Organic Farming Intersects with Modern Technology

Broadcast: Mar¹ 17, 2003

 

Rain hits the ¹⁾shingles on the large covered porch that leads up to David Masumoto's farmhouse³. From the porch he can see 90-year-old ²⁾raisin ³⁾vineyards his family has tended since before he was born. In the distance there are rows of peach trees, waiting to be shaped by his ⁴⁾pruning⁴ shears⁵. The fruits of the fields and the stories behind them are something this 48-year-old farmer has made a life's work of sharing with others.

"We make our decisions on food based on memories," says Mr. Masumoto. "If we remember what a great tasting peach is like, then people will like my peaches. Because they may not look the prettiest but they have that wonderful flavor. And that's what I farm for, what I write for to try to connect people with these memories and stories."

David Masumoto grew up on this farm. His grandparents moved to the area from Japan around the turn of the century and worked in the fields. His parents planted the ⁵⁾grapevines. He went away to college, majored in sociology, and yet found himself drawn⁶ back to the family's rural land. The land is a familiar topic for Mr. Masumoto and is central to his newest book "four seasons in five senses, things worth savoring⁷." It's an extended personal essay that describes the process of growing, harvesting, selling and enjoying his prized organic peaches. At midday, the rain slows, then stops altogether. He walks a muddy road to his favorite peach ⁶⁾orchard. "These are, by peach standards, an old growth forest," he says. "My dad and I planted these trees in 1968, which is ancient, ancient, so there's this personal connection and I think that's what makes a family farm, maybe makes the work that I do different, because I have these personal memories, the sense of history that's part of the fields here."

These are Sun Crest⁸ peaches. And in an age when most farmers replace their trees with new varieties every decade or so, they're an old, some might say obsolete⁹ variety. They're fuzzier than newer types of peaches, but Mr. Masumoto says they're also much tastier. As an organic farmer, he sees himself working in harmony with nature, not trying to control it. He shares the farming experience with his readers and with his whole family, working the fields beside his 80-year-old father, teaching good farming practices to his teenage daughter and 11-year-old son.

"You feel a connection and a responsibility with the land to take care of it because you see generations on the land. I'm taking care of it like my dad took care of it for me," he says. "I'm taking care of it for my children or hopefully someone who would farm after me."

David Masumoto's sense of responsibility to the land means not using synthetic^{10 7)}fertilizers or ⁸⁾pesticides. Because he and his family live on the farm, he says growing organically just seemed like the right thing to do. "In 1985, I had our first child was born, and I distinctly remember as she was growing thinking about how the things I was spraying in the fields weren't very good for kids," he says.

Pulling pruning shears and a spool¹¹ of rope from a shed, he goes out to a block of young peach trees. As he clips off branches, Mr. Masumoto says he's making decisions now that will affect how the tree looks in a few months, and even a few decades. "It's really all about seeing the future," he says. "So when I look at this tree and how I want to prune¹² and shape it. You have to imagine how it's going to look in the summer and how really the sunlight is going to penetrate¹³ it, so as you're pruning in a wonderful way I'm feeling summer."

Soon the valley's winter fog will give way to warm sunlight and the peach trees on the Masumoto farm will bloom. Tiny fruits will appear. They'll grow, turning bright shades of red and gold. Then they'll be harvested and find their way to markets around the state and across the country.

For our word, I'm Tamara Keith, in Del Rey, California.

1)    shingle² [5FiN^l]n.鹅卵石,木瓦

2)    raisin[5reizn]n. 葡萄干

3)    vineyard[5vInjB:d]n. 葡萄园

4)    pruning shears  修枝、剪枝大剪刀

5)    grapevine[5^reipvain]n. 葡萄藤, 葡萄树

6)    orchard[5C:tFEd]n. 果园, 果园里的全部果树

7)    fertilizer[5fE:ti7laizE]n. 肥料(尤指化学肥料)

8)    pesticide[5pestisaid]n. 杀虫剂

 

1 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

2 shingle   

n.木瓦板；小招牌(尤指医生或律师挂的营业招牌)；v.用木瓦板盖（屋顶）；把（女子头发）剪短

参考例句：

• He scraped away the dirt,and exposed a pine shingle.他刨去泥土，下面露出一块松木瓦块。
• He hung out his grandfather's shingle.他挂出了祖父的行医招牌。

3 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

4 pruning   

n.修枝，剪枝，修剪v.修剪（树木等）( prune的现在分词 )；精简某事物，除去某事物多余的部分

参考例句：

• In writing an essay one must do a lot of pruning. 写文章要下一番剪裁的工夫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• A sapling needs pruning, a child discipline. 小树要砍，小孩要管。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 shears   

n.大剪刀

参考例句：

• These garden shears are lightweight and easy to use.这些园丁剪刀又轻又好用。
• With a few quick snips of the shears he pruned the bush.他用大剪刀几下子就把灌木给修剪好了。

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 savoring   

v.意味，带有…的性质( savor的现在分词 )；给…加调味品；使有风味；品尝

参考例句：

• Cooking was fine but it was the savoring that he enjoyed most. 烹饪当然很好，但他最享受的是闻到的各种味道。 来自互联网
• She sat there for a moment, savoring the smell of the food. 她在那儿坐了一会儿，品尝这些食物的香味。 来自互联网

8 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

9 obsolete   

adj.已废弃的，过时的

参考例句：

• These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了，在市场上卖不了高价。
• They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。

10 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

11 spool   

n.（缠录音带等的）卷盘（轴）；v.把…绕在卷轴上

参考例句：

• Can you wind this film back on to its spool?你能把这胶卷卷回到卷轴上去吗？
• Thomas squatted on the forward deck,whistling tunelessly,polishing the broze spool of the anchor winch.托马斯蹲在前甲板上擦起锚绞车的黄铜轴，边擦边胡乱吹着口哨。

12 prune   

n.酶干；vt.修剪，砍掉，削减；vi.删除

参考例句：

• Will you prune away the unnecessary adjectives in the passage?把这段文字中不必要的形容词删去好吗？
• It is our job to prune the side branches of these trees.我们的工作就是修剪这些树的侧枝。

13 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。