Fifth Avenue Forum

We had railroad ties for a retaining wall over our driveway in O'Hara. Looking at Google Streetview, they have been replaced by stone (as of 2013 lol). Maybe they don't last as long as I thought they did.

I don't know how long they were there but the railroad ties built into the retaining wall at the old Allison Park house were a complete mess by the time we moved out. No idea how the buyers didn't complain.

Not the best option due to the creosote in the ties

We had railroad ties for a retaining wall over our driveway in O'Hara. Looking at Google Streetview, they have been replaced by stone (as of 2013 lol). Maybe they don't last as long as I thought they did.

That was the only finding at our house when we bought it. Termites got into the ties

Carpenter ants, at my place.

Definitely do not use railroad ties for vegetable gardens.

Too late to prune rose bushes?

Too late to prune rose bushes?

Depending on where you are, it might be too early. You want to prune after the last frost, but before the leaf buds swell. Forsythia blooming is a good indicator.

https://www.post-gazette.com/life/garde ... 2004030027

Have apples, pears, figs, raspberries, and blueberries planted. Going to pick up a couple peach later.

Getting our meat chickens in on Monday. They should be ready for slaughter by Memorial Day.

Still getting 10 or so eggs a day from the layers.

The dodints at the USPS left my chickens on the dock and they were killed by an "inattentive employee".

Oof.

The dodints at the USPS left my chickens on the dock and they were killed by an "inattentive employee".

Sorry to hear that. I have some coming in mid May and always worry about that.

So we're just going to skate past the whole you-can-get-live-farm-animals-delivered-to-you-in-the-mail thing?

We had railroad ties for a retaining wall over our driveway in O'Hara. Looking at Google Streetview, they have been replaced by stone (as of 2013 lol). Maybe they don't last as long as I thought they did.

My uncle had ties as a retaining wall at his hillside house that defined a street level parking space for guests. Within 5 years, you were just parking on the street because the ties bowed so much.

So we're just going to skate past the whole you-can-get-live-farm-animals-delivered-to-you-in-the-mail thing?

The USPS takes it pretty seriously, or at least most of them do..

My brother once ordered a small starter hive of bees through the mail. Backed inside a mesh-screen-lined wooden crate that even had a little feeder for them. I bet that was one package where people actually paid attention to the "fragile" and "this side up" markings.

The dodints at the USPS left my chickens on the dock and they were killed by an "inattentive employee".

Sorry to hear that. I have some coming in mid May and always worry about that.

Reading between the lines it sounds like they were run over by a forklift. Thankfully the company immediately sent out a new shipment and I should get them tomorrow.

So we're just going to skate past the whole you-can-get-live-farm-animals-delivered-to-you-in-the-mail thing?

The USPS takes it pretty seriously, or at least most of them do..

I think we'll all be shocked to hear that this happened in a sorting facility in Philadelphia.

The chicks came from Quakertown, PA.

So we're just going to skate past the whole you-can-get-live-farm-animals-delivered-to-you-in-the-mail thing?

Back when I was still exhibiting and aquarium I would order live fish in the mail.

You can order damn near anything via the mail. Fish generally come overnight, unless we're talking freshwater.

They were freshwater. I had a thing for dwarf puffers and they were hard to get locally for a while.

Our LFS surprisingly always has like 3-4 different species of dwarf puffers readily available. Pea puffers are freakin adorable.

I drove by Elmers last week for the first time in 15 years. It looked so small. In my mind I remembered it as this huge space because I liked it so much.

Year #2 of trying to eradicate the chameleon plant from my backyard. Some former owner decided it was a good idea to plant it all along the house in the back yard, the problem being if you do that you'd better be prepared to have it forever. It grows by rhizomes and it's incredibly difficult to get them all.

The area has had so much roundup dumped on it the past year it's probably technically a brownfield by now.

I ripped out two Japanese barberry plants last fall.... No sign of re-emergence as of yet, but we'll see. The plan is a butterfly flower garden in that area. Much prettier than stupid spikey bushes.

I ripped out two Japanese barberry plants last fall.... No sign of re-emergence as of yet, but we'll see. The plan is a butterfly flower garden in that area. Much prettier than stupid spikey bushes.

That was the first thing we did when we moved in. They were all along the front. Those are painful to take out.