The Coffee House

[snowbear141 72]

Tox Brewing Company

I hope that "Tox" isn't short for "Toxic" LOL

Look at the logo . . .

 

[limr50]

Leo - you drove under the subway tracks?! Do you mean part of that old elevated line which mostly got torn down (but some of it's still up) and is in old movies all the time? You're quite an amazing person if you were underground and did that.

No snow yet, supposed to only get a couple of inches here so glad the clouds that are going to dump 3-5" of snow are far enough away. One of the local weather forecasters said something about this spring snowfall... like we've had this so often lately it's the usual thing!

Nah, not underground. It's the 6 subway line, but at that point in the Bronx, it's technically not a subway but an el. I drove under it for a couple of miles.

 

[limr50]

Imagine that view but with a lot more traffic and construction. A train did go over us at one point. It was simultaneously strange and not strange.

 

[Gary A.]

@Gary A. I didn't realize that you were getting DYI tomatoes. LOL Have you ever tried growing them upside down??? Have friend that does it with great success.

At any given time, Gary has around 16 different varieties to select from. I grew a Roma upside down ... it works. But Gary has enough room where hanging a plant isn't needed.

 

[smoke665]

@Gary A. Have you ever thought about Aquaponics. Sustainable farming project combines aquaculture and hydroponics | Science| In-depth reporting on science and technology | DW | 04.07.2013 With your fish pond, love of weather and moderate weather you have an ideal setting. I've toured a couple experimental plots, that show a lot of promise.

 

[JonA_CT]

The brewery event was a huge success. The feedback on our beer was almost 100% positive, and we went through nearly 300 samples of our IPA, 250 samples of our Pilsner, and 150 samples of our chocolate coconut stout.

We also met some other local brewers, and are planning to collaborate on some beer releases when we open. Cool stuff.

After a day of manual labor and an evening of schmoozing though, I’m exhausted this morning.

 

[JonA_CT]

Oh. And I’m still at least 6 weeks and maybe closer to 8 weeks from being able to plant any vegetables around here. Jerks.

 

[davidharmier60]

Hi there y'all. It seems we will have corned beef hash, scrambled eggs and dry crumbly biscuits. Later gators.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[smoke665]

After a day of manual labor and an evening of schmoozing though, I’m exhausted this morning.

To be young again!!!! 4 hours manual labor yesterday building a retaining wall, and I was done for the rest of the day, and had to load up on Advil to even be able to sleep. LOL

Oh Jon, no planting here yet, though in previous years we have already been busy in the fields planting corn. So it's late here, but I did notice that the apple trees are putting out leaves, and that the asparagus beds have a few heads peeking through.

 

[Gary A.]

@Gary A. Have you ever thought about Aquaponics. Sustainable farming project combines aquaculture and hydroponics | Science| In-depth reporting on science and technology | DW | 04.07.2013 With your fish pond, love of weather and moderate weather you have an ideal setting. I've toured a couple experimental plots, that show a lot of promise.

The yards are quite self sustainable. The only thing that leaves the yard are rose canes, because of the thorns, all else gets composed for fed to the worms. Gary hasn't used any fertilizers in a decade+. This soil is highly expansive ... clay ... it was horrible, yellow with little organics. Now I have a good 6" to 12" of rich, black topsoil. The plants are quite healthy, disease resistant and grow like weeds. There is a decent amount of large insect predators, (mantis, lizards, birds) to eliminate any need for chemical pesticides. Gary biggest pest problems are slugs, snails and Japanese Beetles. Gary hasn't incorporated the pond into the sustainability cycle other than dumping the algae and gunk from the filters into the flower beds and in return tossing the slugs and snails into the pond, Koi treats. Gary briefly looked into Tilapia, but they are very aggressive and won't mix well with the Koi.

 

[Gary A.]

After a day of manual labor and an evening of schmoozing though, I’m exhausted this morning.

To be young again!!!! 4 hours manual labor yesterday building a retaining wall, and I was done for the rest of the day, and had to load up on Advil to even be able to sleep. LOL

Oh Jon, no planting here yet, though in previous years we have already been busy in the fields planting corn. So it's late here, but I did notice that the apple trees are putting out leaves, and that the asparagus beds have a few heads peeking through.

Gary's apple tree has blossoms and a few small apples.

 

[Tony744]

The maple tree behind the shop is starting to bud, and Bandit has been hyper and more of a pain than usual. Hoping that's a sign that spring is finally coming.

 

[smoke665]

This soil is highly expansive ... clay .

Interesting, we have the same problem here at home. The red clay here is horrible. We hauled about 20 loads of sandy loam in to put around the house after we built, to have a decent base for the sod. Planting fruit trees requires excavating a large hole, and replacing the soil. Thankfully the farms in MO and IL are either rich sandy loam or black organic (river sediment) that are easily tilled and quite deep.

 

[Gary A.]

@smoke665: Okay, Gary just read the article. The only and big difference between my yard and the experiment, is Gary has to replenish the water, as the evaporation it is not captured for recycling. But on the flip side, my yard's energy requirements must be significantly less. While Gary isn't growing hydroponically, he is growing most of his veggies in pots with a drip system which is quite efficient water-wise. Gary does use biological filtration for the pond and doesn't use any chemicals for water balance. Gary does want a few chickens for slug & snail control, but the boss keeps vetoing his schemes.

 

[Gary A.]

This soil is highly expansive ... clay .

Interesting, we have the same problem here at home. The red clay here is horrible. We hauled about 20 loads of sandy loam in to put around the house after we built, to have a decent base for the sod. Planting fruit trees requires excavating a large hole, and replacing the soil. Thankfully the farms in MO and IL are either rich sandy loam or black organic (river sediment) that are easily tilled and quite deep.

Most of the fruit trees here started from five gallon containers. Gary dumps in a bucket or two of compost with his plantings. It has worked out splendidly. Gary tries not to remove any plant detritus, but like to let it decompose in place. Mary Lou wasn't a big fan of this, and Gary still has to raid the green trash barrel after Mary Lou has worked in the yard, removing stuff from the trash barrel to the composters. But, it has worked out well. There is a definite line in the cross section of the soil, a dark yellow sticky substance under a foot and on top a black, crumbly, full of worms, soil on top ... in geological terms, the line marks Pre-Gary time and Gary time.