How a Hoop House Can Extend the Growing Season

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Today we discuss the greenhouse effect.

Farmers and gardeners have long used greenhouses to extend the growing season in cold weather. Now, hoop houses are gaining popularity. Hoop houses are sometimes called a temporary greenhouse or passive solar greenhouse.

A hoop house is basically a metal frame covered with plastic or other all-weather material. A common design looks like a high tunnel. Unlike a greenhouse, which uses a heating system, a hoop house is heated by the warmth of the sun.

Now, the United States Department of Agriculture has announced a program to help farmers who want to build hoop houses.

The department, through its Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, has been supporting a project in Michigan. That state has a short growing season.

As part of the research project, nine farmers were given materials and trained how to build and use a hoop house. The results showed that well-managed hoop houses can grow high-quality crops.

However, crops are not the only things that grow well. The research found that weeds grow faster in a hoop house. Weeding, seeding and watering requires at least as much work as crops grown in the open air. The researchers also advise growers to add compost material to the soil in hoop houses to build nutrients.

Eliot Coleman is an organic farmer and a writer in Maine who has helped popularize the idea of four-season farming. His ideas about hoop houses sounded good to John Biernbaum in the Horticulture Department at Michigan State University.

Professor Biernbaum tried hoop houses on the Student Organic Farm at Michigan State and had success. Project director David Conner says it was a "test drive" for the research on private farms. The agricultural economist points to the demand for locally grown crops. "People are hungry for good, fresh vegetables," he says.

Hoop houses for winter growing can even be found at the White House, where Michelle Obama has a vegetable garden. The houses are small because of limited space on the South Lawn.

A hoop house specialist at Michigan State University, Adam Montri, has videos on YouTube explaining how to build one. You can go to 51voa.com and find a link to his videos and also a link to our videos on YouTube.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Bob Doughty.

译：

                                                     看拱形温室如何延长生长季

这里是美国慢速英语（VOA）农业报道。

今天谈论的是温室效应。

农民和园丁们长期在冬天使用温室大棚来延长植物生长季。如今，拱形温室越来越受欢迎。它有时也被称作临时温室或被动日光温室。

拱形温室是以金属为支架，上面覆盖塑料布或其他全天候材料制作而成。通常设计成像隧道一样的模样。和使用加热系统的温室不同，拱形温室是用太阳的照射来加热。

最近，美国农业部宣布了帮助有意愿的农民建造拱形温室的项目。

农业部通过州际研究，指导和推广服务来为密歇根州提供支持。密歇根州的生长季很短。

作为研究项目的一部分，九名农民获得了原材料并接受培训如何建造拱形温室。结果证明，获得良好管理的拱形温室里可以生长出高质量的庄稼。

不过，庄稼并不是唯一生长良好的作物。研究发现，在温室中，野草同样生长旺盛。而且，除草，播种和灌溉所需要的时间并不比在露天状态下少。研究员们建议种植者向拱形温室中添加堆肥以提供营养。

艾略特.库尔曼是缅因州一位种植有机作物的农民，同时也是一位作家。他帮助推广了非季节性农作物种植的方法。他的理念得到了密歇根州立大学园艺部的约翰.伯恩鲍姆的共鸣。

伯恩鲍姆教授在密歇根州学生有机农场试验拱形温室并取得了成功。项目负责人表示，这是该研究在私人农场上的”试驾”。农业经济学者指出了当地农作物种植的需求。他说到：”人们渴望得到优质新鲜的蔬菜。”

即使在白宫有一个用于冬季种植作物的拱形温室，米歇尔.奥巴马在那里有一个蔬菜园。当然，由于南草坪空间有限，该温室面积较小。

密歇根州立大学的拱形温室专家亚当.蒙蒂在YouTube网站上上传了关于如何建造拱形温室的视频。你可以在VOA.com网站找到该视频的链接，也可以在YouTube上找到我们的视频的链接。

这里是美国之声慢速英语农业报道，作者杰瑞森.沃特森。我是鲍勃.道蒂。