As we have read through Andrea Wulf's book, Founding Gardeners, I have learned a great deal, but not much has really struck me on a personal level. I consider myself to be patriotic, possibly to a fault, and the depth of the Founders passion for our nation has been eye-opening. However, in reading the last chapter, "Balance of Nature," one small detail really stuck out to me: the tobacco problem. Wulf mentions in passing that James Madison had a great deal of difficulty in getting good yields out of his fields, tobacco included. She then goes on to say that many farmers had begun to migrate west, to more fertile land. One of those places is Tennessee, my home state.
When I was a senior in high school, my family move to Robertson County, Tennessee. We ended up in a little town called Adams. It was my first exposure to tobacco farming. It is one of the most fascinating things I have ever been around, the tobacco culture. In Adams and the surrounding country, it was small, family farmers that grew the tobacco, something many people don't know. I didn't know it myself until 2004. But it is a family tradition that goes back generations. From planting it to harvesting it was a family endeavor. Even the children would help. There was an especially strenuous time when the leaves would be taken from the plants to the barns. This was called "cuttin'." But by far the most wonderful part of tobacco farming was when they "fired the barns." They would hang certain types of tobacco in the barns and smoke it, drying it out. This occurred in the fall, right about the time it started to cool down and the leaves started to change. The smoke that came from the barns drifted all over the country, and it carried with it one of the most wonderful smells on this planet. It was indescribable. It smelled like Fall.
While tobacco tends to be looked upon with disdain, I would like to put in a good word for it. Not only do those memories bring a smile to my face, but tobacco has helped me through many a tough time in my adult life, particularly on my deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Whether smoking my pipe to relax, smoking cigarettes to take the edge off of some less than beautiful moments, or chewing Redman to keep me awake on patrol, I have never viewed tobacco in a negative light. I just thought I'd put in a good word for something that's been so demonized.
Love this! Never looked at tobacco that way and though I do not consume tobacco, I can really appreciate it for how it has influenced our country's history and from what I read here, families across the South. Never looked at it this way...thanks!
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