The Parable of the Sower According to Lou

 Back when I was teaching 5th grade at West Hills Christian School, I asked my father-in-law Lou to come and give a gardening talk to my students. I knew he loved to garden and I had been told of his excellent teaching methods. I was not disappointed. Lou had my students 'hooked' from the get-go and held their attention all the way through! And, besides learning a thing or two about gardening, I also learned a few teaching tricks along the way.

Fastforward 10 years...and a couple of grandkids later...and Lou finds himself saying 'yes' again to his rather demanding daughter-in-law. This time, she's asked him to give a gardening talk to a little troupe of home-schooled kids ranging 2-10 years of age, and composed of his two eldest grandkids and their buddies. Oh...um...and three camera-trigger happy moms to further widen the range. 

Although I knew he'd do excellent, I didn't expect Lou to pull all the stops for us. He truly had us all engaged, no matter our age.  I am positive that none of us left his garage having learned absolutely nothing. Even Lydia, the almost-2-year-old, had her eyes glued on him for a good part of the lecture! Surely, she walked away having learned something...even if it's just that Mr. Wachsmuth Sr. can be pretty funny.

So, if you need to learn a thing or two about..oh, let's say...

...grafting...



 

 ...or scions...                

...or seeds...a.k.a. God's computer seeds...

  

 

...or fertilizers...

...or the periodic table of elements...

...or the meaning behind the weeds in the parable of the sower...

...you're in luck!

There are a few of us, big and small, who could give you pretty reasonable answers to your questions on any one of those topics, thanks to Lou.

Lou's 'greenhouse'.

Checking out the tadpoles and Lou's fly-catching contraption.





Frankenstein Tree