I’m Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Farmers might think the idea of growing food for fun soundsstrange. But there are some people who do it all the time.
They grow some vegetables because their natural color or shape ispleasing to see. They grow others because scientists have developednew colors or different sizes for traditional vegetables.
One example is the bell pepper. Seed companies sell seeds forseveral different kinds of bell peppers. One pepper is a weak yellowcolor when it begins to grow. Then its color changes to white. As itgrows, it changes color two more times — to orange, then red.
If you are not interested in peppers that change colors as theygrow, you can grow some that remain one color. You can trychocolate-colored peppers. Or purple. Or lavender ones. Each kind ofpepper has its own special taste.
For the best possible taste, however, peppers should be left onthe vine for two or three weeks after they appear ready. This givesthem full flavor and greatly increases the vitamins they contain.
Another unusual plant is known as the yard-long bean, asparagusbean, dow ghok or snake bean. It grows up to one meter in length. Itis an important part of the food supply in areas of Asia.
American farmers like it because it is different, yet tastes verymuch like the green beans they traditionally grow. Each bean hasfrom ten to twenty seeds. The outside or pod can be eaten. Some ofthe very long beans are green outside but have black-and-white orred seeds.
Gourds are plants that people like to grow because of the manydifferent shapes. They also have many uses.
Some round gourds are dried, painted and made into containers.Others have long necks and big bodies. These are dried, cut and madeinto containers to pour drinking water.
A kind of gourd called the luffa is used to make sponges. When itis fully grown, it is removed from the vine and permitted to dry fora few weeks.
The gourd is placed in water for a few hours. The outer shell isthen removed. The gourd is placed in the sun to dry. When it isfully dry, it is cut into pieces for use as sponges. Luffa spongeshave a rough surface. They can be used to clean away dead skincells, which makes them a popular skin-care product.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by BobBowen. I’m Gwen Outen.