Hitchhiker Pepper: Dave Wurtz holds a pepper his grandson Marvin found in the pepper patch at Loreburn Farming on Sept. 25. Marvin thought it looked like a hitchhiker thumb, as Dave demonstrates, adding that he used to hitch his fair share of rides back in the day. Asked what causes a bell pepper to take such an unexpected turn, Dave said it was stress. Dave’s son Steve, who is garden manager at Loreburn Farming, said it was probably the cold weather that contributed to the misshapen vegetable. All the peppers at Loreburn Farming were picked last Wednesday in advance of freezing temperatures that were expected to hit the region Friday.