32 建造屋顶花园

DATE=6-5-01 
TITLE=AGRICULTURE REPORT - Building Rooftop Gardens  
BYLINE=Bob Bowen 

（Start at 59" ）This is Bill White with the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT.  
(1)Rooftop gardening is popular in many countries.  It provides a way for people without land to grow food.  We will (2)describe how you can build a rooftop garden. And we will tell which kinds of vegetables you can grow there.  A private American group developed the rooftop gardening (3)method in the early Nineteen-Eighties.  The group is Educational Concerns for Hunger (4)Organization, known as ECHO.  It is based in North Fort Myers, (5)Florida.  
The idea was to help people living in cities who do not have land to grow crops.  ECHO developed a way people in cities can grow their own fresh vegetables. 
The ECHO directions say four things are necessary.  You need a roof strong enough to support the weight of a small garden.  You need grass cuttings in which to plant your garden.  You need a thin piece of (6) plastic on which to spread the cut grass.  And you need four pieces of wood to build a box. 
You begin by testing your roof to make sure it is strong enough.  Then you cut and collect some grass.  You cover the roof with a thin piece of plastic.  Then you build a box from the four pieces of wood. The box has no top or bottom.  It should be about eight (7)centimeters deep.  It can be as long and as wide as needed. Place the box on top of the sheet of plastic.  Then fill it with the cut grass.  Water the grass and push it down by walking on it.  After about three weeks, the roof top box is ready for planting. 
Put the seeds directly into the wet grass.  It is important that the grass is kept wet until the plants begin to grow.  When the plants are growing, you will need to water them every day unless it rains.  And they will need some (8)liquid (9) fertilizer. You can make your own liquid fertilizer if you can get waste from chickens.  Put the chicken waste in a cloth bag.  Then put the bag in a big (10) container of water.  After about one week, the water becomes a good liquid fertilizer. 
Rooftop gardens need a lot of water.  And birds and insects must be prevented from eating the seeds or new plants. 
The rooftop garden is a good place to grow peas, tomatoes, (11) beans, onions and (12) lettuce.  If the box is deep enough, potatoes and (13) carrots also will grow. 
This VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT was written by Bob Bowen.
This is Bill White.

(1)		rooftop n.屋顶
(2)		describe [ dis5kraib ]v.描述
(3)	method [5meWEd]n.方法
(4)	organization [ 7C:^Enai5zeiFEn ]n.组织, 机构, 团体
(5)	Florida [ 5flCridE ]n.佛罗里达(美国州名)
(6)	plastic [ `plAstik] n.塑胶, 可塑体, 塑料制品, 整形 adj.塑胶的, 塑造的
(7)	centimeter [5sentImi:tEr(r)]n.厘米
(8)	liquid [ 5likwid ] adj.液体的
(9)	fertilizer [ `f[:ti9laizE] n.肥料 
(10)	container [k[n`tein[] n.容器(箱,盆,罐,壶,桶,坛子)
(11)	bean [bi:n] n.豆, 豆形果实
(12)	lettuce [ `letis] n.[植]莴苣, 生菜, 苦菜类
(13)	carrot [ `kArEt] n.胡萝卜