Let Us Plant Lettuce…
Experts say the green vegetable is one of the easiest to grow in your garden. Transcript of radio broadcast:
27 April 2009
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Growing lettuce
Even in ancient times, people liked to eat lettuce. Egyptians and Romans served the green, leafy vegetable at the end of dinner.
Now, people in some countries start the meal with lettuce as part of a salad. There are hundreds of kinds of lettuce. The main ones include head lettuce, such as iceberg, leaf lettuce, Boston, bibb and romaine.
Experts say lettuce is one of the easiest crops to grow in your garden. The best time to plant the seeds is during cool weather. The University of Illinois Extension advises that the best planting temperature is fifteen degrees Celsius.
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 crops ready to eat one after another.
To start the seeds inside, you can use a seed tray in your home or other shelter. This container should be deep enough to hold at least three centimeters of soil or more. 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 the extra water can flow out.
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 do not drown the seeds.
Next, cover the seed tray with paper. When the seedlings have come up far enough to touch the paper, take it off. 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.
Take out as much soil as you can with the seedlings. Then dig a hole in the ground bigger than the lettuce roots. Water the plants but not too heavily.
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.
Lettuce is best when served fresh, so make a salad and enjoy. Store the unused part in the refrigerator in a plastic bag. It will last at least a few days, sometimes longer.
And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. You can find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.
Growing Chili Peppers: A Heated Subject
Brighten up your salsa, soups and salads with homegrown chilies. Transcript of radio broadcast:
20 April 2009
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Chili peppers
Some people who like to eat very hot chili peppers say that they can help you breathe better if you have a cold. Others believe that chilies give you added energy. We cannot confirm those ideas. But we can tell you that people have been growing chilies for centuries, and there are many kinds.
In fact, a gardener at the Colorado State University Extension says there are between one hundred fifty and two hundred kinds of chili peppers.
Want to fire up your meals with homegrown chilies? They need a warm climate. If you plant the seeds outside when the weather is cool, place the seeds under a glass. That will add warmth from the sun and protect them from wind. You can also start the seeds in your home or a greenhouse.
If you plant inside, fill a seven and one-half centimeter pot with soil. The pot should have holes in the bottom so water can run out. Tap the sides of the pot to settle the soil.
Drop several seeds over the surface of the pot and cover with a thin layer of vermiculite, a substance that can hold air, water and nutrients. Then cover the top of the pot with a see-through plastic bag. Hold the bag in place with a rubber band. Place the pot in a warm area.
When the chilies start growing, take off the bag. When the plants have reached about two centimeters high, place each one carefully in its own seven and one-half centimeter pot.
When the roots show through the holes in the bottom of the pot, transplant each seedling into a twelve centimeter pot. When the plants are twenty centimeters high, tie the plants to a stick placed in the pot to support them.
When the chili peppers are thirty centimeters high, pinch the tops off with your fingers. That should make new branches grow. When the first flowers show, give the plants some potash fertilizer. When the weather is warm, put them into five-liter pots and place them outside. Make sure they get a good amount of light and water.
Some people like to harvest the plants when the chilies are green. Others like their chilies red. Both give color, taste and differing amounts of heat to salads, soups, salsa and other foods.
And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. You can find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports — and write comments — at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Bob Doughty.
Students Learn About Sustainable Agriculture
A few colleges in the United States provide hands-on experience in traditional farming. Transcript of radio broadcast:
13 April 2009
Correction attached
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Agroecology students from Goshen College
Agroecology students from Goshen College
Many colleges and universities in the United States provide education in agriculture. But only a few schools offer experience in traditional hands-on field work in addition to classes.
Sustainable agriculture is a major goal at these colleges. They teach the need for farming to improve the environment and make good use of natural resources. Students grow organic food and use as little fossil fuels and chemicals as possible.
Sterling College in Craftsbury Common, Vermont, is one of the colleges that supports sustainable agriculture. Students produce some of their own food. They prepare the soil for planting with their hands or simple tools. They do not use much big machinery that uses gasoline.
This month, students are making their own sugar and maple syrup. After liquid sap is taken from sugar maple trees, it goes to a sugarhouse where the sap is boiled. Students built the sugarhouse. The college farm has solar-powered barns, gardens, fruit trees, greenhouses and animals.
Sterling College President Will Wootton says the school’s Sustainable Agriculture Program includes pay for farm jobs. The money reduces the cost of the students’ education. The students care for steers, oxen, chickens, a turkey, goats and sheep. A pig and a guard llama also live on the farm.
Goshen College in Wolf Lake, Indiana, is another college teaching sustainable agriculture. In June, students at the Agroecology Summer Intensive Program begin taking courses like Introduction to Soils. Agroecology examines the connection between agricultural crops and the environment.
At the same time, Goshen students start nine weeks of work on the college’s farm. They will plant crops like collard greens, kale, tomatoes, lettuce and eggplant. They will mix leaves, animal waste and food waste from the college’s kitchens to make compost. The students use the mixture to fertilize the soil instead of buying chemical fertilizers that could harm the environment.
Professor Dale Hess directs Goshen College’s Environmental Education Collegiate Program. Professor Hess says a major value of sustainable agriculture is making good use of what you have. He says knowing how to do this may be especially valuable if fossil fuel should become unavailable. Professor Hess says food security is national security.
And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Bob Doughty.
Correction: A comment below points out two mistakes in this story. Wolf Lake, Indiana, is the location of Goshen College’s Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center, not the college itself, which is in Goshen, Indiana. Also, Dale Hess directs the collegiate program at the environmental learning center.
