Photo by Mackenzie Smith**

Howdy farm-friends!

Growing up in Alabama, old-timey and antiquated smokehouses were a common sight. I loved ambling through the countryside, spotting these old wooden and brick structures, and day-dreaming of all the delectable meats that had been cured in these structures. I have been an aficionado of barbeque from the get-go... just consult with my assemblage of meat-laden cookbooks and that will give you an idea! Regardless, hailing from Lower Alabama (or LA as we say), I had an abridged barbeque education; can you believe that I grew up knowing only of hickory-smoked pork BBQ? When I finally landed in Texas, my mind was completely blown. I had not even an inkling of an idea that beef BBQ was a whole new way of life, and what a beautiful life it was/is. Brisket? Ribs? I had never heard some of the sweetest words to grace the English language and more importantly, my stomach.

Smokehouse at Five Oaks Plantation, Madison County, Alabama. Photo courtesy of George Washington University.

Pork BBQ. Photo by Mackenzie Smith**

All that meat talk aside, when I first started farming, one of the farms that really inspired me, Boggy Creek Farm, was selling smoked peppers in olive oil, and I couldn’t get enough of them. Since then, I have dabbled intermittently over the years in smoking peppers and tomatoes, but not until recently have I been swept into a veggie smokin’ fervor. When I happened upon a trio of books all about peppers authored by Jean Andrews, otherwise known as the “The Pepper Lady,” I knew it was a sign from the pepper-lovin’ heavens above that I should ride this pepper-inspired wave to whatever destination it might take me.

Jean Andrew book collection.

One of our farmers, Montana, has quite the knack for smoking peppers, too, and has been graciously sharing his loot with me. I have been ceaselessly integrating them into my meals, and taking notes on his pepper prowess. On top of eating them every night with a pepper book in hand, we decided to plant over 40 varieties of peppers this year, as they not only flourish in the sweltering Texas heat but are also the perfect summertime ingredient to augment any dish. With this maelstrom of veggies monopolizing my mind, my wheels really started to turn. What would be a good way to use all these peppers and satiate my need to smoke veggies!?

Plentiful peppers. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Voila! A smokehouse, of course! I have been doing my fair share of research on construction, and am relishing the prospect of experimenting with smoking vegetables on a small scale this year. We have a ton of exciting projects up our sleeves here at JBG on the back forty for 2017, so this endeavor is just another to add to the list! Once I master the smaller scale smokehouse, I dream of building a larger smokehouse to eventually smoke meats… a lifelong dream! Exciting, eh? Stay posted.

Feeling like it’s about ripe time for some smoked tomatoes and/or peppers in your life? Check out some recipes here. 

• Simple Smoke-Dried Tomatoes
• Smoked Peppers, The Easy Way
• Making Chipotle Chilis
• Larry's Smoke-Dried Tomato Pesto
• Smoked Summer Tomato Basil Butter
• Smoky Tomato Salsa
• Smoked Stuffed Peppers

What might be even more exciting is the new crops that we have headed to market this week: savoy cabbage and red potatoes! We’ve been planting eggplant, summer squash, okra, melons, winter squash, cucumbers, peppers, and last but not least, our last succession of tomatoes! Broccoli, garlic, and cauliflower are not far from harvest, so keep your eyes peeled at the market stands! ‘Til next time, folks!

Cheers, Brenton

**see more of Mackenzie Smith's images here.