Home Gardens, Part 3

By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: September 23, 2003

This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Today we finish our series on home gardens.
One of the hardest parts can be caring for young plants early in the growing season. If the weather gets unusually cold, cover the garden at night to avoid damage.
Vegetable gardens need at least two-and-a-half centimeters of water each week. If the soil feels dry to a depth of about four or five centimeters, your garden needs water. Water early in the day. Use enough water to go deep in the soil. Soil with a lot of sand may need water more often.
People love fresh vegetables. So do insects and animals. You can surround a small garden with wire fence material. This may not keep out birds or some digging animals, but it can reduce unwanted visitors.
You can remove harmful insects by hand. If you want to use poisons, be extremely careful. Follow all the safety directions.
There is another way to fight insects. Avoid planting a crop in the same place every year. Insects lay eggs in the soil, so they reappear yearly¹. Moving a crop from place to place in the garden can keep insects away from the plants they like to eat.
To reduce garden work, spread eight to ten centimeters of 1)mulch under and around vegetables. Mulch can be made of tree 2)bark or almost any vegetable material -- even pages of newspaper. Mulch will help limit the growth of weeds and hold water in the soil. Mulch also provides fertilizer² as it breaks down. You can talk to an agricultural adviser³ about other fertilizers⁴ to add to the soil.
Harvest vegetables during the cool part of the morning if possible. Here is advice for some popular kinds:
Harvest beans and peas when they have grown full, bright and green. Do not wait too long.
Heads of 3)broccoli⁵ should be harvested before any yellow flowers appear. More growth will develop later, for a continuous⁶ harvest.
Some greens like 4)collards, 5)mustard⁷ and 6)spinach⁸ produce more leaves after a first harvest. They will continue to grow all season.
Pick green onions when they reach the desired size. Pick other onions when their top leaves turn yellow.
A home garden can be hard work for several months. But a good crop is the best reward.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter. Thanks again to Larry Bass⁹ from the North Carolina State University Extension¹⁰ Service for his advice. And you can find all our reports on our Web site, voaspecialenglish .com. This is Steve Ember.
注释：
1) mulch [mQltF] n.覆盖，覆盖物
2) bark [bB:k] n.树皮
3) broccoli [5brCkEli] n.椰菜
4) collard [5kClEd] n.（植）羽衣甘蓝，羽衣甘蓝叶
5) mustard [5mQstEd] n.芥菜
6) spinach [5spinidV] n.菠菜

1 yearly   

adj.每年的，一年一度的；adv.一年一次地

参考例句：

• The flower show is a yearly event in our town.我们镇上的花展一年举行一次。
• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。

2 fertilizer   

n.肥料，化肥

参考例句：

• Fertilizer enriches the soil.肥料使土壤肥沃。
• Get some more fertilizer for the garden.给花园再多施些肥料。

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 fertilizers   

肥料，化肥( fertilizer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the long-term effects of fertilizers 肥料的长远影响
• Crushed bones make one of the best fertilizers. 骨粉是最佳肥料之一。

5 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。

6 continuous   

adj.继续的，连续的，持续的，延伸的

参考例句：

• She finally got in after 10 years'continuous effort.坚持不懈地努力了十年后，她终于当选了。
• We must be continuous to study.我们必须不断学习。

7 mustard   

n.芥子，芥末，深黄色，强烈的兴趣，热情的人

参考例句：

• This meat should be seasoned with salt and mustard.这肉里应该加点盐和芥末调味。
• This mustard is hot enough to bite your tongue.这种芥末很辣，你的舌头会吃不消的。

8 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。

9 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

10 extension   

n.伸长，扩大，伸展；延长，延期；延长部分，扩大部分；电话分机

参考例句：

• The pupils disliked the extension of the term.小学生们不愿延长学期。
• Our extension is nearly finished.我们的扩建部分已接近完工。