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Wednesday, December 19, 2018

My 3rd trip to India - Consulting Together with Husband Pieter

On Saturday, February 15, 1992 we did start our 3rd trip together to India for consulting.
We did have an entire row of chairs in the plane, so we would be able to stretch out during the night flight. BUT it did not work...
 The plane was defect and we ended up up in the Sheraton hotel, after a couple of hours waiting...
On Sunday, we had the evening flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam, and we had an upgrade into business class.
On Monday we got dropped off at the Hilton hotel for the day and night...
On Tuesday February 18, we continued to Delhi and again an upgrade into business class in row 71, in the upper deck of a big Jumbo 747.
Wednesday we arrived in Delhi, and a person from Pond's India met us and brought us to the Taj Palace Hotel for a couple of hours as we both wanted to continue on to Madras with another flight with one stop in Hyderabad.
There again, we got met by people from Pond's India and they brought us to a hotel for a couple of hours till our final flight to Coimbatore with a stop in Bangalore...
We were greeted by familiar faces from the mushroom farm and after eating something at a restaurant we started our trip into the mountains and reached the hotel by 21:00, Southern Star (Quality Inn) in Ooty, Tamil Nadu State.
On Thursday, February 20, we finally arrive at the mushroom farm!
A beautiful view high in the Nilgiri Mountains!
View from above where you see the compost ricks to the left in front of the pasteurization rooms.
Sorry for the photo quality, but we had to have our photos and slides developed in Indonesia, where we lived and worked at that time...
Pieter did climb even higher for taking this one...
From above, compost ricks on the left and sheds to the right...
To the left, bottom, you can see the rail road track.
Climbing more down, a nice over view.
Yep, physical climbing we both have done a LOT while living and working in the mountains!
While Pieter descended, he could capture this nice view of all the excavation and reinforcement done at this site.
That's me, on my feet reaching the sheds for doing training.
The shoes I was wearing here, I left behind at the end of this work trip.
Pieter did the same with his shoes...
No need for cleaning them up in order to carry in the suitcase on the plane.
We saw so many people work bare footed!
BUT what we didn't know yet, was that our villa in Indonesia had been robbed and ALL my shoes were gone... I only had left what I had on my feet.
Everything else in the villa got robbed as well!
Walking and climbing...
Here Pieter gives a great view of the pre-wetting of the straw and the mixing in of more ingredients.
Women adding chicken litter to the straw... To the right you see one of the chutes.
Women with dry chicken litter...
Dry chicken litter, ready for mixing in.
Pre-wetting and mixing in ingredients...
Forming the ricks...
Then the process can start for making selective nutrients for growing mushrooms!
And this is the end result!
A very nice first break is growing here, ready for harvesting and then two more breaks will continue to grow before it is all being emptied out and started over...
Detail of the bamboo racks, their local product.

Hope you enjoyed seeing a bit more of the actual process for growing mushrooms.
Thanks for your visit and comment!

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26 comments:

  1. I am always amazed at the places you have been, Must have been a shock to find all of your shoes gone!

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    1. Dearest Janey,
      It sure was shocking and not only all my shoes were gone; everything else as well! You can read about that tragedy here: {Pieter’s Tanner Krolle Attaché - Royal Gift purchased at Harrods by English Friend}
      Hugs,
      Mariette

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    2. Nilgiri is a very beautiful place. "Nil"means blue. "Giri" means mountain. Every 12 years the flowers "Neelkurinji" bloom on the mountain,and the mountain looks totally blue. So it is call Nilgiri, means blue mountain.

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    3. Dearest Krishna,
      Yes, we know its meaning and only wish we could ever have seen that blue phenomenal view!
      Thanks for your vist and sending you hugs,
      Mariette

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  2. Liebe Mariette,

    herzlichen Dank für deinen interessanten Post.
    Alles Liebe
    Elisabeth

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    1. Liebe Elisabeth,
      Danke, gerne es sind für uns beide wichtige und sehr schöne Erinnerungen!
      Liebe Grüße,
      Mariette

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  3. Hello Mariette, Recently you showed us the skill and dexterity needed in harvesting mushroom. Here you emphasize the back-breaking physical work necessary in getting their beds ready. Agriculture certainly has a lot of variety in its steps, and needs people like Pieter and you to improve and coordinate them.
    --Jim

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    1. Dearest Jim,
      Indeed it is back-breaking if it all gets done by manual labor! In the western world it is almost fully mechanized and really high tech with computerized monitoring. Harvesting for quality mushrooms however will always need to be don e by hand! A human brain can select for quality in addition to size.
      We both have tried to play a role in different developments around the world.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

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  4. un post molto interessante! Approfitto per farti i miei migliori auguri di buone feste e un grande abbraccio Lory

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    1. Cara Lory,
      Grazie per la tua visita qui e certo era interessante per lavorare in la India, dopo vivere e lavorare nella Italia!
      Anche per tutti voi un Buon Natale!
      Abbraccio grande,
      Mariette

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  5. Wow, it is very interesting to make nutrients to grow mushrooms and have a great result.
    What a large scale of mushroom farm in India!
    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Mariette.
    Thank you for your friendship this year too!!

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    1. Dearest Tomoko,
      Yes, indeed it is quite interesting to see how the different ingredients create the right, selective nutrients for growing mushrooms. It was a rather large scale mushroom farm but by far not as big as the one we worked for in Indonesia, traveling on from this location to go there for 2 months at a time.
      Merry Christmas to you and a Happy New Year as well!
      Reading your meaningful posts has been a pleasure throughout the years.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

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  6. The photos are wonderful and certainly show the process well! Really amazing all that goes into mushroom farming. Such a shame that a great trip to India turned to disbelief and shock when returning to Indonesia only to find that your home was robbed of everything. Wishing you and Pieter a Merry Christmas!

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    1. Dearest Tammy,
      It did give some insight in the preparation of the substrate and about the inside of the sheds where the bags are being placed in the end.
      Yes, it was a shame that we arrived at an emptied and vandalized villa in Indonesia... Part of life's experiences.
      Merry Christmas to you as well and hugs,
      Mariette

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  7. Nice photos again, Mariette. I have studied India while in school. We always think of the crowded cities, so good to see these places too.

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    1. Dearest Debbie,
      Thank you and we all should realize how vast India in reality is.
      There are so many different climates and different landscapes as well. This was a favorite resort area from the British at the time that they still reigned over India. That explains enough and yes, it sure was breathtaking!
      The only big problem India faces is over population...
      Hugs,
      Mariette

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  8. Photos of the mushroom farm look great with green surroundings. It was interesting to see the processes. Lot of works had to be done but the end result was fantastic. Too bad someone robbed you and these hard workers.
    Very Merry Christmas to you, Mariette. Happy holidays!

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    1. Dearest Tamago,
      Yes this was such a wonderful location and we loved working there.
      No, these hard workers did not get robbed. What I stated here is that I left my shoes for them to wear, instead of having to walk on 140˚F hot compost bare footed. With this, I ended up not having any shoes for me to wear, only open slippers!
      Enjoy also a cozy and Merry Christmas with your boys.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

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  9. É bom lembrar estes tempos passados na Índia um país que gostava de conhecer e aproveito para desejar à minha amiga e sua família um Santo e Feliz Natal. 🎄

    Andarilhar
    Dedais de Francisco e Idalisa
    Livros-Autografados

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    1. Querido Francisco Manuel,
      Obrigado e a Índia é um país maravilhoso para visitar e conhecer.
      Feliz Natal a você e aos seus!
      Abraços,
      Mariette

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  10. Cara Mariette che meravigliosa vita avventurosa hai. Mezzo mondo tu l’hai visitato, che meraviglia.
    Ti auguro di trascorrere giorni felici e sereni con il tuo amore Peter e tutte le persone che amate.
    Un abbraccio di tutto cuore cara amica.
    Lorena

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    1. Cara Lorena,
      Sì dopo lavorando e vivendo in Italia abbiamo entrambi fatto International Consulting e abbiamo visto una grande parte dal mondo. Non lascia mai la tua mente, ti cambia per sempre.
      Desidero voi e i tuoi cari un significativo Buon Natale!
      Abbracci,
      Mariette

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  11. Podziwiam Ciebie za zwiedzanie ciekawych miejsc .Wesołych Świąt oraz Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku .

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    1. Najdroższy Malgorzata P,
      Ponieważ oboje kochają ludzi, chcieliśmy poświęcić część naszych lat, aby pomóc najbiedniejszym w tym świecie!
      Wesołych Świąt dla Ciebie i Twojego,
      Mariette

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  12. Dearest Mariette.
    your Mother-in-law cross stitch mushrooms and husband was the founder and prircipal until he become vp training & development for compbellsoups mushroom. last year 7-may.

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    1. Dearest Michiko san,
      My Mother-in-law was such an active lady, right till her death. Cross stitching or any other embroidery, she made many table cloths with napkins for young brides to be.
      True, my husband Pieter was the founder and principal of the world's 1st and only practical training college and stayed that way until Campbell Soup hired him as VP Training & Development.
      It makes me mighty proud for knowing this man for almost half a century! {My Teacher, Mentor, BOSS & Husband over 44+ Years}
      Hugs,
      Mariette

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Thanks for your visit and comment.

Mariette...