VOA慢速英语2021--如何延长你的园艺生长季节

How To Extend Your Growing Season

Depending on where you live, you may be having hot weather or cold. If you have a garden, you may be able to plan for the next growing season -- no matter where you live or what the temperature.

For people having summer, now might be a good time to plan for, and begin planting, vegetables that grow well in autumn weather. And if you are having cold temperatures, you might want to start planning for hot weather planting.

Lee Reich writes about gardening for The Associated Press. He has also written many books on gardening. He gives suggestions on how to plan for another growing season.

Many people who are in the middle of summer may think their vegetable gardening days are nearly over. But growing autumn vegetables is like having another whole growing season in the garden.

Reich says that hot weather makes some fruits and vegetables -- such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers -- taste wonderful. However, the same hot weather makes cool-weather vegetables -- such as spinach¹, lettuce², and peas -- tough and taste bitter.

Cool, slightly wet weather, he adds, brings out the best flavor in vegetables such as kale, broccoli³, and carrots. This is true even when temperatures go below freezing.

And the fall harvest season is long. With shorter days, there is no danger of such vegetables as spinach and Chinese cabbage going to seed. This is called "bolting." For example, broccoli and cauliflower plants stay tight until they are harvested.

Three promises

Reich gives specific advice for those now having summer.

Before planning for a harvest of autumn vegetables, Reich says to make these three promises.

The first promise is to maintain the nutrients⁴ in the soil. Most of the autumn's leafy vegetables are heavy feeders. And your garden has already had one growing season. So, Reich suggests adding fertilizer, lots of compost, or other organic matter to the soil.

The second promise is this: Do not forget to water. Seedlings⁵ beginning life in midsummer need lots of water. Natural rainfall and cooler temperatures will lessen⁶ the need for watering as autumn nears.

And the third promise: Spend a few minutes weeding regularly throughout the season. Summer weeds take up space that you could use for fall vegetables. They also compete for water and nutrients.

Next, timing⁷

To figure out when to start growing autumn vegetables, look on the seed containers for the "days to maturity⁸."

Cool weather and shorter days are going to greatly slow growth as fall approaches. So, count on any vegetable being ready for harvest around the time when cooler weather begins in your area, and days become regularly cooler.

For vegetables that you start growing inside and then transplant outside, add four weeks to that time. This is the time they would need to grow to the right size for transplanting.

First cool-weather planting

Depending on how soon cooler autumn weather arrives at your garden, now (or soon) may be the time to plant these vegetables: broccoli, endive, winter radishes, cabbage, carrots, beets⁹, and parsley. These all need a long time to mature.

Plant these seeds directly in the garden. You can also plant them in containers, then move them to their permanent homes outside in about a month.

Second cool-weather planting

Then a couple of weeks later, start planting lettuce, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and collards. For Chinese cabbages, make sure to check the days to maturity. Some types take only 50 days to mature. Some types take much longer.

Now, let's talk about autumn lettuce. This first planting of cool-weather lettuce should be the first of many. Every two weeks plant small amounts. Do this until about a month before the average date of your first frost. Reich says this should give you a constant supply of lettuce for your meals.

For this second planting, you might follow earlier plantings such as bush beans or sweet corn. Reich says that you can plant seeds in containers inside. Then transplant them about three weeks later.

The nice thing about using containers, he says, is that there is no need to plant a whole row at once. You can transplant outside to your garden as space becomes available.

Third cool-weather planting

You can continue planting even when cooler weather has begun to settle in. Directly in the ground, you can plant spinach, mustard, arugula, and turnips¹⁰.

When it is cold, it is often difficult to buy seeds at stores. If that is the case where you live, Reich says to order seeds by mail or online.

Words in This Story

tough – adj. not easily chewed

bitter -adj. having a strong and often unpleasant flavor that is the opposite of sweet

fertilizer – n. a substance (such as manure¹¹ or a special chemical) that is added to soil to help the growth of plants

compost - n. a decayed mixture of plants (such as leaves and grass) that is used to improve the soil in a garden

soil – n. the loose surface material of the earth in which plants grow

weed – v. to remove weeds from (an area of land, such as a garden)

maturity – n. the condition of being fully¹² developed

transplant – v. to lift and reset (a plant) in another soil or situation

1 spinach   

n.菠菜

参考例句：

• Eating spinach is supposed to make you strong.据说吃菠菜能使人强壮。
• You should eat such vegetables as carrot,celery and spinach.你应该吃胡萝卜、芹菜和菠菜这类的蔬菜。

2 lettuce   

n.莴苣；生菜

参考例句：

• Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿，我好做色拉。
• The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。

3 broccoli   

n.绿菜花，花椰菜

参考例句：

• She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
• They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的，而菜花都是白色的。

4 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 seedlings   

n.刚出芽的幼苗( seedling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ninety-five per cent of the new seedlings have survived. 新栽的树苗95%都已成活。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• In such wet weather we must prevent the seedlings from rotting. 这样的阴雨天要防止烂秧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。

7 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

8 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

9 beets   

甜菜( beet的名词复数 )； 甜菜根； （因愤怒、难堪或觉得热而）脸红

参考例句：

• Beets are Hank's favorite vegetable. 甜菜根是汉克最爱吃的蔬菜。
• In this enlargement, barley, alfalfa, and sugar beets can be differentiated. 在这张放大的照片上，大麦，苜蓿和甜菜都能被区分开。

10 turnips   

芜青( turnip的名词复数 )； 芜菁块根； 芜菁甘蓝块根； 怀表

参考例句：

• Well, I like turnips, tomatoes, eggplants, cauliflowers, onions and carrots. 噢，我喜欢大萝卜、西红柿、茄子、菜花、洋葱和胡萝卜。 来自魔法英语-口语突破（高中）
• This is turnip soup, made from real turnips. 这是大头菜汤，用真正的大头菜做的。

11 manure   

n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥

参考例句：

• The farmers were distributing manure over the field.农民们正在田间施肥。
• The farmers used manure to keep up the fertility of their land.农夫们用粪保持其土质的肥沃。

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。