Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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graduatelobn Fulkerson reaches into one of his pepper plants to harvest the last of the season ' s produce. Fulkerson planted over 1,000 pepper plants on eight acres east of Manhattan. (Photo by J. Kyle Wyatt) Trying to persuade a customer into smelling the world ' s hottest pepper, a habanero, Fulkerson displays his peppers at the farmer ' s market on the corner of 4th and Humboldt. Fulkerson liked interacting with his customers, as he often shared his hot sauces and recipes with them. (Photo by J. Kyle Wyatt) Pepper Pond Farm is home to over 30 different varieties of peppers ranging in heat levels from one to 10. All the peppers were organically grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. (Photo L J. Kyle Wyatt) 14 its VEGETABLES

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Children in thegroupcalled Jelly Beans Jump from the high board in the Natatorium during their swim time In the Summer Adventure program.The program, sponsored by the Division of Continuing Education, was designedforchildren. (Potoby . Kyle Wyatt) Phil Korb, graduate student in education, gives a helping hand to Kelle Knight, 7, as he works on his animal mask during the Jelly Bean ' s art session in Seaton Hall. The group worked on various masks of animals for their skit to be performed at the cad of the week. (Photo by J. (yle Wyatt) Thetwo.wcck sessionendedforamotip of children when they performed their Pow•Wow skit In the Union Station. Each group performed a skit they worked on throughout the two weeks.(Photo by J. Kyle Wyatt) SUMMER ADVENTURE rrr 13

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tit A hn Fulkerson, a 1992 K-State graduate in horticulture, returned to school as a non-traditional stu- dent to learn to grow the unusual. After working seven years in sales, the former landscape archi- tecture major, purchased his own farm. On his eight acreslocated eastof Manhattan, Fulkcrson started Pep- per Pond Farm. The pride of Fulkerson ' s farm, as the name indi- cated, was his peppers. The farm ' s 1,000 plants, representing 30 different varieties,were sold to restaurants, su- pennarkets and farm- ers markets. Peppers are an up- and-coming food, he are trulygaining in popu- larity. People will be cooking with chilli peppers more and more. The peppers were rated on dif- ferent levels,accordingtotheirheat Each pepper was given a number from zero to 10, with 10 being the hottest. Pepper Pond Farm had ev- ery level of pepper, and Fulkerson said he grew the world ' s hottest pepper. It was the habanero pepper which had a ratingof 10. Fulkerson said a bite as small as one-eighth of a dime would bum a taster ' s mouth. One of Fulkerson ' s favorite was hisdatil pepper sauce, Bottled Hell. It is excellent on meat, tacos and corn chips, Fulkerson said. The name, Bottled Hell, fits per- fectly because it is blasting hot. Fulkerson ' s commitment has earned the support of one observer. Ile ' s dedicated to what he ' s doing, saidConnie,Fulkerson ' s wife and K-State employee, and he ' s dedicated to the organic method. A great deal ofcare was required to keep the peppers healthy. It (the farm) is a time commit- ment, Fulkerson said. it takes hundreds of hours to keep up with the peppers. Living in the country, the Fulkersons found they had differ- ent worries than in the city. In town when it hails, you ' re worried about the roof or the car, Connie Fulkerson said. Here, it ' s the vegetables. When thunderstorms ap- proached, Fulkerson was nervous. The time commitment and fi- nancial obligation made Fulkerson unsure of the farm ' s future. When you work hard on some- thing, you hope there is a payoff, he said We went into this project blindly, and it has sure been a rich experience. He hoped to continue fanning on a part-time basis. He said the customer interaction was his favor- ite part of the job. I have learned a lot from the customers, and I hope they have learned a lot about peppers, he said. I sure hope that next year they don ' t ask, ' where ' s the pepper mane Fulkerson said his education didn ' t stop after he received his diploma. He said here was a differ- ence between growing 10 plants in class and 1,000 plants on his farm. I think I got a good education at K.State, he said. But just be- cause you have a degree doesn ' t mean you know everything. You need to get your hands dirty and make mistakes. To watch a crop destroyed in a matter of minutes is not a fun thing, Fulkerson said. It ' s given me a different perspective on what farmers go through. BY CHAD CLEMENT AND KIM HAMER VEGETABLES in 15