《菜园里的乐趣》

作者、中文朗诵：苏玉蓉

英文朗诵：大卫佩奇

       每天早晨，顾不上吃早饭，就先下地干活，浇水，施肥，锄草，扶枝，搭架子等等总要忙上一阵儿。傍晚太阳落山后，给前园后园浇水也要一小时左右，常常忙得满头大汗，却心满意足。

        一场大雨之后，我可以“农闲”了。望着雨后一阵疯长的菜园，仿佛像一年级的学生一夜之间跳级进了三年级，着实喜人。走进菜园一串串密密麻麻的西红柿，架子上带刺的小黄瓜，毛茸茸的小冬瓜，碧绿细长的丝瓜，和各种各样的蔬菜都争先恐后地向我炫耀着它们的姿态。看着亲手种下的蔬菜长势茂盛，心里流淌着喜悦，总忍不住拍上几张照片分享给好友，这种喜悦之情不参与其中自然是体会不到的。

       转眼夏天到了，清晨迎着徐徐升起的朝阳，迎面吹来凉爽的晨风，闻着扑面而来的各种花香，菜香混合着泥土特有的清香，不由让人神清气爽，倍感舒畅，干起活来也就不觉得累。几只蜜蜂，蝴蝶在菜园里萦绕翻飞，凝听鸟儿声声歌唱，顺手从架子上摘下一个顶花带刺的黄瓜，那种清香，生脆是走遍全城的菜市场都买不到的。

       每天到菜园里转一圈总能采到七，八个大西红柿，一满蓝子豆角，或一些鲜绿的蔬菜。我的小菜园简直像个聚宝盆，从六月到十月基本不用买菜，不仅自给自足，还要分享给朋友和邻居。左右邻舍互通有无，交流着种菜的经验，分享着丰收的喜悦。总之，有些菜丰收的叫你发愁，后来听说西红柿可以冻在冰箱里，冬天可以用来煲汤。豆角用开水焯一下，冰冻起来，冬季里解冻后，炒出来一样青绿好吃。还有人说开水焯过的豆角用针线串起来晒干，冬天可以煮红烧肉，红烧鸡。这些方法我都学着做了，确实味美，餐桌上一片赞美声。

       前园的花草除浇水之外，也要定期打整。虽劳动辛苦，但优美的环境令人心旷神怡。身居闹市，却闹中幽静，颇有一种“采菊东篱下，悠然见南山”的感觉。很享受这种闲逸的生活，这也许就是在城里当“小地主”的乐趣吧。

Pleasure in my Garden   

Author: Su Yurong

In the city of Toronto, even smaller houses have enough space in the front and back yards to grow plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables, to beautify the environment, and to enrich your life.

My vegetable garden is not big, but it has a lot of variety. I grow pumpkins, loofah, winter melon, cucumber, gassho melon, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, lettuce, millet, green beans, sweet potato, leek, green onion, and garlic – all planted in my small garden.  I use every space. Perilla, fennel and mint are also planted in all the corners and extra spaces in my garden. As well, leeks and mint are perennial vegetables, that I planted one year, and now they come back to grow every year.

Every morning, instead of eating breakfast, I first go to work in my vegetable garden, watering, fertilizing, weeding, and creating supports and trellises for the branches of the growing plants.  In the evening, after the sun sets, I am back outside, as it takes me about an hour to water the front and the back garden.

After a heavy rain, I can enjoy a day of easy farming. Looking at the vegetable garden after the rain, the healthiness of the plants is so gratifying – I see densely packed tomatoes, thorny cucumbers on the trellis, fluffy winter melons, green and slender loofahs, and all kinds of vegetables showing their vitality to me. Watching these vegetables grow, fills my heart with joy.  I can't help but take a few photos to share with my friends. Yet this kind of joy cannot be fully experienced without participating in the gardening experience.

Now it is summer in Toronto. The sun rises early in the morning, and the cool wind blows on the face, bringing the sweet scent of various flowers. The rich smell of vegetables mixed with the earthy fragrance of the soil is so invigorating.  I feel so comfortable, never feeling tired when working in the garden. My garden is full of bees buzzing, and multi-coloured butterflies fluttering and lingering in the vegetable garden. Listening to the singing of the birds, I picked a prickly cucumber with small flowers, straight off the vine - the kind of fragrant green cucumber that can’t be bought in the vegetable market.

Every day I can pick seven or eight large tomatoes, one full basket of green beans, and many other fresh green vegetables. My small vegetable garden is like a cornucopia. From June to October, I basically do not need to buy vegetables. And vegetables that grow from my own toil, are so much more gratifying and fresher than those that are store bought. My cucumber off the vine crunches with freshness!  The garden is not only self-sufficient, but I also share with friends and neighbors. Neighbors on the left and right communicate with each other, sharing the experience of planting vegetables, and sharing the joy of harvest.

Some vegetables have such a bumper harvest that I worry about what I might do with it all!  I heard that tomatoes can be frozen in the refrigerator and used for soup in the winter. I can boil the beans with boiling water, freeze them, and thaw them in the winter, they will be as green and delicious when they are cooked. Some people say that boiled beans can be strung on threads to dry, and they can be cooked in braised pork and braised chicken in winter. I am learning these methods, and I must say the beans are really delicious.

In addition to watering, the flowers and plants in the front garden should also be regularly trimmed. Although the labor is hard, the beautiful environment makes a person  feel relaxed and happy. I am living in a busy city, but it is all quiet and relaxing in my peaceful garden.

This feeling recalls the ancient Chinese poem – that here is a feeling of "picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, leisurely, and seeing distant Nanshan come into view".

作者、中文朗诵介绍

英文主播介绍

大卫  佩奇：老师，作家，社区素养教育者。担任教师和社区负责人已有30多年。 他写过很多早期幼儿教育的书，并为早期幼儿教育领域提供了许多教学资源。由于他杰出的工作而被授予安大略省副州长奖。