Landon's Pumpkins

Landon's Pumpkins, written by Vera Ogden Baker, illustrated by David Cockroft.

《兰登的南瓜》，作者：薇拉·奥格登·贝克，插画：大卫·科克罗夫特。

Planning. Landon was carrying the papers, cans, and plastic to the recycling bins after dinner. A bright newspaper ad caught his attention. Get your seeds now for fall harvest. Bright orange pumpkins, yellow corn, and green beans smiled from the ad.

制订计划 晚饭后，兰登把废纸、罐子和塑料送去回收箱。 报纸上一幅色彩鲜亮的广告吸引了他。 现在备种子，秋日好丰收。 广告上，橙亮的南瓜、金黄的玉米、翠绿的豆子，仿佛在朝人微笑。

Landon remembered last Halloween. He and Chad, his five -year -old brother, had spent their allowances on two pumpkins. Chad had drawn a scary face on his with markers. Landon had wanted to try carving his own for the first time. Dad had shown him how to hold the knife and cut safely. Landon had worked on his pumpkin for a long time, but he had really messed it up. It hadn't looked at all like a jack -o -lantern. He wanted to start over, but he had no other pumpkin to carve.

兰登想起了去年的万圣节。 他和五岁的弟弟查德，用零花钱买了两个南瓜。 查德用马克笔在自己的南瓜上画了个可怕的脸。 那是兰登第一次尝试自己刻南瓜。 爸爸教他怎么握刀，怎么安全下刀。 兰登刻了好久，结果还是刻坏了。 它看起来一点都不像杰克南瓜灯。 他想重新刻，可没有多余的南瓜了。

Landon put the plastics, cans, and papers in the proper recycling bins and hurried to find his father. Dad, do you remember that sick -looking jack -o -lantern I carved last year? Um, I remember. Dad set his book down as Landon sat on the couch beside him. Well, I was thinking. I could use my allowance to buy pumpkin seeds. Then I could grow pumpkins. I'd have enough of them for Chad and me to practice carving. That sounds like a good plan dad said I Would need a space in the garden to plant them Landon said oh, I think we can manage that dad said

兰登把塑料、罐子、纸张分别放进对应回收箱，就急着去找爸爸了。 爸爸，你还记得那个丑乎乎的杰克 -南瓜灯 我去年刻的那个吗？ 嗯，我记得呀。 兰登坐到爸爸旁边的沙发上，爸爸放下了书。 那个，我有个想法。 我想用我的零花钱买南瓜种子。 这样我就能自己种南瓜了。 这样我和查德就有足够的南瓜练习雕刻了。 这听起来是个好计划，爸爸说。我需要花园里一块地方播种，兰登说。哦，我想我们肯定能腾出地方的，爸爸说。

The next day, Dad tilled a small patch of ground in the garden. Get some compost, and we'll mix it in the soil. Landon knew that they would need compost to make the plants healthy. All year long, he had put grass clippings, fallen leaves, and fruit and vegetable peels into the compost drum, and then covered each layer with dirt. Dad had told him that this reduced the garbage they sent to the landfill.

第二天，爸爸在花园里翻出了一小块空地。 拿点堆肥来，我们把它拌进土里。 兰登知道，堆肥能让秧苗长得更健壮。 一整年里，他都把碎草、落叶和果皮菜皮倒进堆肥桶，每铺一层就盖一层土。 爸爸告诉过他，这样做能减少送去填埋场的垃圾。

After raking the tilled ground, Landon followed the directions on the seed packet. He planted the pumpkin seeds he bought at the store in three little mounds. He planted four or five seeds in each mound. He left an arm's length space between each mound for the vines to grow. Then he stamped the dirt down with his feet. Finally, he got the watering can, filled it with water, gently sprinkled each mound until the soil was wet.

兰登把翻好的地耙平后，照着种子包装上的说明操作。 他把买来的南瓜种子种进三个小土堆里。 每个土堆里播了四到五粒种子。 每个土堆之间留出一臂宽的空隙，供瓜藤生长。 接着他用脚把土踩实。 最后，他拿浇水壶装满水，轻轻浇透了每个土堆。