Pages

Monday, March 30, 2020

1967 Pieter at Max Planck Society Germany's Most Successful Research Organization

Fond memories of the old days when Pieter visited the Max Planck Society in Hamburg, Germany.
Pieter did his internship with Professor R. von Sengbusch.
The Max Planck Society, Hamburg was also involved in Mushroom Research.
Some important names in Mushroom Science are:
Gerda Fritsche; Walter Huhnke; Gertraud Lemke; Otto Till
Pieter is seen to the left, while Professor Reinhold Von Sengbusch is giving some Fatherly advice to a young Pieter.
~
Professor Von Sengbusch who also did the breeding for the famous Senga Sengana strawberries, named after him!
Even my Dad grew them, when I was a child, and we had women coming in to harvest them. Fond memories...
~
Link for this text just click Strawberries
Pieter with his back towards us and to the right is Ferdinand Dohme, who later became a large mushroom grower in Germany. We had dinner with him, his wife and son at Regensburg's, Conference - see link below.

Most of these names would be listed over the decades at the I.S.M.S. Congresses held all over the world. 
I.S.M.S. for: The International Society for Mushroom Science.

Pieter just stated that back in those days, he managed to travel to foreign countries on his own and NO GPS yet! 
How in the world did we ever manage without?!

Related post:
Lecture by Pieter and Stay at UNESCO site Regensburg during German Mushroom Conference | previous post where we had dinner with Ferdinand Dohme and family...

26 comments:

  1. Liebe Mariette,
    das sind schöne Erinnerungen.
    Alles Liebe
    Elisabeth

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liebe Elisabeth,
      Ja das sind es bestimmt und sehr wertvolle.
      Liebe Grüße,
      Mariette

      Delete
  2. Hello Mariette, For several years I bought a type of strawberry jam produced in Poland, so I probably ate some of Professor Von Sengbusch's varieties. That leads to an interesting question: Can mushroom growers breed and cross new types as do fruit growers, or do they concentrate more on improving existing varieties?
    --Jim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Jim,
      You sure have eaten one of Professor Von Sengbusch's varieties.
      As for your question, mushroom growers don't produce the mushroom spawn themselves but buy it ready made from specialized sources. Scientists in the past developed hybrids which are used now but there is no cross so far with other toadstool species...
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  3. I always feel a bit awed when I read your posts, your lives seem to have been so "large" to me. Yet, working at a university, I'm surrounded by people doing amazing things in their fields of research, etc. I just don't think of it that way!

    Take care; stay well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Kim,
      Yes, it is because of scientists that worked with universities or others, that we developed almost all what we commercially can grow nowadays. This is true for fruits, vegetables and so on.
      You too stay well and sending you hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  4. Really interesting! We also have grown Senga Senga strawberries.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Anne,
      Yes you sure have grown the Senga Sengana strawberries in your country!
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  5. 1967. My husband shipped out to DaNang VietNam, I gave birth to our daughter three months later, my husband survived in spite of taking refuge in his bunker many times, he performed hundreds of autopsies in the first Marine Base hospital built there, he ran the pathology lab. I think your 1967 was better. I enjoyed, as always, reading a bit of your history. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Helen,
      You mention some happy and other very dramatic events for 1967!
      We all can be proud of the men like your husband that braved those grave times... Not easy.
      Hugs and stay safe,
      Mariette

      Delete
  6. It's so cool your husband Pieter did internship with such a remarkable professor! I'm sure I have eaten Senga Sengana strawberries!
    Isn't it amazing that we used to go to places without GPS? :-) I remember being in the passenger seat with a large map in front of me, navigating the driver. Nowadays, I fully depend on GPS, can't go anywhere unfamiliar without it :-)

    Have a wonderful day, Mariette!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Tamago,
      Guess, we've all eaten them at one point in our life. They were tasty and later they merely developed varieties that could stand transport... not so much for taste!
      Pieter learned a lot from this professor and he has fond memories of that time spent together.
      Indeed, my late posts are all about huge distances and now we ask ourselves how did we manage with only a large map that could be folded out by country.
      We're all spoiled and let's hope we soon get our freedom back!
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  7. La labor de los investigadores, hacen mucho bien, en todos los campos.Deben de ser bien valorados por la sociedad.

    Besos

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Querida Ventana de Foto,
      Gracias por tu comentario sabio, es tan muy cierto! Siempre tenemos que recordarlos con respeto.
      Abrazos,
      Mariette

      Delete
  8. Da war Dein Mann noch so jung, liebe Mariette!
    Wie geht es Dir/Euch? Müsst Ihr auch daheim bleiben?
    Alles Liebe und Gute Euch Beiden, bleibt gesund!

    Liebe Grüße
    Sara

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liebe Sara,
      Haha, da waren wir alle noch sehr jung! So geht das ja mit der Zeit.
      Es geht gut mit uns und ja, wir haben hier auch seid 15. März schon diese Sperre...
      Hoffentlich ist das bald vorbei!
      Ganz liebe Grüße,
      Mariette

      Delete
  9. My then husband and I wanted desperately to meet Max Planck or at least gp to the Institute. That did not happen as we were traveling to other Countries so often and staying in the areas we were sent for 6-8 weeks each. How wonderful to see all the Pieter has accomplished in his years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Katie Isabella,
      Sad that you missed going there... We always miss out on things that seemed so within our reach; due to work restrictions often.
      Those are indeed wonderful memories about people that shaped Pieter's way of thinking and practical handling.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  10. Fascinating, Mariette! I never realized how much science goes into growing mushrooms for people to eat. I know Mike Rowe filmed a Dirty Jobs episode a number of years ago in California showing hugs trays of mushrooms growing in manure, but that's really all I know. (And NOT to go picking wild mushrooms since they could be toadstools instead!)

    What a unique job your husband had! I love your photographs. <3 I wohne auf Leverkusen, Deutschland, nur 3 woche en 1984 aber Ich der Land liebe! You must miss visiting your homeland. This virus is keeping us all from traveling, my favorite thing in the summer.

    Stopping over today from Fabby's Living where I saw your response to her latest post. Blessings to you and your family!

    Immer,
    Barb :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Barb,
      Yes, commercial mushroom growing is quite a science for mimicking Mother Nature in a faster way.
      But trust me, mushrooms are not being grown into huge trays of manure. The substrate is called compost, and in the early days part of it was horse manure but it is being pasteurized so no other fungus or competitor mold can grow in it. Then a layer of casing soil is on top and that's where the white button mushrooms grow.
      Collecting mushrooms in the wild has to be done very careful as there are indeed some poisonous toadstools, the other name for mushrooms.
      Well, we have visited our homeland of The Netherlands a total of 66 times, so that is a lot. We both love Germany as well and glad that you ended up there for 3 weeks in 1984!
      Let's hope we face happier times ahead and travel will be open once more for all to explore this fascinating world.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  11. Dat moet een interessante ontmoeting geweest zijn voor Pieter. Fijne dag,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beste Willy,
      Dat was het zeker om zijn professor terug te zien waarbij hij zijn interim deed. Pieter heeft veel van hem geleerd.
      Liefs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  12. Replies
    1. Caro Giancarlo,
      Avevamo appena finito di mangiare la nostra colazione; pomeriggio è lontano da qui...
      Un abbraccio,
      Mariette

      Delete
  13. Da war Dein Mann wirklich noch sehr jung, liebe Mariette. Mit Pilzen habe ich mich zuvor nie so beschäftigt, aber hier bei Dir habe ich viel darüber gelernt!

    Alles Liebe
    Sara

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liebe Sara,
      Ja, es sind auch einzige Jahre her... die Zeit vergeht so rasch!
      Pilze sind und bleiben höchst interessant.
      Liebe Grüße,
      Mariette

      Delete

Thanks for your visit and comment.

Mariette...