VOA慢速英语2012--In the Garden: Growing Your Own Lettuce（在线收听）

Agriculture Report - In the Garden: Growing Your Own Lettuce

农业报道 - 自己在菜园子里种生菜

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。

MIRANDA (TV's "Sex and the City"): "I'll start with a salad with extra blue-cheese dressing, thank you."

米兰达（美剧“欲望都市”片段）：“开胃菜来份沙拉，多加蓝芝士调味酱，谢谢。”

Many people have lettuce in a salad at the beginning of a meal. The ancient Egyptians and Romans had it at the end. Either way, gardening experts say lettuce is one of the easiest vegetables to grow in a garden.

很多人吃饭前先吃生菜沙拉，古埃及和古罗马人把生菜沙拉放到最后。总之，园艺专家说生菜是菜园子里最容易种植的蔬菜之一。

There are hundreds of kinds of head and leaf lettuces besides the most popular choices, like iceberg, Boston, bibb and romaine. The best time to plant the seeds is during cool weather. Gardening advisers at the University of Illinois Extension say the best planting temperature is fifteen degrees Celsius.

除了最为常见的卷心生菜、波士顿生菜、比布生菜和长叶生菜之外，还有数百种不同种类的球生菜和叶生菜。凉爽天气是播种的最佳时间。伊利诺伊大学推广部门的园艺顾问表示，播种的最佳温度是摄氏15度。

You can use a seed tray to start the seeds indoors. The container should be deep enough to hold at least three centimeters of soil. Leave about one centimeter of space between the soil and the top of the container. The container should have holes in the bottom so extra water can flow out.

你可以用播种盘在室内播种，容器的深度要至少可以容纳3厘米高的土壤。在土壤和容器口之间保留1厘米空间，容器底部要有小洞，以便多余水分排出。

Cover the seeds lightly with soil. If the soil is not already a little wet, give it some water, but not too much. Too much water could drown the seeds.

在种子表面轻轻撒上一层土。如果土壤不够湿润就洒点水，但不要洒得太多，水太多会把种子淹坏。
　

Lettuce at a supermarket in Switzerland. Why buy when you could grow it yourself?

Next, cover the seed tray with paper. Remove the paper when the seedlings are tall enough to touch it. You can transplant the seedlings into the garden when they are about two to three centimeters tall. Do this when the weather is not too hot and not too cold.

然后，用纸把播种盘盖上。当幼苗长到快接触到纸的时候把纸拿掉。等幼苗长到两三厘米高时就可以移栽到菜园里了。移栽时温度要适宜。

Take out as much of the soil as you can with the seedlings. Plant them in the ground in a hole that is bigger than the lettuce roots. Keep the plants watered, but not too heavily.

移栽幼苗时尽量多带些土，在地上挖个比生菜根大一点的洞，将幼苗种下。要勤浇水，但是不要浇得太多。

Planting seeds every week or two will provide a continuous supply of lettuce to harvest.

每一两周播种一次就可以保证生菜的持续供应。

Harvest leaf lettuces when the leaves are big enough to eat. Pull the leaves from the outside of the plant so the inner leaves will keep growing. Or cut off the whole plant but leave about two or three centimeters so it will regrow. Cut off head lettuces at ground level.

当叶子长到能食用的时候，就可以采摘叶生菜了。把生菜外面的叶子摘下来，这样里面叶子能继续生长。或者，你可以把整颗生菜割下来，但是在地面上留2到3厘米的根茎，这样生菜就能重新长出来。如果是球生菜，就沿着地平面割下来。

Lettuce is best when served fresh. The remainder should be stored in a refrigerator in a plastic bag.

新鲜的生菜是最好的，剩下的生菜应该用塑料袋装好放入冰箱保存。

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Do you grow lettuce or other greens in your garden? Share your gardening stories at voanews.cn, where people can read, listen and learn English and much more. You can also find us at the VOA Learning English page on Facebook and in the podcasts section on iTunes. I'm Karen Leggett.