AGRICULTURE REPORT - Growing Unusual Vegetables

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Growing Unusual Vegetables
By Bob Bowen

Broadcast: Tuesday, February 15, 2005

I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Farmers might think the idea of growing food for fun sounds strange. But there are some people who do it all the time.

They grow some vegetables because their natural color or shape is pleasing to see. They grow others because scientists have developed new colors or different sizes for traditional vegetables.

One example is the bell pepper. Seed companies sell seeds for several different kinds of bell peppers. One pepper is a weak yellow color when it begins to grow. Then its color changes to white. As it grows, it changes color two more times -- to orange, then red.

If you are not interested in peppers that change colors as they grow, you can grow some that remain one color. You can try chocolate-colored peppers. Or purple. Or lavender ones. Each kind of pepper has its own special taste.

For the best possible taste, however, peppers should be left on the vine¹ for two or three weeks after they appear ready. This gives them full flavor² and greatly increases the vitamins they contain.

Another unusual plant is known as the yard-long bean, asparagus bean, dow ghok or snake bean. It grows up to one meter in length. It is an important part of the food supply in areas of Asia.

American farmers like it because it is different, yet tastes very much like the green beans they traditionally grow. Each bean has from ten to twenty seeds. The outside or pod can be eaten. Some of the very long beans are green outside but have black-and-white or red seeds.

Gourds⁴ are plants that people like to grow because of the many different shapes. They also have many uses.

Some round gourds are dried, painted and made into containers. Others have long necks and big bodies. These are dried, cut and made into containers to pour drinking water.

A kind of gourd³ called the luffa is used to make sponges⁵. When it is fully⁶ grown, it is removed from the vine and permitted to dry for a few weeks.

The gourd is placed in water for a few hours. The outer shell is then removed. The gourd is placed in the sun to dry. When it is fully dry, it is cut into pieces for use as sponges. Luffa sponges have a rough surface. They can be used to clean away dead skin cells, which makes them a popular skin-care product.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Bob Bowen. I'm Gwen Outen.

1 vine   

n.葡萄树；蔓；藤

参考例句：

• The vine twines round the tree.这藤盘绕在树干上。
• There is a vine yard before the hill.山前有一个葡萄园。

2 flavor   

n.味，滋味，味道；风味；vt.调味，加味于

参考例句：

• I like the flavor of chocolate.我喜欢巧克力的味道。
• Each flavor was totally unique.每一种味道都是独一无二的。

3 gourd   

n.葫芦

参考例句：

• Are you going with him? You must be out of your gourd.你和他一块去？你一定是疯了。
• Give me a gourd so I can bail.把葫芦瓢给我，我好把水舀出去。

4 gourds   

n.葫芦( gourd的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Dried gourds are sometimes used as ornaments. 干葫芦有时用作饰品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The villagers use gourds for holding water. 村民们用葫芦盛水。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 sponges   

n.海绵( sponge的名词复数 )；海绵动物

参考例句：

• Sponges absorb water. 海绵吸水。 来自辞典例句
• Ice bags and alcohol sponges help to reduce fever, especially in children. 用冰袋和洒精擦浴有助于降体温，尤其是对儿童。 来自辞典例句

6 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。