FourFour Outdoor - Bodhi, Dynasty, Lemon Tree, etc

[FourFour]

For sure, seems like a cool company. I just hate when companies just tell you about the ‘features’ and you have to dig and dig to find out what a product actually is, where it came from, what’s the story. But I know I’m not the average consumer… It seems like an awesome story! I wish there were pictures of where they got the salt from, drone shots of the Sea of Cortez, videos of people harvesting it, etc.

My buddy used to work for a company that sold reclaimed teak and other wood from SE Asia. Amazing stories of this old growth teak and where it was used, how it was salvaged and turned into decks and siding, etc. On the website there was one line that said something like “reclaimed from vintage buildings”. The rest talked about how “durable” and “sustainable” and “gorgeous” it is. It’s like, yeah, people know that teak is a great wood. Tell us the story! Nobody else has that! “The customer wants durable wood. How will they know the wood is durable, if we don’t tell them it is?”. Straight out of a 1970s playbook of door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesmen.

It’s like if someone tried to sell you a bottle of wine and they just talk about how great it is. This wine is the best. It has more antioxidants. The latest studies show this wine prevents cancer better than the rest. It won an award.
Ok, now I’m ranting haha.

I like this picture

[syzygy]

@FourFour

I like this picture

I like that picture too… nice lighting in that shot!

[FourFour]

Thanks, pretty sure I was about to walk inside but decided to turn around and get a couple more shots. I like that the background is all similar colors but it (vintage blueberry) still cuts through the noise.

[minitiger]

@FourFour

I wish there were pictures of where they got the salt from, drone shots of the Sea of Cortez, videos of people harvesting it, etc.

There used to be that kind of stuff on their website. I dunno about the drone shots haha, but there were definitely videos of them at the Sea of Cortez (thanks for reminding me where it is that they get the salt from). I haven’t looked at their site in years, though; maybe they took the videos down. I dunno why they’d do that, but they used to be there.

@FourFour

On the website there was one line that said something like “reclaimed from vintage buildings”. The rest talked about how “durable” and “sustainable” and “gorgeous” it is. It’s like, yeah, people know that teak is a great wood. Tell us the story! Nobody else has that!

It’s because the average consumer doesn’t care and so every. Single. Fucking. Company just throws around words that makes people like that’s ears perk up. It’s like these job postings I look at on indeed, where they all emphasize how “diverse” they are and how “inclusivity” is reeealllly important and how much they want their employees to “Express yourself! Be you!” Every time I see that shit, I’m just like,”Is this a job or a self-help seminar?” Those words get thrown around so much now that they’ve lost all meaning. Honestly, I’m not sure the people who write those job posts even know what they’re saying. They sound like fucking robots.

Anyway, yeah, most people aren’t interested in the details. I mean, you said it yourself:

@FourFour

The customer wants durable wood. How will they know the wood is durable, if we don’t tell them it is?

They don’t! They don’t know that! They’re dumb! People are dumb! haha…

@FourFour

It’s like if someone tried to sell you a bottle of wine and they just talk about how great it is.

I’d never tasted 99% of the wine I sold when I was a waiter. Yet I still sold it. How? By throwing out typical “wine catchphrases.” “Fruit-forward.” “Notes of stone fruit and leather.” “Ash-y.” “Plum.” Whatever. I just lied. You’d have to be an idiot anyway to think that any restaurant is opening thousand-dollar bottles of wine just so their staff can taste it and accurately describe it to their tables. They’re not gonna waste that shit on their employees.

They. Do. Not. Know. It’s shocking how dumb most people are. I don’t know why I’m still shocked by the stupidity of the general public, we should all know by now, but I am haha…

[FourFour]

@minitiger

I dunno why they’d do that, but they used to be there.

They probably used to market to people like us who are already interested in the stuff they’re selling, and realized they won’t make any money that way haha. It’s sad but true that most people care more about packaging than they do about what it actually is that they’re buying.

@minitiger

I don’t know why I’m still shocked by the stupidity of the general public

As I was reading your post several examples of people I know being dumb while buying things popped into my head haha. I live in a bubble and like to ignore the general public, but sometimes I’m reminded…

Let’s go back to that bubble! Haha SEA-90. I think I might email someone at the local university and see about mineral testing. I am curious now haha. Mainly about the salt I collected. It would be nice to get some kind of toxicity report or something, there’s so much fear about ocean pollution. I’m not too worried but it would be nice to know.

[minitiger]

@FourFour

I think I might email someone at the local university and see about mineral testing. I am curious now haha. Mainly about the salt I collected.

Yeah, that’d be cool. It’d definitely be very interesting to know and be able to compare and contrast what you collected to stuff like SEA-90. Like I said, I haven’t looked at their website in a long time, but it’d be interesting to know if the Sea of Cortez really is some kind of magical place where the salt from the water there is somehow special-er than the salt from where you’re collecting in the Pacific.

I don’t even know where the Sea of Cortez is haha. I mean, I’ve heard of it, heard of it before I ever heard about SEA-90, but I have no idea where it is. I don’t even know where Kentucky is haha.

[FourFour]

What a fun time to be alive. Just ordered a bag of SEA-90 and I’m talking to some lab people at the university. Once it gets here I’ll drop some samples off and they’ll do their thing with x-ray fluorescence and we’ll get a full mineral analysis to see once and for all if the healing waters of the Sea of Cortez are, in fact, magic. Haha fun stuff. I bet it’ll have more minerals but I hope the Oregon salt isn’t too far behind.

@minitiger

I don’t even know where the Sea of Cortez is

It’s in Kentucky haha. Nah I looked it up and it’s a different name for the Gulf of California, between Baja and Mexico. If the results are good you’ll have to drive down and collect some yourself, I’ll trade you for some Oregon salt. The radiation helps make plants grow.

[minitiger]

Yeah, I looked into it after I posted that. I know where the Gulf of California is, didn’t realize they were the same thing. I guess “Sea of Cortez” just sounds better for SEA-90’s purposes haha, more exotic.

Looks beautiful down there, though. My girl and I may have to take a trip and check it out whenever I start working again. Not to get salt water or anything haha, but just to go swimming and shit.

@FourFour

I bet it’ll have more minerals but I hope the Oregon salt isn’t too far behind.

Maybe. When I was reading about the Sea of Cortez, it said that it’s one of the most biologically diverse bodies of water on the planet. That’s gotta be why the salt is so good, right?

[FourFour]

Hope you make it down there!

Might be the other way around, where there’s a lot of biodiversity because there’s a lot of minerals in the water. The SEA-90 site said something about how Jacques Cousteau loved the Sea of Cortez. That didn’t make me want to buy their salt, but it did make me want to watch The Life Aquatic again haha.

[FourFour]

Sun is still shining out here and will be for the foreseeable future (although I don’t put too much stock into forecasts past like 2-3 days). Night temps have dropped into the mid-low 40s, so getting some color on a few plants.

Blue Magoo bx3 F2’s are smelling like purple Otter Pops

Obama Magoo still smelling delicious, like creamy berries. A little worried about her if we do get some rain. Fat, dense buds:

Seeds are starting to swell on all the plants

Dream Beaver, getting strong grapefruit zest from her:

Dream Axis is the only funky smelling plant I have, too bad it’s fully seeded…

I’m hoping the Kush4xSSDD f2’s end up less fruity. The earth/funk is starting to come through a little on those. Otherwise it’s going to be fruit city over here. I didn’t really realize that when I picked out my seeds this year. ‘Chem 91’ isn’t fruity but I’ll maybe get a 1/4 oz. off her, she’s small and growing in the shade.

Lemon Tree looking frosty (brown spots are caterpillar damage). I’m thinking she might have a lot of seeds… I was a little loose with keeping my males near the garden because nothing was flowering yet, besides her. She’s pretty small but the main stem is weak and she’s starting to lean. Not the best grow and I put her in a shady spot for some dumb reason, so I’ll hold off my judgement. Only a few white pistils left, she’ll be the first one chopped.

My 2 homemade cross sisters are looking very different. One is looking like Blue Magoo (smells like red vines), the other will probably go into November and seems to have a strong African influence based on the flowering time, which I’m excited about assuming it can handle the rain.

The Pot Farm mystery plants are all pretty nice. Two of them have great structure, lots of side branches and they’re really open so there’s good airflow. Two have purple buds, one is green. The purple ones have smaller foxtail-y buds. I’ll probably never know what they are. It’s funny because I didn’t care about these at all, but now I’m intrigued with how they’ll smoke. The #1 has the smallest buds and trichomes on the stems/fan leaves for what it’s worth.

Vintage Blueberry looking sexy. Smelling more floral/berry now, looking like it’ll finish up earlier than most of the others:

And last but not least, the salt harvest. Need to do a final clean but I have about a half gallon. Still waiting for the SEA-90 to arrive for side-by-side testing.

Camera-shy spider on a zinnia:

[CocoaCoir]

The vintage blueberry looks great. Looks like an indoor plant.

[minitiger]

@FourFour

Otherwise it’s going to be fruit city over here. I didn’t really realize that when I picked out my seeds this year.

Yeahhhhh, I hate it when that happens, do that all the time myself haha. Like, slapping yourself in the face going,”Consider the genetics of what you’re planting before you plant, gawddmnit!” haha.

They all look good, though. Outdoor… That’s where it’s at… haha.

[FourFour]

@CocoaCoir

The vintage blueberry looks great. Looks like an indoor plant.

Yeah, it is much less leafy than the rest. I had a nice looking purple-stem male, kinda wish I would’ve kept it to pollinate some lowers on her.

@minitiger

”Consider the genetics of what you’re planting before you plant, gawddmnit!” haha.

It’s funny because I said OK, I want to grow this from Bodhi, this from Dynasty, this from AKBB, and these from people on OG, but I never really compared them with each other. Then months later I was out smelling plants and was like ‘berry, berry, blueberry, huckleberry, berry, ooh lemon! berry, floral berry, another lemon. Shit…’ haha

@minitiger

Outdoor… That’s where it’s at… haha.

Talk to me again in a month haha. Nah, most stuff should finish before things get too rainy up here.

[minitiger]

@FourFour

Talk to me again in a month haha.

Couldn’t you just hang up a janky plastic thing over the plants? I mean, I realize it’d still be wet and humid, but at the least the plants wouldn’t be getting directly rained on.

@FourFour

Then months later I was out smelling plants and was like ‘berry, berry, blueberry, huckleberry, berry, ooh lemon! berry, floral berry, another lemon. Shit…’ haha

It must’ve been a subconscious thing, where something from deep inside you was saying,””Plant a bunch of similar shit…” That’s what I always tell myself, anyway. Like Bob Ross, happy accidents etc etc etc, all that stuff haha.

[FourFour]

@minitiger

Couldn’t you just hang up a janky plastic thing over the plants?

Yeah, I could even just cover some of the plants with a 5-gal bucket if I really needed to haha.

@minitiger

It must’ve been a subconscious thing, where something from deep inside you was saying,””Plant a bunch of similar shit…” That’s what I always tell myself, anyway. Like Bob Ross, happy accidents etc etc etc, all that stuff haha.

I like it, and even if that’s not true I’d rather believe that versus everything is random and there’s no meaning behind anything haha. I got a little ahead of myself though because the kush4 x ssdd have lost pretty much all their berry smells and I’m sure it’ll change again after they’re chopped and cured. But with small plants I like having similar things. Instead of one giant blue magoo plant I have several smaller variations that should keep me from getting bored (not that I’ve ever gotten bored from weed haha).

Guess I haven’t posted in a couple weeks. 4 plants are drying, chopped them down Oct. 9 & 10. A few more will be going tomorrow. They’re ready and today is the last day of 70s and no rain, so they get one more day to soak up the sunshine.

Lemon Tree was the first to go. I should’ve chopped it a few days sooner, it’s got a lot of amber. I took cuttings but I had a lot of slime in my cloner and they didn’t make it. Whatever, I was hoping to keep it because I’d like to give it a better run, but the main reason I grew it was to have an “elite” that has been kept around for many years to use as a benchmark to compare my seed plants to.

Blue Magoo bx3 f2 #3 PSH #2, and Pot Farm #3 were the others:

I’m a little worried about Kush4 x SSDD #1 and the Sour Bubba, I’ll probably make a little shelter for them today. Lots of rain in the forecast. Everything else should be smooth sailing to the finish unless they’re really susceptible to rot/mold. I found a couple mold spots in the K4xSSDD #2 and the Obama Magoo. It was in the interior of the buds where it looked like a caterpillar had ate into.

SEA-90 and my salt samples were dropped off at the lab and I’m still waiting for results. It’s funny because now I don’t really care about the results because even if the salt I collected has a high mineral content, I now have 5 lbs. of SEA-90 that will take many years to get through haha.

[minitiger]

@FourFour

It’s funny because now I don’t really care about the results because even if the salt I collected has a high mineral content, I now have 5 lbs. of SEA-90 that will take many years to get through haha.

That is funny. It’ll still be cool to know, though.

[BarefootAndBlazed]

I’m super late to this party but just cruised through the thread. Nice selections, and great job!!! I’ve got a pack of AKBB’s Fast Vintage Blueberry I keep threatening to grow and your plant does nothing to deter that. Same with the Dream Axis…

The Shady Shaman talk reminded me of the Tom Robbins book, Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates. It’s a really fun read, and the events are set into motion by an Ayahuasca ceremony conducted by, to borrow the phrase, a shady shaman. I’m sure you could mine some nuggets from the novel and repurpose them to incorporate into the series. I just need a co-producer credit and a trip to Georgia

[CaptainRon]

@BarefootAndBlazed

Tom Robbins book

‘Jitter bug perfume,’ is one of my favorite reads.
‘Even cowgirls get the blues,’ is another excellent one from him.

[BarefootAndBlazed]

Jitterbug might be my favorite book of his but Switters, the protagonist from Fierce Invalids, is my favorite Robbins character.

[FourFour]

@minitiger

That is funny. It’ll still be cool to know, though.

For sure, I’ll post the results when I get 'em!

@BarefootAndBlazed

I’m super late to this party

You’re the friend who only shows up around harvest time haha. “Hey man, you sure you want to trim all that? I’ll take a few branches off your hands”. Just kidding, glad to have you! I’m harvesting the Vintage Blueberry tomorrow so stay tuned for the smoke report. I traded the rest of my Dream Axis pack but excited to go through the f2’s that are ripening right now. Talk to minitiger about the free trip to Georgia haha!

I’ve never read any Tom Robbins books but I’ll have to check him out. My book buying habit has been brewing lately… I slowed down because I ran out of space on my bookshelf, but the pile next to it has room to grow, it’s only a foot high haha.