Growing Tomatoes (a georgic)

To grow tomatoes one needs fertilize the soil
Five pounds per hundred square feet, five pounds of limestone,
then mix them into the top layer of the soil.
Choose robust dark-green seedlings only, and choose short.
Plant in rows four feet apart.  Don't plant when it's cold,
they're killed by frost, when it's 32º or below.
They need an inch of water a week, and eight hours
of sun each day.  You can apply mulch to control
the weeds.  Farmers, don't forget to pray for showers
and praise the sun and the moon and the blameless soul
of the universe so that your plants grow in full.