I very much enjoyed reading through this information In application I am a Canadian wintering down in Florida. Have these gardens developed the past 14 years that are coming along nicely Not so much do I grow vegetables but I did give it a go some years back Maybe will try again. Seemed just when I had tomatoes ready for picking was time to go north. Why I am putting my two cents in on the subject is that in that time, of wintering down in FLorida before heading north I put down containers of charcoal in open containers through the house To absorb dampness. I do not leave the air conditioning on and this has worked just fine House is not damp at all in fact always just lovely to be back down. At any rate I used to throw that charcoal out to the garbage but a few years ago I thought why not just spread it around in the gardens. I put mulch down on all the garden beds. Have lots of Bromeliads, Plumeria, well several diferent plants. Never seem to have any disease or problems in the garden beds Now I don't know that the charcoal has been beneficial. I don't dig it in usually just throw it on top and some gets dug in when I am working in the beds. Some just falls apart. Reading this information though I am for sure going to continue to do so I loved the note from Silvia and her Dad gardening. I as well still do dig in the vegetable , coffee grounds etc. as my Dad did. I do sometimes worry about that though that it can introduce fungal disease or something. I had a bed of Calla Lilies up in Canada Maybe 12x12 foot. Was a thing of beauty Of course I had to bring the bulbs in each year. But the bed did look so fine. I concentrated kitchen scraps into that bed all the time and over winter. One year, the plants where coming up nicely but all of a sudden in less than a week they where all diseased or no good at least. I am sure that the problem was from all the concentrated amount of kitchen scraps in that small area. I threw them all out the bulbs where soft and yucky, thinking to try to save any might do more harm than good Thanks for all the information above I am going to read more about it. And have friends to whom this information might be quite interesting, people who live and do garden in Florida year round

Sam & thepaan, The intensity of smoke flavour is a personal taste. Some like it crazy strong and others mild. Most like to find the right balance between original flavour of the food theyÂre cooking/smoking and smoke intensity and flavour (cherry, maple, hickory etc.). To keep this forum relevant to the folks who come here for pepper topics, IÂll attempt to answer your question in relation to peppers ;-) Strictly from a personal taste perspective, I smoke sweet and mildly spicy peppers like I would chicken and pork. IÂll use lump charcoal and add milder wood chips/chunks once the charcoal has burned down to form a white ash. Then IÂll throw those milder peppers on to smoke. For stronger peppers (hot to really hot) IÂll use a stronger smoke (ie. more volume of hickory or mesquite chips or chunks) similar to what I would use for beef or gamier meets. Of course, when I use my electric smoker, I just set my temperature and pop in x number of whatever flavour of wood chip pucks I want. If you want to get into more detailed discussions on BBQ and smoking in general I respectfully suggest you visit the GardenWeb Cooking Outdoors forum, link below. Hope this helps, Bill Here is a link that might be useful: Cooking Outdoors

Nevermind... answered my own question by using leveling blocks the next time I used it. Heating was very nice and even. BTW, anyone looking for a basic, high quality grill should really consider a Weber Spirit. I've done chicken thighs, hamburgers, pork tenderloins and steaks -- you would have to try pretty hard to screw things up. I knew all the idiosyncrasies of my 10-year-old old Charbroil, but I was NEVER able to get the kind of results I'm getting with this Weber.

Not sure what style smoker you have.... We have the type of smoker grill with the large round barrel and separate side box. Country ribs need longer cooking and usually are quite fat. I've found it much easier to start them in the oven, wrapped in foil and placed in a pan, that will catch the fat. I do them that way for about 1 1/2 hrs @ 300F. Then finish outside... about another 1/2 hr on the indirect smoker side (removed the foil) then finish on the direct heat side, basting with BBQ sauce. Watch the heat so that the BBQ sauce doesn't burn. Since country ribs are cut from the shoulder, they vary quite a bit in size, so watch carefully and transfer back to the indirect side as the cook over the direct heat. Nancy