|
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
vine for two or three weeks after they appear ready. This gives them full
flavor 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 10 to 20
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.
Gourds 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 gourd called the
luffa is used to make sponges.
When it is fully 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. | 
