时间:2019-01-13 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2012年(三月)


英语课

Hydroponic Farmer Produces Year-Round Harvest


Mary Ellen Taylor sells her produce at weekend farmers markets near Washington, D.C. The heads of lettuce 1, still attached to their roots, are popular and she has many repeat customers.


“The lettuce just tastes fabulous," says Betsy Kulick, one of her regulars. "We can come here year round even in January, February and March. The lettuce is very green and tastes just as good then as it does in summer.”
Taylor grows the lettuce and other salad greens on her family farm in Loudoun County, Virginia, about 80 kilometers from Washington. She grows the food plants in a greenhouse, without any soil, on a diet of nutrient-rich water.
It's called hydroponic farming. Although the technique has been around for thousands of years, it has filled a very small niche 2 in modern agriculture, especially in the United States, where large tracts 3 of land and other resources are available. 
Taylor harvests 4,000 heads of lettuce weekly in her two hydroponic greenhouses all year round. That's why she named her farm Endless Summer Harvest. She has a dozen part-time employees and frequent visitors from around the world. 
“Several weeks ago an investor 4 group from Botswana came to visit with us," Taylor says. "We had farmers from Afghanistan here that were visiting, because this would be an ideal controlled environment to bring to Afghanistan where the climate is so harsh."
Taylor's hydroponic crops are protected from the harsh elements from planting to harvest.
It starts with seeds being planted in the nursery. After they germinate 5, the little plants stay in the nursery for two weeks. Then they're moved to a greenhouse and placed into gutters 6, where they'll grow to market size.
They're nourished sustainably, using recycled water.
“The tank has 600 gallons [2000 liters] of water with nutrients," Taylor says. "It continuously flows in and out of that tank after it has gone through the system and all of the plants’ roots.” 
According to Taylor, the two greenhouses take up a little over 1,000 square meters of land but produce the equivalent of a conventional five-hectare farm.
“We have established that it is so productive on small pieces of land," Taylor says, "that it can be closer to major metropolitan 7 areas.” 
Besides farmers markets, Taylor sells her fresh produce to specialty 8 grocery stores. 
“It is incredibly popular," says Don Rodon, owner of The Organic Butcher of McLean. "We have a great following.” 
At 1789, a restaurant in Washington, D.C., chef Anthony Lombardo uses the hydroponic lettuces 9 in his signature salads.
“They [the clients] really like the salad a lot," he says. "We get a lot of positive feedback about the salad.”
And that's translating into brisk business for hydroponic farmer Taylor.
“People are so into buying local food. Ninety percent of Americans eat lettuce every day. Our business, while other businesses are tanking, is just exploding," she says. "We are a retail 10 farm phenomenon here in America.” 
Taylor, who enjoys being known as "the lettuce lady," plans to double the size of her farm this year.

n.莴苣;生菜
  • Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿,我好做色拉。
  • The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。
n.壁龛;合适的职务(环境、位置等)
  • Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
  • The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。
大片土地( tract的名词复数 ); 地带; (体内的)道; (尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的)短文
  • vast tracts of forest 大片大片的森林
  • There are tracts of desert in Australia. 澳大利亚有大片沙漠。
n.投资者,投资人
  • My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
  • The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。
v.发芽;发生;发展
  • Seeds will not germinate without water.没有水,种子是不会发芽的。
  • Can thin and hollow seeds germinate?瘦瘪的种子能够发芽吗?
(路边)排水沟( gutter的名词复数 ); 阴沟; (屋顶的)天沟; 贫贱的境地
  • Gutters lead the water into the ditch. 排水沟把水排到这条水沟里。
  • They were born, they grew up in the gutters. 他们生了下来,以后就在街头长大。
adj.大城市的,大都会的
  • Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
  • Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。
n.(speciality)特性,特质;专业,专长
  • Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
  • His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。
n.莴苣,生菜( lettuce的名词复数 );生菜叶
  • My lettuces have gone to seed. 我种的莴苣已结子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Are these lettuces home-grown or did you buy them in the market? 这些生菜是自家种的呢,还是你在市场上买的? 来自辞典例句
v./n.零售;adv.以零售价格
  • In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
  • These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。
学英语单词
active trimming
activity restart cycle
Advertisement Regulation Act
Andaman Islands, Andamans
average-weight
beamtherapy
binomial distribution probability
Boselaphus
break release
break-even price
Bretton Woods Monetary Agreement
Briterlich variable radius technique
Changsando
channel address half word table
choga
cigar wrapping
Cinnopropazone
cluster spring
coal storage yard
contractual forum
coriandrol
Cremanthodium angustifolium
cross software
crownhills
crucilly
diagnoser
docuhistory
Donghai
double venturi tube
driving motion
ease someone out
epigenetic mineral
every two years
fate of particles
functional density
GDP dissociation inhibitor
general inquiry
General of the Army
grays in silicon
h. h. munroes
Hanke-Koessler's tests
heldover
heteromorphous combination
hormonagoga
HTML
image-motion compensator
instantaneous error of rotation
Itapicuru
kemmons
kertzmen
kroeng
lanagan
lasta
letter stock
Lord High Chancellor
lubricating oil starting pump
mark of the beast
Mitreola
morphoanatomically
negative viscosity
noninterlocked area
only the good die young
options tariff
oral bundle
parenchyma strand
pecornut
Pedicularis siphonantha
pennorth, pennorth
phosphor laser
placodes
plant colo(u)ring matters
plug-ins
Pyrularia sinensis
reacton turbine
receiving-departure yard
reindustrialising
remote readout
rosies
rotary cultivator
s phenomenon Bordet
schmoozer
scumbered
sideelevation
sight feed siphon lubricator
single-chip
solar satellite
solvd
spot trading
Strait of Hormuz
superior phrenic arteries
tensile
tubular resistance
tyre building
ultraphysical
under-the-counters
uniform divergence
uraeotyphlids
wood-hen
Working Tax Credit
X car
xylariopsis uenoi