TOPIC: Ginseng Reality Show coming to a holler near you

Billy wrote:

Guys I watched the 1st episode of that show and the faults with it are many it does no portray any type of respect for the ginseng the mountains or the land owners. It is very clear that the diggers are thieves and value not laws either people but self greed is overwhelming to the point of disrespect that a good steward of the Mountains would never even consider much less do. I could speak my mind concerning them but it may cause me to have to pray so I will leave my thought of that where it is just in my thoughts.

The dealer I will speak no bad thing of his person because I do not know him.
And maybe he thought this would help his business by the advertisement and exposure of it but that is far from the truth.

Let me say this.. As a experienced dealer now and a man of a lot of experience concerning wild ginseng.

If this dealer has a American Asian Market buyer/buyers and they see this show then the idea of portraying wild fresh ginseng for $500 a pound will insult them because it is a flat lie and is not true at all. This will hurt his reputation in so much that he will loose at least a part of them customers. And the offended small dealers that deal with him will be high in no# as they will feel cheated and robbed through the years and will not trust him further.

American Korean people are the largest group of consumers for fresh wild ginseng. They are honest people and they are very sincere in there use of the root. They have as much respect for the roots as we do for the plants. In so much that they bless my heart. Watch my video with MR: Oh and Jin Ho you can see there love in it. They are family people who are very close to one another. They are also good business men. They do not approve of dishonesty. A flat lie in a way like unto this will destroy there confidence in a man and they will not deal with him if they can not trust him. This show will be a disgraceful portrait to them and any one involved in it will be.

I have several Korean clients that come here and eat and drink tea with me. I have grown fond of them and they have me and it is because of trust and honesty. I have taking them to dig there first bunch of wild ginseng from far away as Korea when they have came to see me and I know that they are good people and truthful.

I have had many TV company's approach me and ask me to do similar shows as this one and I told them flat no. Some others have approached me to do a show that was not as bad as this show but it still was not honest and did change facts that can not be changed and on and on. I have e-mails and phone records of many and it was never more than conversation or a meeting and a good bye. Simply because we are what we are and we love what we are and we are very honest and we are good stewards of the Mountains and we are Gods sons and Daughters. We are not liars and we do not disrespect other people lands and we do not go into the parks and national Forrest and steal.. and that is why I have turned them away for years a long time before I became a dealer, but it got stronger after I became a well known dealer as it is now.

It was never because I did not want to share my knowledge and the big plants that I find in the wild or because I did not want to share my love and respect for all that God has giving us. It was never because I was a multi millionaire and couldn't make use of the money paid for the show/shows or at least use it for my children. It was because if I done it then it had to be done right and in the way that it should be done.

And that is like this,

To represent the true fun and joy that we have when we find a big old 4 prong the joy and happiness of seeing your son dig his biggest plant ever at 14 years of age in the pouring down rain walking them steep hills and sliding in the mud and him hollering yea lord I found him dad I finally found the big monster like you do and having so much joy that you could cry or you did cry tears of pride and joy. It is about the family heritage that you pass down to your grand daughter and grandson the look in there little eyes as they say Dad, Papaw you sure do love this don't you ? and you reply yes I do Honey and there little faces light up and you know that you have a ginseng buddy for life. My 2 year old Grandson already howls when I show him a wild ginseng plant.

We do not tell them to get ready to run because you are stealing from some poor guy that has worked his tail off to grow a crop, we tell them to never do that, we tell them not to lie about the value or the worth of this thing that you love so much, not to act like a thug that will kill some one else over something that is so good and precious.

My God this world is so messed up that it can not see the joy and the good of even the simplest and best things that God has giving his people to love and they must make a mock of even these things in the name of Money for Filthy Lucre and gain.

I will never let my Family my Friends my Customers my Grandchildren consider me a thief a liar or a crook for no amount of money or any thing else.

The show that I have spoke to you all about that I am involved in is nothing like that because I have never trusted any one in TV to talk to them until I met the man that I am now dealing with and he came to my house himself ( the owner )and assured me that our show would not be taking out of the truth and that I would see everything before it aired. The truth is being weary of these very things why would I even let something be recorded to decide that I didn't want it to be a possible episode. Why not say no to that right there right then ? and then there is never nothing to worry about. The truth is it is there business to come up with ideas to air and they love what you are doing but they do not know any thing about it. They do not realize that a idea could in fact be a bad idea you have got to tell them that. The true Producer wants the show to be good and not bad, just like a true wild ginseng hunter is a good steward so you have to find the good one. Sometimes you have got to show them that a bad idea can not work but you will also be very surprised at some of the good ideas they can come up with by following a long and getting to understand better who and what you are and why you are that way. I truly like the crew that works with me and I think highly of the Producer & Vice President and his lead man. That I am afraid is what was lacking in the show that just aired Appalachian Outlaws.

I can not yet say much about it but our show but it is nothing like this garbage.

I will let you know more when I can.

Billy.

A great post by a great and honorable man! Thanks Billy!

As for myself, I am like my dad, honest and sometimes too blunt to a point and I am always honorable in all of my dealings and what I say! I stand behing my word and conclude all dealings that are in person with a handshake. I want my children, grandchildren and others to look up to me, not look down on me because of my deeds. We have to shine the light for others to see the way, for too many will or have lost their way!


Frank

K_duce wrote:

Well at least now it is documented.
A few months ago i was lambasted by Huntsman about my opinions on diggers who dig on federal land, well the first 15 minutes of this show proved beyond the shadow of a doubt what really goes on. Even though the show sucked and was riddled with inaccuracies the mentality of the hunters was an accurate portrayal in my opinion. I saw digging of 2 prongs, plants with green berries, trespassing, mis-identification of plants, At no point did i see any digger reach into his bag of stratified seed and replace what was taken. There was one part that almost brought a tear to my eye, when the brethern became worried about the poor land owners pot, my my my a friend in weed is a friend indeed. When a buyer will say on national tv, \"if you dig it, i will buy it.\" should send up a red flag to usfws to immediately pull that piece of craps dealers license. And he has no excuse for his words, he knew he was being taped and he knew people he was buying from were poaching. This show reaffirms my position that i do not want to be part of a grower/diggers association. Sorry Guys but the two just do not go together, kinda like letting the fox guard the hen-house. If anyone is truly offended by these words then good. now you know i detest poachers.

K_duce,

I am sorry if you still have issues with me and what I wrote several months back! I thought that were good now and thought that especially after so many posts from honest, law abiding Diggers here on Wildgrown, that you would have somewhat changed your mind concerning diggers. I just can't fathom how that you can still feel that all Diggers are like foxes guarding the hen house! Many Diggers like myself, while not considered Growers per see of Ginseng, we are still good Stewards of Wild Ginseng. Some like myself, plant every seed found with the mother plant when we dig it and also purchase some seeds to replenish what we have taken. Being retired and on a fixed income, I cannot afford to purchase 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 or even 5 pounds of Ginseng seeds to plant. However, I try to allocate enough funds to purchase at least a half pound of seeds each year, which if only 30% of the seeds germinate and produce a top and a viable root, is still more than twice what I ever dig in a season nowadays.

Like Brad, I hope you will reconsider joining the Growers/Diggers Association if it ever gets off the ground! It is with such an association that we can educate the unknowing Diggers of Wild Ginseng's importance to our way of life and heritage and at the same time, educate the folks that regulate the plant that we so love and depend upon. That with help from the Associations members, we can help stop the poaching of Wild Ginseng and Ginseng Crops and turn uneducated diggers into good Stewards and possibly into Growers.


Frank

Hello Everybody ..My name is Tony Coffman of Coffman's Metals the dealer in the show that's the topic of everyone's topic today. I posted earlier and politely asked not to be talked about and gave my view of the show. But I see that wasn't good enough for some and may as well have been called a low life by one guy..
(.......Deleted.......). Stop taking my words out of context ! Not once do I imply that would buy illegal ginseng.
As for my reputation as a dealer in my area I am very confident that my customers understands that this Hollywood and from all the calls that I'm receiving from all over the country everyone else does too.
If it's a documentary you want to see ? I shot one of those for the Korean TV Network while we filmed this show. And encase you were wondering the show was a hit... 2.8 million viewers.
I think what we have here is a case of jealous sour grapes...People watching this show are looking for a dramatic, informative show, not a boring documentary. The narrator spells out the laws on ginseng and what they are doing wrong. It shows Greg replanting berries and the seasons and regulations of each states along with private verses government property.
Like I said earlier..This is not suppose to be a documentary on the history of ginseng because no one other than industry and diggers would watch it.
I will not post further on this matter unless requested..I'm sure you you can call me if need to talk to me.. Watch the show and enjoy it or don't watch it ..Maybe Honey Bo Bo is more to your liking..
And stay tuned and you will see Asian buyers join in the the show along with a million bucks worth in the middle of the floor..How's that for not being worried about losing my markets !

Strong Prong,
Thanks for coming on Wildgrown.com and commenting on this topic. I think we at best will agree to disagree. I do not know you but I respect the long family history you and your family have had as buyers of ginseng.

I am officially against the show tho. I do not think anything good will come from it. I think the show jeopardizes the future of Wild Ginseng in so many ways regardless of the fact that it is \"Hollywood\" !!!!

It is America and we have the freedom to do as we please or as we choose within the law. You have exercised your right to do as you felt necessary and I have the opportunity to exercise my right to disagree with it.

With that said I must say you did \"man up\" and came on this site to make a statement and I respect that aspect. I just hope you can instill in your diggers that you buy from the importance of following the law.

You are obviously a large buyer of seng and you are in the position to educate the diggers. I am not preaching to you or telling you what to do. Just pointing out a fact that you are in contact with the people that are doing a lot of the digging. I just hope they follow the law and treat ginseng with the respect it deserves.

I too will not post on this topic anymore. I do not want to feed the flames of a show that I am against. I just hope this all blows over and the wild ginseng population does not get the short end of the stick in the long run. Time will tell I guess.

Thanks,
Latt

Strong Prong wrote:

Hello Everybody ..My name is Tony Coffman of Coffman's Metals the dealer in the show that's the topic of everyone's topic today. I posted earlier and politely asked not to be talked about and gave my view of the show. But I see that wasn't good enough for some and may as well have been called a low life by one guy..
(.......Deleted.......). Stop taking my words out of context! Not once do I imply that would buy illegal ginseng.
As for my reputation as a dealer in my area I am very confident that my customers understands that this Hollywood and from all the calls that I'm receiving from all over the country everyone else does too.
If it's a documentary you want to see ? I shot one of those for the Korean TV Network while we filmed this show. And encase you were wondering the show was a hit... 2.8 million viewers.
I think what we have here is a case of jealous sour grapes...People watching this show are looking for a dramatic, informative show, not a boring documentary. The narrator spells out the laws on ginseng and what they are doing wrong. It shows Greg replanting berries and the seasons and regulations of each states along with private verses government property.
Like I said earlier..This is not suppose to be a documentary on the history of ginseng because no one other than industry and diggers would watch it.
I will not post further on this matter unless requested..I'm sure you you can call me if need to talk to me.. Watch the show and enjoy it or don't watch it ..Maybe Honey Bo Bo is more to your liking..
And stay tuned and you will see Asian buyers join in the the show along with a million bucks worth in the middle of the floor..How's that for not being worried about losing my markets !

Strong Prong,

As an Moderator here on Wildgrown, it is my duty to inform and warn you that there is to be no threats of violence or harm to any other members here on these forums. If I did not do so, then I would be lax in my' duties and responsibilities! It is understandable that you may take exception to what some folks write about the Appalachian Outlaws Show or you as you have a part in it but do so in a civil manner. As per my' duties and responsibilities here on the Wildgrown forums, the threat you wrote has been deleted and the paragraph edited.


Frank

Hey guys.... I too want to thank tony Coffman for posting what he has said here. It was good to read some of the things...

We do have a passion about our favorite herb here on this forum. Passion for, passion against, the key word in it all is passion. Strong feelings, strong words... All arise out of the passion.

we do have rules and regs here on Wildgrown.com, and sometimes posts need to be deleted/ modified. Thanks to frank for catching the stuff here that was in need of that.

I suggest that what each of us needs to take away from this tv show is what is needed to our endeavor. It'll be as individual as each of are. That's where the open mind thing comes in. Wether or not you agree with what someone has posted.... This will contribute to what we take away from the content of the post. I don' t know if this is making sense to you, however it is what I feel is correct about this post's content.

We are all free to post things we feel... However please no threats....

I'm late to the game on this one as I don't have cable but when my wife and I saw the commercial for this show two weeks ago at my parents house we both exclaimed, \"oh crap!\" what good can come from a show like this?...we've only been growing for a couple years...there isn't much a seng culture around so we haven't had any concerns security wise as far as how or where we plant in the woods that we own, we figured anonymity, and a public unaware of seng and its value would suffice..that's over now....here come signs, fences, and controlled access, might tick off some neighbors and affect deer hunting....apart from potentially destroying our business is the show any good?

I didn't think it was very good, however I also could'n't get past the obvious inaccuracies.

I thought the

show was a joke like I said most people r getting 2 old or are 2 lazy don't worry about people do worry about government regs

Please remove moderator thank you.