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Alaska Accelerates Indoor Agriculture 阿拉斯加农业大爆发

What comes to mind when you think of Alaska? Probably snow. And ice. And extreme cold. But what about tomatoes?

当你想到阿拉斯加时脑海里会想到什么？可能是雪、冰、甚至是极端的寒冷。但是你会想到番茄吗？

In fact, agriculture is booming¹ in the 49th state. Because in the last seven years, nearly 700 giant greenhouses have popped up there, thanks to a program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service.

事实上，美国第49个州的农业正在蓬勃发展。因为在过去的7年里，那里出现了近700个大型温室，这还要感谢美国农业部自然资源保护署资助的一个项目。

\One greenhouse just outside Homer—an area better known for its halibut fishing—includes a tunnel packed with plants that produce fruits and vegetables that you’d expect to find on a dinner table closer to Mexico.

在因比目鱼而闻名的荷马地区附近有一个温室，那里有一条隧道，里面种植着能结出各种会在临近墨西哥地区的晚餐中出现的水果和蔬菜。

“Look at all those tomatoes back there… This is like the salsa tunnel…”

“快看那边的番茄……简直就像是一条萨尔萨辣酱铺成的隧道……”

“It is! It is! Come, come walk inside for a minute.”

“的确如此！快进来，进来转一转。”

“OK!”

“好！”

Farmer Donna Rae Faulkner. She guides me through rows of wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling greenery.

唐娜·瑞伊·福克纳是一位农民。她带着我穿过一面面排成排的、从地面到天花板都是绿色植物的温室。

“Yeah, this is the nightshades. So, all things nightshade: eggplants and peppers and tomatoes and tomatillos.”

“这就是茄属植物。它们全部都是：茄子、辣椒、番茄和还有绿番茄。”

And that’s her husband, Don McNamara.

这位是她的丈夫唐·麦克纳马拉。

With help from the sun, the inside of the tunnel becomes a region with what’s called a good hardiness² zone—a standard the USDA uses to describe places where certain plants grow best. Meaning that Alaskan farmers can grow everything from corn to melons. Such tunnels are reliably warm and they help extend the growing season so that even in January, when the sun is only up for about five hours along Alaska’s southern coast, Donna Rae Faulkner can still farm.

在阳光的照射下，隧道里成了一个非常好的耐寒区——美国农业部用来专指那些某些植物在该地长势最好的标准地区。这意味着阿拉斯加农民可以种从玉米到瓜果中的任何作物。这些隧道温度适宜，还有助于延长生长季节，甚至在一月份日照只有大约5小时的阿拉斯加南部沿海地区，唐娜?瑞伊?福克纳仍然可以耕作。

“Yeah, some of the Asian greens and kales and things like that can keep going through the winter. We often do covers within covers, so in addition to the high tunnel, which has a double layer of plastic, we might have, for instance, another low tunnel over those things in the winter time to give them the extra added protection.”

“一些亚洲蔬菜和甘蓝之类的蔬菜能经冬生长。我们经常在温室内部覆膜，所以除了拥有双层塑料保护膜的高高隧道外，冬天我们可能还会再加一个较低的隧道来给它们额外的保护。”

Community greenhouses have even popped up above the Arctic³ Circle in Alaska’s northernmost village, Barrow. That means Barrow residents can now farm for 11 months out of the year. But still not in January. Because that far north the sun never rises in January at all.

温室社区甚至出现在了阿拉斯加州最北端、位于北极圈内的巴罗村里。这就意味着巴罗村的居民一年可以耕作11个月，除了1月份——因为在如此遥远的北极地带太阳永远不会在1月份升起。