To Pick a Pepper
Between the ground and bottom leaves,
small tear-dropped peppers in yellow.
Which cultivars and varieties,
not as hot as the standard serrano.
Remove tomato hornworms by hand
or wrap stems with aluminum foil.
Two parts compost, one part sharp sand
or grow in amended existing soil.
Prevent cutworms from chopping off transplants
to provide good air circulation.
When they look like large red army ants,
use milk to quench the burning sensation.
Grow in a raised bed filled with a standard mix.
The sauce goes well with tortilla chips.
Source material:
Huber, Kathy. “Producing the perfect pepper.” The Houston Chronicle 13 Apr. 2014: Print, E1.
April 12: Sonnet
Write a sonnet sourced from lines found in newspaper articles.
Kristina McDonald 