Saturday, February 6, 2010
By Boat from Quito
Quito is a city of at least 500 years of age, founded on the site of an Incan town which in turn was probably about two hundred years old when the Spaniards arrived. The Incans selected a site that was nestled against the foothills of Pichincha mountain to the West, deep, treacherous ravines to the South and East, and to the North a long flat, fertile mesa that yielded a plentiful supply of food. This mesa, with the precipitous slopes of Pichincha blocking the West, is bordered on the other three sides with precipices that drop at least a 1000 meters to streams and rivers.The city slowly expanded out of the original colonial city at the turn of the 20th century and in the 60's and 70's it entirely encapsulated the mesa. However, the last thirty years has witnessed an explosion of the population and buildings that has overflowed onto the slopes and own into the surrounding valleys. Today it is a modern city that embraces all that is good and bad with an explosion of the population, and the burgeoning industries, pollution, and intolerable traffic.
So I happily drive out of the city at 6:30 in the morning as a gray dawn washes across the city.
In the early morning mists, the road to Cayambe in the north twists and turns descending to the Guayabamba river some 100 meters below, and then crosses a narrow bridge and the ascends up more serpentine road, through the town of Guayabamba, and continuing on wards and upwards. At a certain point, the road breaches the canyons and bursts out on to the Altiplano, with the sun breaking free from the horizon, and streaming across the countryside.
I have the radio on pretty loud, and the white noise of distorted guitars of the opening refrain of Zombie crackle on the speakers, creating my own soundtrack to the magnificence of creation. Then the song breaks down to bass and drums before the pure vocal lament of the Cranberries' Dolores O'Riordan soars over the music:
"Another head hangs lowly, Child is slowly taken. ..
The song is poignant, and probably the antithesis of the Valentine sentiment, yet reminds us again we should love ourselves and each other, and forever put an end to violence. But as a road song, accompanying the climb up to the flower growing areas...Zombie is perfect!
By the time I reach my first appointment at 8:00am , the sun is blazing down, temperatures have already risen to 75 F and the plaintiff cries of the Zombies have given way to merengue and reggaeton.
While most of the afternoon will be spent checking roses, I have made some time to look at other aspects of the flower industry, one of which is an interesting freight forwarder whose warehouse is situated in the heart of the growing areas of Tabacundo and Cayambe. Most of the freight forwarders serving the floral industry are located in Quito near the airport. H
owever, this company ships fresh cut flowers by boat to Holland. That's right, by boat! To Holland!! That is a twenty-two day trip from the warehouse in Ecuador to receipt by the customer
owever, this company ships fresh cut flowers by boat to Holland. That's right, by boat! To Holland!! That is a twenty-two day trip from the warehouse in Ecuador to receipt by the customerThey have developed an integrated system of floral logistics from farm to customer. They receive fresh flowers from the farms in water, whereupon they are pre-cooled for at least twenty-four hours. Then the flowers are removed from the water, and the excess moisture allowed to evaporate. When the flowers are completely dry, they are packed in specially designed boxes. These boxes incorporate double thickness cardboard, with extra folds at stress points. They are also entirely stackable, which eliminates the need for a top. Each box has many strategic cut-outs to allow for unrestricted airflow throughout the entire container when it is fully loaded with flowers.
Now, these are not just any old flowers, but have been selected for characteristics of strength and endurance for this type of extended time without water. Flowers that are successfully shipped each and every week are Hypericum, Leucadendrons and Leucospermums. Successful shipments of carnations, gypsophila and chrysanthemums have been done also. Trials of roses are on-going, though these present all kinds of problems, probably the most difficult to overcome is the predilection to of roses to harbor airborne pathogens
Obviously, in a closed environment of a shipping container that is sealed for 22 days means that just a few spores of, say Botrytis, would turn the shipment into a gargantuan petrii dish.
Nonetheless, as a glimpse into th
e future the concept is fascinating.
e future the concept is fascinating.
This enterprise is a joint venture between Latitude 0; Neumann; and Oudendijk, a large progressive flower distributor of flowers in Holland. Oudendijk has been instrumental in the foment of floral development in South Africa and Australia, and more recently in South America.
I also visited the hypericum farm of Oudendijk, which was typically Dutch, featruring a very efficient, stream-lined operation that grows ten hectares (24 acres) of hypericum. And just one variety of hypericum, namely "Dolly Parton". Economical, efficient and very unromantic. But a pertinent reminder that this is a business.
Thereafter, I visited our supplier of callas, more on that in another post, and then back to the mission...checking roses. Then the drive back to Quito, where I would spend the evening until 11:00pm examining the arriving roses. While I check flowers at the farm, I need to review the boxes again, as what I was shown at the farm is not necessarily what is shipped to the airport.
Fortunately at this stage of the harvest everything is fresh, but I keep a vigilant watch for hydration issues. Also, I need to check that the farms do not cut the flowers too tight, as their harvest comes to an end.
Too tired to even wrire my blog, I crawl under the covers ans fall into a deep sleep.
# posted by Mayesh International @ 5:56 AM 
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