Wednesday, 28 August 2013

Seed Packets, Small Print and Spinach

I found that the most enjoyable thing teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), was the use of realia, that is, you take an everyday object, a tin of tomatoes for example, and exploit the possibilities for all they are worth.  Food and drink have their own vocabulary.  As do seed packets.  So here is a brief reflection.  It is the season for autumn sowing and my kind family have just made a birthday gift to my husband.  Let's start with the spinach.

This is no common or garden spinach.  The luscious red-veined baby leaves in the photo on the front and the name itself F1 Reddy tell us that it is a type of hybrid.  This would take rather a lot of space to explain, and if I were clever with blogs I would have a blue instant link to the RHS website.  (You can find it listed on my page).  If I were in the classroom I would have satisfy myself that I understood this before I taught others.  Be that as it may, there was one sentence in the small print that caught my eye: F1 Hybrid seed is expensive to produce and should be handled with care.

Seed is precious.  I believe this applies to all seed, hybrid or not.  Let us be grateful for it and handle it with care.  Here is a verse from the Psalms:

He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow.
Will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.

Psalm126:6

No comments:

Post a Comment