So, as promised I am going to chronicle the dark fired tobacco season and anything else that gets thrown in between.
(*As a side note: dark fired tobacco is grown to be used in making snuff, not cigarettes. It is primarily grown in Western Kentucky and West Tennessee due to the hard wood that is used to fire it. I will elaborate on that later in the season. )
Week 1:
The ground has been strip tilled and is ready for the tobacco to be set. About mid-winter, tobacco plants are started in trays in greenhouses (much like vegetables) and will grow in that environment until they are big enough to be hand set in the ground. It is ideal to set tobacco towards the end of May and throughout June.
A tobacco setter is an implement hooked to a tractor. We use a two row setter. Four people will sit on the back of the setter and feed the plants one by one into the setting forks which then "set" the plants in the ground. While this is happening, water is being administered to the newly set plants so they get a good start on growing. The setter does not move especially fast, but believe me (I've ridden the setter a time or two!) it keeps you on your toes. If you happen to miss a plant, then either a person walks behind the setter and resets or you get to go back and reset any missed plants.
And this is how it looks after being set. I will try to take a picture each week in the same spot so that you can see how it changes .
Sounds pretty simple, right? "Tobacco is no big deal", you may be thinking. Let me encourage you to come back and take this journey. Oh, and you may want to buckle up, the ride may get a little bumpy...!
Until next time, God Bless and happy planting!
