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World in a dish -- The garden path
食界——菜园小径
Home gardens produce delicious food. But that's not their main virtue
家庭菜园里能够种出美味的食物，但这并不是它们的主要优点
Imagine a plate holding two strawberries, identical in appearance.
想象一个，一个盘子里装着两个长得一模一样的草莓。
One came out of a clamshell supermarket box, meaning it was probably harvested when it was still unripe, immediately placed in a forced-air cooling unit, loaded onto a refrigerated truck and driven hundreds of miles.
其中一颗是从超市的翻盖式包装盒里取出来的，这意味着它可能在还没成熟的时候就被摘下来了，然后被立即放进空气强制冷却装置中，再装上一辆冷藏车，开个几百英里。
By the time it reached the plate it may have been off the vine for two weeks.
当被放到盘子里的时候，它可能已经离开藤条两个星期了。
The other strawberry was picked from a garden minutes before being eaten.
另一颗草莓是在被吃掉前的几分钟刚从菜园里摘下来的。
The first one will probably taste like a slightly mushy cucumber, with a vague hint of berry tang and strong sour undertones.
第一颗草莓尝起来可能有点像糊状黄瓜，带有一丝模糊的浆果味和强烈的酸味。
The second is likely to be sweet and floral; the flavour will linger in the mouth, as the scent will on the hands.
第二颗草莓吃起来很可能是甜的，并伴有植物香气；这种味道会在嘴里停留，香气也会留在手上。
Supermarket strawberries are not entirely without advantages: they are convenient and available in the northern hemisphere in February.
超市里的草莓也并非完全没有优点：它们很方便，北半球地区在2月份也能买到。
But the two berries differ from each other in the same way that hearing Bach's Mass in B Minor in a concert hall differs from listening to it on a threadbare cassette.
但这两种莓果的区别就像在音乐厅和用旧磁带听巴赫的B小调弥撒之间的区别。
The home-grown fruit is an edible case for cultivating a home garden.
自家种植的水果是培育家庭菜园的可食用案例。
Your columnist, who long deemed gardening a twee waste of time, advances this argument with a convert's zeal.
本专栏作者长期以来一直认为做园艺活是一种矫情的浪费时间的行为，他以一种皈依者的热忱提出了这一论点。
Planting cool-weather greens, as gardeners across the north-east of America are now doing, can seem nonsensical.
种植喜凉的绿色蔬菜——就像美国东北部的园丁们现在正在做的那样——似乎毫无意义。
Convenient, perpetually well-stocked supermarket shelves are available all week, in many places supplemented on weekends by farmers' markets, which offer a jolt of virtuous seasonality.
方便、总是库存充足的超市货架让你整周都可以买到东西，在许多地方，周末还会有农贸市场作为补充，给人们提供了一种良好的“时令”感。
But the same could be said of cooking: cheap and decent restaurants abound, so why bother to make your own meals?
而同样的道理也适用于烹饪：价廉物美的餐厅比比皆是，那为什么要费劲自己做饭呢？
That attitude misconstrues the ultimate appeal of gardening: it mistakes the product for the purpose.
这种看法误解了园艺的终极吸引力：它错误地把产出当作了目的。
It is true that a garden can yield peas that taste like the vibrant, green essence of spring; tomatoes and carrots of incomparable sweetness; lettuces and herbs that taste like themselves rather than the plastic they are usually packaged in; and potatoes with the biscuity richness of earth itself.
确实，菜园里种出的豌豆尝起来像是春天的充满活力的绿色精华；西红柿和胡萝卜无比清甜；生菜和香草尝起来就是它们本身的味道，而不是通常包裹着它们的塑料的味道；还有带着大地风味的、质地像饼干的土豆。
Finding, say, fenugreek leaves or celtuce in the shops can take some time, effort and expense; growing your own vegetables, exotic or routine, ensures a reliable supply.
在商店里找胡芦巴叶或芹莴这类菜需要花费一些时间、精力和金钱；而自己种的蔬菜，无论是特殊品种还是常规品种，都能确保稳定的供应。
On the other hand, a garden, especially in the early years, can also yield little but frustration.
另一方面，一个花园，特别是在刚开始的几年，也可能没什么产出，只是带来挫败。
Novice gardeners may plant the wrong crops for their soil.
园艺新手可能会种植不适合他们土壤的作物。
Squirrels have an infuriating habit of taking single bites of cucumbers, beans and tomatoes, then leaving the rest on the vine to rot.
松鼠有一个令人恼火的习惯，它会在黄瓜、豆子和西红柿上只咬一口，然后把剩下的部分留在藤上腐烂。
And even expert gardeners can lose a season's harvest to unco-operative weather.
即使是专业的园丁也会因为不配合的天气而损失一季的收成。
No matter.
这些都不要紧。
The real joy of gardening is the time spent doing it.
园艺的真正乐趣在于花时间做这件事。
The deepest pleasure -- as with cooking, writing, bringing up children or almost anything worthwhile -- is in the work itself.
最深层的乐趣——就像烹饪、写作、抚养孩子或几乎任何有意义的事情一样——在于做这件事本身。
A gardener's memories revolve not around the food produced, but around long summer afternoons with hands in the dirt, surrounded by family, if the garden is at home, or deepening acquaintances with friends and neighbours in an allotment or community garden.
园丁的重要记忆不是有关产出的食物，而是有关那些漫长的夏日午后，双手沾满泥土，家人围绕左右（如果菜园是在家里的话），或者是在小块菜园地或小区菜园中增进对朋友和邻居了解认识。
To garden is to patiently, lovingly and diligently help life flourish, in the ground and above it.
做园艺活就是耐心地、爱护地、勤勉地帮助那些地上和地下的生命茁壮成长。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
