Meet PCG Member – Chris Fletcher: “Pepper Guy”, Jack of All Trades

PCG Professional Member Chris Fletcher has had some sort of garden for his entire life. Fletcher, a Cabarrus County native, first became interested in farming from his grandmother’s brother-in-law, and hasn’t looked back since. His grandfather raised cattle and he was around farming constantly, so he naturally picked some things up.

“Living on a farm since I was born has definitely taught me things outside of just farming,” Fletcher shares. He grew up fixing and repairing things, painting and doing odd jobs. During his high school years, he would help his great-grandfather paint. When he wasn’t farming or painting, he was helping in remodeling projects. “I got a lot of hands on experience in outdoor labor,” he jokes.

Today, Fletcher is the sole owner of Green Meadow Acres in Concord, NC. He gets help from his wife of 29 years, Jacquie, who also works in the Cabarrus County school system. Fletcher’s specialty is peppers, but not your typical bell peppers. He grows the good ones that you’ll want to add to your red or hot sauces. He harvests them at least three times a week, starting in July and lasting until the frost sets in.

As a farmer who predominantly grows peppers, Fletcher laughs at one of the biggest misconceptions that people have, which is that all peppers are hot. His wife, Jacquie, made a sign for their farmers market table sharing that not all peppers are hot.

“Now we have more people coming up to our table, it’s made a difference,” Fletcher jokes. “We have sold more varieties of peppers this year compared to past years. We’re now developing a name and market for it because no one else really has different kinds of peppers,” he adds.

Fletcher now has repeat customers who come up to his table to talk about the peppers year after year. Some bring back seeds that they’ve grown, and some just have questions about different peppers. “People weren’t asking about this 3-4 years ago,” he jokes. “Now, I’m just the pepper guy.”

One of his favorites peppers is the Corno di Toro pepper, a classic heirloom sweet Italian pepper whose name translates to horn of the bull because it’s shaped like a bull horn. Fletcher also grows espelette, tobago, poblano, habanero, aji dulce, nora and guajillo peppers. You can find his peppers in the sauces at Nina’s Provisions, as well as at the Piedmont Farmers Market.

Fletcher enjoys using his own peppers in his cooking, to complement meat dishes. “I try to cook everything from scratch,” he says. “I’ll freeze or dry the extras, so we pretty much always have some on hand.”

In addition to peppers, Fletcher also grows potatoes (fingerling and purple majesty), squash, zucchini, radishes and kale. He has even grown some hibiscus flowers Free Range Brewing has used in a few different beers.

However, each year is different in terms of crop success. Fletcher has lost some crops to deer, rotting, and weather conditions. He has had to re-do his fencing system after deer ran over it.

“Farming is just one of those things where you just never know what will happen from year to year. This year may be rotting, but next year may be something else.”

While most of his time is spent on his farm, Fletcher still keeps his cup full with other jobs, outside of managing and tending to the farm, including handyman work, painting and for-hire jobs.

“I’ve been self-employed all my life,” he says. “I was building houses until the recession hit, and I ran a carpet cleaning business up until last year. I just have experience in so many odd jobs from my childhood, so why not find a way to put that to use and help people,” he says.

“Chris is my jack of all trades,” adds Jacquie, his wife. “He has always been his own boss and has reinvented himself over the years as needed.”

How does he do it all? Like most farmers, Fletcher is up early, picking produce, packaging it for delivery, or tending to the garden itself. He tries to accomplish his gardening tasks early before the heat, so he can travel to his other jobs.

Despite being involved in jobs outside of farming, it’s clear that Fletcher is making an impact and is known in the farming world. Fellow PCG member, Jamie Swafford of Botanical Beverages, has collaborated with Fletcher on some fun sauces. “Chris is the pepper guy,” Swafford jokes. “He grows some of the best peppers of anyone around.

“What strikes me about him is both his curiosity and his education. At the farmer’s market, he’s teaching consumers about ways to use peppers that maybe they haven’t seen or heard about before,” Swafford continues. “The general consumer doesn’t know about these varieties or how to use them, and he takes that as an opportunity, not a hindrance, to educate people. If you want to teach people and want to learn and have that curiosity of a child, that is a measure of success and he has that.”

Fletcher joined the Piedmont Culinary Guild in the fall of 2017. He enjoys the monthly meet-ups and getting to know others, as well as allowing other members to get to know him. “I’ve met members through the PCG who have helped me think of things differently. It’s a great community with a lot of great information sharing,” Fletcher says.

“Networking has been a big part of all of our growth,” Jacquie adds. “As the old saying goes, it’s all about who you know and that couldn’t ring more true for us. We now provide local produce to a few chefs in Charlotte and supply some of the peppers for a Good Food Award-winning hot sauce that has become a hit.”

While his free time is scarce, he enjoys trying new craft beers in his spare time. Maybe you’ll see him collaborating on more beers in the future. When asked if he’ll ever sit still and focus on just the farm, he laughed and said, “Green Meadow Acres isn’t a full-time job, but it’s a mix of passion and work. When I have time to mess in the garden, I do.”

Fletcher knows that he could probably get more work, but he would miss the passion he has for farming.

“My favorite part of farming is the harvest. You’ve worked all year and you finally have something good coming out of it. I don’t think I could ever give that up.”

If you want to see the “pepper guy” for yourself, Fletcher delivers to the local farmers markets on Wednesdays and Fridays, and you can find him at the Piedmont Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.

Profile written by Sarah Schlichter