美农场新技术---采摘蓝莓与收集太阳能两不误(上)

I’m standing on a hillside.

我站在山坡上。

All around me are short shrubs with purple stems and waxy leaves.

我周围都是矮小的灌木，它们有着紫色的茎杆和光滑的叶子。

A brisk December wind moves through the lowbush blueberry bushes.

十二月的寒风吹过低矮的蓝莓丛。

But among the plants sits an odd sight… row after row of solar panels.

但在这些植物之间却有一种奇怪的景象——一排排的太阳能电池板。

You’ve heard of solar farms. And you’ve heard of blueberry farms.

你曾听说过太阳能农场。也曾听说过蓝莓农场。

But a solar-blueberry farm?

但是你听说过太阳能蓝莓农场呢?

Probably not–this is the first farm to combine the two sun harvesters.

也许没有——这是第一个将两种太阳采集机结合在一起的农场。

And that combo could be vital as the Earth’s climate changes.

随着地球气候的变化，这种结合可能至关重要。

Reporting from the coast of Maine, I'm Teresa Carey, and this is Scientific American's 60-Second Science.

从缅因州海岸为您带来报道，我是特蕾莎·凯里，这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列。

In this area we've got the solar panels in among the blueberry plants.

在这个区域，我们在蓝莓植物中安装了太阳能电池板。

And up here, it's more open.

放在上面，更开阔。

We still have stone walls there and some rock piles, but most of the land is just opened for the blueberry production.

我们在那里仍然有石墙和一些石堆，但大部分土地刚刚开放，用于生产蓝莓。

When it comes to raising blueberries, Paul Sweetland has seen it all.

说到种植蓝莓，保罗·斯威特兰很有经验。

I've been doing blueberries basically my whole life.

我这辈子都在和蓝莓打交道。

It's been amazing to see how we've changed our cultural practices over time.

看到我们如何随着时间改变我们的文化习俗，真是令人惊讶。

Sweetland farms Maine's lowbush blueberries – the tiny wild berries the state is famous for.

斯威特兰农场种植缅因州的矮灌木蓝莓——该州以这种微小的野生浆果而闻名。

In fact, Maine is the only state in the country where wild blueberries are commercially harvested.

事实上，缅因州是美国唯一一个商业采收野生蓝莓的州。

You can buy them in grocery stores from Hawaii, to Texas, to Alaska.

从夏威夷到德克萨斯，再到阿拉斯加，你都可以在杂货店里买到。

They’re about half the size of conventional blueberries, but with twice the antioxidants and even more flavor.

这种蓝莓的大小大约是传统蓝莓的一半，但含有两倍的抗氧化剂，味道也更好。

Way back, probably 30 years ago, the pruning method was burning.

很久以前，大概30年前，修整的方法是焚烧。

So we used to come in and burn the whole field.

所以我们常常进来把整块地都烧了。

Originally, we all used hand rakes.

原来，我们都用手耙来处理。

We won't be able to use some here, but we have the tractor harvesters.

我们不能在这里使用手耙，但我们有拖拉机收割机。

There's still a lot of blueberries ready to rake by the hand but there's fewer people willing to work that hard.

仍然有很多蓝莓可以用手耙，但愿意这么努力工作的人少了。

Sweetland has tried every farming technique. He knows what works best.

斯威特兰农场尝试过各种农业技术。 他知道什么最有效。

But for the 2022 harvest, things are going to be different.

但在2022年的收获季节，情况将会有所不同。