Lostin76

1 hour ago, Seeking6 said:

Thanks for starting this. My family has long been in the gardening world. With that said....their skill and ability didn't get handed down. I'm looking to start with the basics here in a couple weeks....tomato and pepper plants in pots on my patio. Plenty of sunlight. 

 I did a fair amount of research this morning but would like any tricks of the trade as well as just basic information....as in what size of pot and is it only tomato plant per pot? Same goes for peppers? 

Some of these pots are huge and I thought I could maybe get 2-3 plants in 1 but maybe it doesn't work that way. Any type of potting soil better than others and when I do get tomato/pepper plants....is it as simple as filling up the pots with potting soil. Setting the plant in and let Mother Nature run it's course? 

Have to hit the Monon Trail for my daily sanity walk during housebound time but will be active on this thread in a few hours. Again appreciate you starting.

First of all, thank you to @Reacher for starting this thread.

As far as peppers and tomatoes in containers, in my experience they do really well. We have a pretty large south-facing fourth floor terrace and I grow tomatoes and peppers, with tons of herbs and flowers. The one thing to keep in mind with growing tomatoes in containers is they need a LOT more water than tomatoes growing in the ground. During the height of summer, if it wasn't raining I would water each tomato plant every morning. You can stick your finger in the soil and see if it's dry, but they almost are always ready for more water each morning.

For peppers, I put 2-3 in a big pot. Tomatoes start out small, but I would advise only one plant per pot - even if it's a large container. They get huge! Also, put up tomato cages when you plant, rather than trying to do it when they start to need it.

We harvested tons of tomatoes and peppers form containers last year. I was giving them away to neighbors and bringing sacks full into work.

2 hours ago, Seeking6 said:

Funny you mentioned. With so much extra time on hand I've been studying all morning about type of potted plants, potting soil,etc...because I'm to looking into starting in next week or two. Figure by April we should be in the clear in terms of cold (fingers crossed). Probably should talk about in another thread. This coronavirus has me searching for a hobby.

2 hours ago, Reacher said:

Was just wondering if Menards/ Home Depot / Lowes will stay open and be getting their deliveries of Mulch / Flowers on time this year. I'm hoping that after the snow expected tomorrow that we will be done with winter and looking forward to sprucing up the yard. Already aerated and fertilized earlier this week. I think those are essential stores. People need to be able to maintain their homes. 

I would imagine they will stay open. At least I hope so. I'll need some potting soil.

@Seeking6 I would be down with a gardening thread, b/c I think it will keep us sane!

17 hours ago, jv1972iu said:

My wife and I were in NYC last October.  While it's not for me, it is one amazing city.  Best of luck to you and your family and ALL residents of  New York.  I know they will come through this crisis.

Thank you, and yeah we're taking it seriously but no one is really freaking out about anything other than bed and protective gear shortages. Also, there are MANY parts of NYC that are definitely"not for me." I get that. My wife has to drag me to Midtown/Times Square area kicking and screaming. It's literally one of my least favorite places in the world. So many people crowded together shopping at crappy stores.

16 hours ago, Seeking6 said:

My cousins works at NYU and from what I can tell....he's in some capacity with students studying abroad. As you can imagine it's been nothing short of a nightmare. Add to that he and his girlfriend hate their Washington Heights apartment (had to live there for $ reasons) and are trying to move down to 60's-90's on West Side by April 1st.....while still trying to exist in an unknown world out there. Be safe!! 

It's definitely cheaper to live up in Wash. Heights, but I can see why they want to move further south on west side. I have had two international staff go back to their countries (India and Netherlands) since this started. Our Netherlands person just got here on a paid summer internship two weeks before this all blew up. It had been her lifelong dream to live and work in NYC for a summer. She was here for 8 days, before her university recalled her. Told her it was too dangerous in the US.

We are up over 5,100 cases now in NYC. Watching the positive results come in has been pretty discouraging, but everyone knows this is a long slog with many people recovering.

Another positive, much more time hanging out with the dogs. They don't seem to mind having us home all the time! I'm also about to place a huge order of annuals for our terrace. We'll be spending a lot of time out there this Spring/Summer. Normally, my wife tries to limit me to 50 pots/containers for flowers and veggies. This year, she said "Go crazy, let's make it into a jungle since we'll be out here all the time." Challenge accepted!

One last bit of positive news, liquor stores have been deemed "essential stores" that may remain open during shelter in place. And here's an article about bars adapting to the new reality of to go drinks:

https://gothamist.com/food/heres-how-nyc-bars-are-adapting-new-alcohol-go-rule

2 hours ago, jv1972iu said:

Cuomo closes the state of New York.  Everyone stays home except essential services workers. ** Maybe close is the wrong word.  He said 100% workforce reduction.  He had an entire list of rules regarding what people need to do and not do.  There will be penalties, fines for not following them.

Yep, we just got back from a walk around. Stopped at a wine shop, only two customers allowed in at a time. Very orderly and everyone was maintaining good distance between each other.

Cuomo has been reluctant to shut down the state, but I don't think he had any choice. The numbers of positive cases are increasing at a dizzying speed, especially here in NYC. The new rule allows us to go out to buy food, medicine and other basic needs. They said we can also go outside and exercise as long as they practice social distancing. We live close to Prospect Park and have been going out for runs, but keeping well clear of people when we pass them.

Our hospital already has 100 positive cases with another 80-100 probable. They are begging for volunteers and are estimating about two weeks before protective gear runs out.

3 hours ago, Cutter said:

How many quarts did you buy? None of my business but curious because although I don’t drink now when I was young a quart of margaritas wouldn’t have lasted my girlfriend and I maybe an hour lol

Ha, just one quart. Tomorrow we might order two!

I have all of my staff and faculty working remotely from home. We are now approaching 4,000 cases in NYC. It's not safe for them to commute, even though the subs are much less crowded.

Some of my staff are fairly young - in their 20s - and this is really freaking them out. I have one research assistant who has asked if he can return to his parents house in Iowa and work remotely from there. Poor kid, he just moved to NYC 6 months ago and thought he was living the dream.

On a positive note, my wife and I walked to our local Mexican place last night after placing a carryout order. It was a beautiful spring evening - the trees are starting to bloom here. When we got there, the staff already had our order together and we were all happy to see each other. They are now selling quarts of their frozen margaritas and man did they taste good!

We left them a 50% tip, b/c I consider what they are doing hazard pay worthy.

40 minutes ago, Billingsley99 said:

Since he is not an NBA PLAYER  we are not allowed. We were told if symptoms appear dont go to dr or er,  have them come out to the car to test him. I am one that does not stress easily,  right now my stress level is very high. As of now we just sit tight and everyone but me have been home quarantined since Sunday but my job wont allow 

I know you have to be freaking out and I certainly would be too. The one thing that kids have as an advantage is that they don't seem to get sick from it, but I do remember reading that your son has some immunity issues. It sounds like you guys are doing everything you can to protect Ayden on your end. That's the one thing you have some control over. My thoughts are with you and your family. Can't imagine the fear coursing through your veins. Thinking of you guys.

9 hours ago, milehiiu said:

We ordered delivery tonight. Took less than half the normal time to get here.  I doubled the normal tip.  Driver asked : "Are you sure ?" I said yes.  He left with a thank you and big smile on his face. 

Those little things on our part can make a big difference for a delivery person when they add their tips up at the end of the night.

Our local taco/margarita place is now allowing people to carryout quarts of their famous margaritas. We are ordering tacos and margs tonight at the end of the workday. And will be tipping very generously for the people busting their butts at the restaurant.

All research seems to show that food heated up is safe, but to still be careful handling plastic containers.

13 minutes ago, milehiiu said:

I have never been to Brooklyn where you live. NYC has a high concentration of people living close to each other. That I do know. And not all that great at a time like this. However, I saw a live feed of Times Square this morning.  And it was nearly deserted at the time.

Take care.  And above all.  Do not panic..

No panic here, but definitely concern for our neighbors and business owners. One of the things that makes Brooklyn so great (as compared to all the chain stores in Manhattan) is that we are a collection of smallish neighborhoods with vital small business owners - shops, restaurants, and bars. Picture a bunch of small Indiana towns all pushed up against each other, so that you can comfortably walk from town to town to sample the best that each has to offer. I do worry that our local businesses won't survive this.

8 hours ago, Lostin76 said:

We have 923 cases in NYC as of earlier this morning. They had predicted 1,000 by end of week, but we'll top that by the end of the day.

I wish I could stop checking these numbers, as we now have 1,871 cases in NYC as of the end of the work day. If you do the math for the next week or month, it does not look good.

2 minutes ago, tdhoosier said:

Hard to hear these stories. 

My wife said that yesterday's The Daily podcast was heartbreaking. They interviewed an Italian doctor and he was explaining how they choose who received treatment and who doesn't. They always choose the younger and healthy. He said it's incredibly sad because the older people they can't treat are forced to stay and families obviously can't visit them - and these people are dying alone. I don't know if I can bring myself to listen to it this morning. Especially because I woke up extra anxious. I'm a small business owner and had the incredible urge to clean out my receivables as best as I can because I don't know if anybody in payables departments will be around in 2 weeks. Hopefully an over-reaction, but just another thing to be concerned with. 

I listened to it and it was brutal to hear how they were having to just let people die. I don't envy small business owners right now, no matter where you are. Best of luck to you in the coming months.

8 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

Cases in the State of New York are exploding.  Almost 2,500 now.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

We have 923 cases in NYC as of earlier this morning. They had predicted 1,000 by end of week, but we'll top that by the end of the day.

1 hour ago, Seeking6 said:

Since this is public now I feel comfortable commenting on. I didn't know her personally but know people who did. Very active in band, music scene, bars, dart leagues,etc....just a normal person who undoubtedly came into contact with 100's of people before officially being diagnosed. Feel bad that she had to say goodbye to her husband via ipad. These are the potential exponential growth stories we should be concerned about.

https://www.theindychannel.com/news/coronavirus/first-person-to-die-from-covid-19-in-indiana-was-marion-county-woman

Ugh, there are going to be so many of these types of stories. My Dad was saing he only comes into close contact with 6-8 people each day on his job. He was silent when I asked him how many people those 6-8 people came into close contact with each day. And then how many people those people came into contact with. And so on...

43 minutes ago, jv1972iu said:

Not sure Gov. Cuomo is going for DeBlasio's shelter in place.  Cuomo says he wants all responses to the virus to be state wide and not piecemeal.  Just saw him on tv talking about this idea.

Am seeing that now. I trust Cuomo over DeBlasio. DeBlasio is not exactly projecting strength or inspiring confidence.

1 hour ago, IU Scott said:

Indiana is up to 30 cases and have their 2d death in Johnson county

Dang, didn't expect that many in IN. We just passed 650 cases here in NYC this morning. Expecting over 1,000 before Friday. But, I think that's being conservative.

On the plus side, leave it to NYC to figure this stuff out. Our local wine shop has an app that no one used before, but now they have a sign on the door directing people to order/pay on app. I downloaded the app and 5 minutes later they opened the door and put our wine/booze on the ground for us pick up. It was all very orderly and someone else already there walked us through the procedure. We walked our dog the one and half blocks and then walked home with a month's worth of prosecco for the wife. I already have rye, gin, and sweet vermouth.

It looks like NYC will have a shelter in place order in the next few days. Shouldn't affect us too much as we are already hunkering down. We could leave the city and stay at our place on Maryland Eastern Shore, but Brooklyn is our home. All the people and businesses around us are important to us. Our bodegas an grocery stores are staying open and just asking people to limit the number of people going in at one time. There's a sense that we know that the city will be hit really hard, but also a sense that we are all in this together, even if it means keeping our distance from each other.

Last night, I smoked a big fat joint and instead of listening to music I watched the 2002 IU/Duke tourney game that @dbmhoosier posted in another thread. I give that dude lots of attitude for his negative posting, but he gave me Moye stuffing Boozer and a lot of Jared Jeffries being a badass. So, I thank him for that!

Stay safe everyone.

Our local vet here in Brooklyn is instituting "curbside service." We are lucky though, b/c our vet lives on our floor of our building.

Quote

Due to concerns about the threat of Covid-19, All Creatures is taking additional precautionary measures to keep our staff, doctors, animals and clients safe. As we are sure you are aware, the situation in NYC is changing on a daily basis. Effective 3/17/2020, we will be implementing Curbside Service for all your veterinary needs.

As much as possible, we are attempting to keep it to staff only in the building. We ask that you give us a call as you approach the hospital. Please remain outside with your pet. We will discuss your pet's needs by phone and at the end of the phone conversation, a staff member will come outside to you to bring your pet into the building for examination. When the evaluation is complete, we will discuss any findings and recommendations with you by phone. Please have all cats in carriers and dogs on a controlled leash.  Please maintain a 6 foot distance from others to the best of your ability to prevent crowding outside and for your safety. If an exception needs to be made please discuss it with our team prior to your arrival at the hospital. 

 

If you need prescription medications, heartworm or flea/tick control refills or prescription diets, please call us when you are outside and we will bring these out to you.