Venlo-Baarlo, Floriade Five

---

The last day at the Flower Expo was at hand. Hans and Tiny from camping Heiderust were driving by car and I begged aride. We drove to Venlo and from there tookthe Floriade Express for 3.50euro. The tickets were bought at the Station Kiosk, the bus was packed and we were there in no time.

It was a sunny day and the place was teaming with visitors. This wa the day for the gondola ride. The system has been rented from Austria whence it will return to serve as a ski-lift.

A pavilion from Japan offered ideas about how different tastes are attained,what food assembly machines can do and how tools for fast food restaurants are used. This in combination with sustainable food distribution around the world and who produces GM foods and by how much:

-farmland- 370sq m in Japan ... 14340 sq m in USA/person
-61% of farmers in Japan are over 65 yrs of age

-there are 100 rice varieties

-1g of veg in an enclosed factory farm has 1oo bacteria .... in an open field same plants have 1million bacteria

-synthetic tastes are created with surprising combinations ...

-long sleeves/short sleeves ... cleanlines ...hand washing

- on display were tools to measure colour of lettuce. height of burger, amount of corn

- in a video2 people go to order a burger and drink = 2000yen minus 860 change and it takes 50 seconds

-all kinds of machines for peeling, cutting , grating, sorting and washing eggs, making hash browns and vegies for salads are shown in replaying videos

-PET bottlers are made better with oxy block

-freeze drying turns water directly to gas ... didn't know that

And here are some facts about GM Crops:

66b hec USA,25 bil hec Brazil, 22b hec Argentina, 94mil hec India, 8 mil Canada, 3.5 mil China

55 bil cubic meters of water used in agri water in Japan ... 42.7 bil cubic meters virtual water imported

CRADLE TO CRADLE speaks of zero waste ... everything is reused, recycled redistributed ... as in nature there is no waste ...shown are the use of urukum fruit, fish leather and the following companies are worth a google:
Trigence, Jules Clarysse, Mosa, Auping, Stiffwood Plastic, Satino Black, Skyliving - outdoor Stabilo

The book cradle to cradle a registered trademark is available at ISBN: 10:0-86547-587-3 ...

The healing and well being area was made emphatic with a fire breathing metal dragon. For .50euro his mouth erupted with flames.Very well appointed box houses furnished minimally offered talks and aromatic massage. A garden with sea-shell walls spoke of relaxation. Bushees, plants and rocks surrounded a huge pond filled with numerous equally huge koy fish.

Trying to find my way back to the Tropical Pavilion from an earlier visit so that I could get Tieny a coffee cup from Ethiopia I stumbled upon two great surprises.

One was the Willowman who has constructed arches, covered pathways, pet enclosures, tree houses and meeting space all out of willow branches. The second was the pavilion in which one could be a BEE. This is what I had read about and I was most happy to come upon it .... by pure chance ... obviously it had been missed the previous day.

Upon entering the pavilion one is handed a lazer reader. Now the challenge is to find bar codes that signify a flower where pollen is available and record as many of these bar codes as possible. Then walking thru the pavilion bee infois imparted. At the exit the lazer baton is read and points are given. I was a super bee and have received a pack of seeds to begin the growth of a meadow.

I met my new friends at 17:00and we returned by bus to Venlo and then went by car to the grocery store. I could buy little because there are only two days to go before I leave the camping.

In the two weeks I have been here visible changes have taken palce in the grounds of the flower expo. I look forward to visiting one more time in June to see the roses bloom.

On my way out a stop was made at the ice cream stand and then the gardening shop. I filled out the form for autumn bulbs, specifically narcissus ... almost 11 different kinds. At the cash dissapointment reigned ... Canada does not allow bulbs to be sent in!! I want to know why Mr. Harper!

Hans and Tieny have kindly offered to sent me the bulbs when they go on sale in October. I will pay the prize ... for eleven different types.



It was a great end to the Floride experience ... especially seeing so many people well dressed, enjoying coffee, oohing and ahhing and generally being amiable, ready to share ideas and impressions.

---

Photos

The Artist Sjer
A special soil forms the sculptures which will cover with plant growth as the seasons change.