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It is not only pleasure sending me back to stare at that plot of soil, it is really conflict. The question is the same each year—what method should we use? The last few years we put 36-inch-wide black plastic between the rows, and it worked perfectly, keeping the soil moist in dry times and weed-free.
使我回去凝视这块土地的不仅是快乐，更是内心的矛盾。每年的问题都是相同的：我们应该采用什么方法来种植这块地呢？前几年我们是在各垄之间铺上36英寸宽的黑色塑料膜，效果很好，即使干旱的日子也可以使土壤保持湿润，还遏制了杂草的生长。
But black plastic looks so industrial, so unromantic, that I have gradually moved over to hay mulch. We cut a lot of hay and, as it rots, it does improve the soil's composition. Besides, it looks lovely, and comes to us free.
但是黑色塑料膜看起来太工业化了，又太不浪漫，我渐渐改用干草覆盖在上面。我们割下许多干草，当它们腐烂时，的确可以使土壤更加肥沃。而且，它们赏心悦目，还是免费的。
Keeping a garden makes you aware of how delicate, bountiful, and easily ruined the surface of this little planet is. In that 50-by-70-foot patch there must be a dozen different types of soil. Tomato won't grow in one part but loves another, and the same goes for the other crops. I suppose if you loaded the soil with chemical fertilizer these differences would be less noticeable, but I use it sparingly and only in rows right where seeds are planted rather than broadcast over the whole area. I'm not sure why I do this beyond the saving in fertilizer and my unwillingness to aid the weeds.
经营一个菜园你就会感觉到地球这颗小行星的表面有多脆弱、多富庶，又是多么容易被毁坏。在这块50英尺宽、70英尺长的菜地中，必然会有许多不同类型的土壤。番茄在一个地方不爱生长，在另一个地方却长得很好，其他作物也一样。我想，如果给土壤施上化肥，这种差别就不会那么明显了，我对化肥的使用量并不大，只撒在有种子的田垄上，而不是撒满整片地。除了节省肥料、不愿助长杂草之外，我不知道我为什么要这样做。
