Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Where I grew up in Mt Vernon-near-Bronxville, we had in our yard, 5 apple trees, 3 cherry trees, 2 pear trees, an apricot tree, a walnut tree, several peach trees, and a plum tree that was grafted to produce 2 kinds of plums! There were a few little crabapple trees, too. We had a large garden and rarely bought veggies in the summer.
It couldn't have changed that much since then-climate change happens over aeons, right?
No, the climate hasnt changed that much yet. But in California the growing season is much longer than here. I grew up in chappaqua and we had apple trees, blueberry and raspberry bushes, Concord grapes, currants, rhubarb and all sorts of veggies in the garden. But with the exception of apple in fall, most of the edible goodies were summertime only. And we didn't have any citrus trees.
I am the original poster on this thread, with some updates.
Thanks everyone for all the replies and discussions. Some of my questions were intentionally "over the top", intended to have a more vigorous and wide discussion.
Of course, I understand that NY would be cold half the year, and I can't have all the fruit trees that we had in our backyard in California. That doesn't mean I can't be nostalgic about it! We just finished harvesting Santa Rosa plums last week, took big baskets to the (old) workplace. Now nectarines are ripe. Fig tree is laden with fruits, and will start ripening from August and will continue through October. November and December would be pomegranate months. All along, lots of tomatoes, garlic (green garlic leaves and cloves in the ground), dill, spinach. January and part of Feb are the lean months. Then in March oranges start.
But from this thread I did learn that in NY I can have berries in summer, and maybe some variety of plums and cherries. A few months back, NY times had a special article on figs in Brooklyn (originally people had smuggled some fig twigs from Italy), so maybe I can have fig tree as well
Likewise, the church question was also a bit over the top. After all, Westchester is the deep, rural South; nonetheless I have heard that in some areas of Ny and NJ stores are closed (partially closed?) on Sundays. This can be inferred as undue influence of churches, at least originally that must have been the reason, even if now it can be considered a social custom. But it is quite different, coming from Northern California, where my local Safeway is open 24 hours a day. Call me crazy, but I went to Safeway on July 4th, at 9:30pm, after the fireworks on our street, got marinated salmon, and fired the grill. Now this sort of thing is not needed all the time. But since most such stores are open at night to stock, it is a nice practice to keep 1 checkout stand open, plus the self-checkout stands, and let people buy something anytime they want.
By the way, the Fairfax, Va family, the one wanting to have in-state tuition for their child, is a different one, I think a different thread, but some responses got merged in this thread. My children won't be ready for college until another the year 2020.
We have started looking at some homes, in Dobbs Ferry and Ardsley so far. Hope to hit a few open houses this weekend, and also look at some houses in Hastings and maybe in Scarsdale. Haven't yet driven to the towns like Harrison and Rye and Larchont, the ones on the New Haven line.
One new variable, so to say, is a suggestion from a friend to consider Holmdel, NJ, and commute on ferry from Belford. The Ferry option is expensive (800 per month, versus about 500 for Metro train + subway for Rivertowns), but for Wall St location, the "car + train + transfer at GRand Central + subway + walk" will be replaced by "car + ferry + short walk", and we can afford the extra ferry cost. in return, for the same cost much bigger homes in NJ, and access to big box stores for my wife... but that's a separate thread, on a different forum, so I'll post there about pros and cons of Holmdel, NJ.
Likewise, the church question was also a bit over the top. After all, Westchester is the deep, rural South; nonetheless I have heard that in some areas of Ny and NJ stores are closed (partially closed?) on Sundays. This can be inferred as undue influence of churches, at least originally that must have been the reason, even if now it can be considered a social custom.
Stores are closed on Sundays in NJ but not in NY. You will be surprised however to find that you can't buy wine at Trader Joe's, or other grocery stores. You could buy wine everywhere (everywhere!) in CA. People do seem to be more observant here of their faith than in the part of CA I'm from - more regular attendance of church or temple - and people tend to group together more based on religion. (I was surprised to see that there are "Jewish towns" and "Catholic towns" - no such distinction in CA). I can't recall hearing Dobbs or Ardsley described in any particular way with regard to the religion of people there, so probably its a mix. Either way, no one has ever been pushy here at all about religion. Live and let live.
As for gardening, I haven't started experimenting here yet, but I'm sure it can be done! Its probably just not as foolproof as in CA (plunk a seedling in the ground, it grows). Good luck and report back about your open houses.
And not only can you NOT buy wine everywhere out here, but you will choke at what you have to pay for it. Crap wine is easily 50% more. Stock up before the move and when your friends come visit!
And not only can you NOT buy wine everywhere out here, but you will choke at what you have to pay for it. Crap wine is easily 50% more. Stock up before the move and when your friends come visit!
Sad but true! I really miss buying wine with my Ralph's Club card.
And not only can you NOT buy wine everywhere out here, but you will choke at what you have to pay for it. Crap wine is easily 50% more. Stock up before the move and when your friends come visit!
Is it legal to transport wine across interstate?
I am supposed to have corporate-paid, white-glove move; but since we live simply in some aspects, we don't have an 80 inch plasma TV and such to move, maybe I can stock up on Napa and Sonoma wine and have it shipped! (our TV in California is 15 years old, 27 inch).
What about buying online and getting it shipped? Is it allowed in NY/NJ?
Yes, you can have wine shipped into NY. My friends do it all the time and there are a lot of home delivery options like WSJ Wine and such but I'm unsure of the quality.
Depending on the month you may not want to just put an expensive collection on the truck. It takes up to 3 weeks for a cc move and it gets hot in there. We came out here July a few years back and it was hot enough to melt all of our candles. 3 weeks like that may ruin wine.
I'm very interested to know where you ended up and why. I am in the process of moving my family from the SF Bay Area to Westchester. (Job in Midtown NYC.) Interestingly, where I live, in the Lamorinda area, I have been told in independent unrelated conversations to consider Ridgewood, NJ. Nonetheless, we are marching down the path of either:
Rivertowns and applying to The Masters School
Edgemont/Scarsdale
Rye (both Rye City and Rye Neck)
I would appreciate any insights that you (or anyone else) are willing to share. (Assuming that you still frequent this board.)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
