菜园:自己种生菜

    This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。

    Some people like to start their dinner with a salad of lettuce or other leafy greens. Ancient Egyptians and Romans also liked to have lettuce with their evening meal. But they served it at the end.
    有些人喜欢晚餐中用生菜沙拉或者其他绿叶蔬菜做开胃菜。古埃及和古罗马人也喜欢在晚餐中吃生菜,但是他们把生菜放在最后。

    There are hundreds of kinds of head and leaf lettuces. The most popular ones include head lettuces such as iceberg, Boston, bibb and romaine.
    球生菜和叶生菜的种类有几百种,最常见的生菜包括:卷心生菜、波士顿生菜、比布生菜和长叶生菜。

    Experts say lettuce is one of the easiest vegetables to grow in your garden. The best time to plant the seeds is during cool weather. Advisers at the University of Illinois Extension say the best planting temperature is fifteen degrees Celsius.
    专家称,生菜是菜园里最易种植的蔬菜之一,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。

    Lettuce seeds are small, so do not place them too deep in the ground. If you plant some seeds every week or two, you will have harvests ready to eat one after another.
    生菜的种子小,所以不要在土里埋得太深,如果每一到两周播一些种子,你将能得到源源不断的生菜供应。

    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.
    你可以用播种盘在室内播种,容器的深度要至少可以盛下3厘米高的土。

    There should be 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.
    在土壤与容器口要有1厘米的空间,容器底部要有小洞,以便多余水分排出。

    Drop the seeds over the surface and cover them lightly with soil. If the soil is not already a little wet, give it some water. But not too much -- you do not want to drown the seeds.
    在土壤表层撒上种子,然后轻轻盖上一层土。如果土不够湿润就洒点水,但别洒太多--不要把种子淹坏。

    Next, cover the seed tray with paper. Remove the paper when the seedlings have grown up far 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2到3厘米高的时候就可以移栽到菜园里了,但是移栽时温度要适宜。

    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,但是不要浇太多。

    Harvest leaf lettuces when the leaves are big enough to eat. Pull the leaves from the outside of the planting so the inside leaves will keep growing. Or, you can cut off the whole plant. Leave about two or three centimeters above the ground so the plant will re-grow. 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,你可以把整个生菜割下来,在地面上留2到3厘米的根茎,这样生菜还能重新生长。如果是结球生菜,就沿着地平面割下来。

    Lettuce is best when served fresh. Store the remainder in the refrigerator in a plastic bag. It will last a few days and sometimes longer.
    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,可以保存几天甚至更长时间。