and there will be reasons to some why this is impossible or un-American, but I don't care about that. Like I said, I'll make sure I get mine like I have my whole life, often through near impossible odds and with little to spare for anyone else if I have to. But, to be honest, I like this group and this forum is something special as far as I can tell. There is a sense of camaraderie, shared interest and generosity that I rarely see. So, how do WE do this?
Being from Indiana and having spent many years in Southern IN, I recall many stories of the plight of those farmers due to "middle men" and ultimately tobacco execs using the "its not as good as we'd like it to be" lines and others, as well as nature taking her share every year. My father came from a farming lineage and grew up on modest means in a large family having to forage for berries and hunt to supplement the dinner table. Now, I stir shit as a matter of course and have no problem owning mistakes I make, but I think this is a good idea. I'll preface my idea by saying I'm positive the tobacco people associated with this site pay honest and fair wages for what they get and I realize the importance of Mr. Pease in his ability to identify good tobacco and blend it. I can't do that and don't know anyone personally who can. I'm just wondering how much per ton the farmers get for their KDF crops. I know the price varies from year to year and is determined by the amount of available tobacco, and the demand for said goods, and how much people are willing to pay. I am also interested in how many tons per acre, per season they get on average. My idea is that when I finally get some extra money in my hands, I'd like to buy Kentucky Dark Fired Tobacco straight from the farmer who grew it. Out Of The Barn so to speak. Now, depending on how much a hand weighs (if it is even based on weight, I'm guessing its whatever fits in the "Hand") we may have to come to a dollar per pound rate instead of dollars per hand. Better still, maybe a Co-Op would be a good idea. I've heard of farmers getting screwed my whole life and remember many farms in northern Indiana closing one by one until I can't think of the name of any farmers I know today. I am only 45 years old. If I had a whole lot of money, I would probably go down and buy some of Mr. Pease's fine blends, or order it online which I may still do. But having looked at the prices, I doubt it. I started smoking a pipe recently in the first place, cause it was cheaper to spend the money up front for abundant and inexpensive pipes and then 6 to 9 bucks per week on tobacco, than for 6 bucks a pack for an air dried virginia/burley as something that would last a day and a half. Incidentally, I found my "First" recent pipe at a house I was staying in, which I was helping clean out. After two months the pipes I bought on ebay have paid for themselves. I doubt I am putting Mr. Pease or any of the people who advertise on this site in jeopardy, but if I am, somebody ought to speak up now and tell me why. I like the idea of putting money directly in the hands of farmers who grow these fantastic tobaccos I'm sure I'll get to smoke SOMEDAY. If I have to, I'll personally go down to Southern Indiana and find a good farmer who grows Kentucky Dark Fired and talk to him or her about what it would take to buy some portion "out of the barn" every year to keep myself in stock, but I wanted to take this opportunity and see if members on THIS SITE could make it happen. You people seem awful proud to "cellar" quantities of tobacco every year. Why not "Barn" some for a while and share the wealth so to speak. Now, I know my idea reeks of communism and is anti-capitalist somehow and there will be reasons to some why this is impossible or un-American, but I don't care about that. Like I said, I'll make sure I get mine like I have my whole life, often through near impossible odds and with little to spare for anyone else if I have to. But, to be honest, I like this group and this forum is something special as far as I can tell. There is a sense of camaraderie, shared interest and generosity that I rarely see. So, how do WE do this?
Welcome Tinsel. You're a skilled writer, thanks for the stories. Keep them coming. Jack Knife Plug and Triple Play are a couple of my favorites.
The film looks like it will air again on Wednesday the 29th, and there appears to be a way to watch online.
Upcoming Schedule
Upcoming Schedule
I'm glad this was reposted
Tinsel - I'm stationed at FT Campbell (but in Afghanistan right now) Last year my wife and I went on a ride on our Harley through the TN KY border and south of Ft Campbell - saw a bunch of Tobacco Barns fire curing. Is it the same tobacco in this area as in yours a little further west?
Ive wondered ever since we saw that last year if Ive smoked any of that tobacco
Tinsel - I'm stationed at FT Campbell (but in Afghanistan right now) Last year my wife and I went on a ride on our Harley through the TN KY border and south of Ft Campbell - saw a bunch of Tobacco Barns fire curing. Is it the same tobacco in this area as in yours a little further west?
Ive wondered ever since we saw that last year if Ive smoked any of that tobacco
Excellent video, first half is planting and growing, second harvest and curing- but a rather surprising closing statement..... "There it is turned into..... Snuff."
LINK to ten minute video
LINK to ten minute video
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