I have found a couple of places that offer "Free" compost. http://www.laparks.org/dos/camps/facility/griffithPkCompost.htm http://www.torranceca.gov/9216.htm This one says its compost, but its made from sewage so be careful http://www.lvmwd.com/index.aspx?page=173 If you want a 3 cubic yard truck load delivered that I know is really good composted Horse manure check out this guy at http://www.RotoTillerGuy.com $100 delivered

There are several Okies on this board. If there are koi or water garden societies in your area, check with them to see if anyone is interested in your fish. You can try running an ad in your local newspaper, but I suggest you ask a nominal fee, a couple of dollars, or ask what they plan to do with them. Some people will take small koi or goldfish to use as bait. Craig's list is another option. Black crows seem popular, and some koi people consider them "good luck", so you'll probably be able to find homes for those with little or no trouble.

the problem is.. they are usually empty ... if you could actually find one full .. and test out the motors and what not ... then it might be worth it ... but i have to tell you.. moving one of these larger units is not easy nor fun ... and it would be a lot of backbreaking labor.. to find out it leaks.. or the circuitry is fried ... i didnt see where you are ... but running it.. in the great frozen north.. all winter long will be a hundred or two dollars per month ... and that is why i eventually got rid of mine ... i could not steep myself in there.. and relax ..... knowing it was costing me so much dough ... lol ... even in summer.. it wasnt cheap.. keeping it at temp ... as it takes hours for it to go up a degree or two ... so its not like you can knock the temp back.. like you might your furnace ... at night ... and think it will come back up to heat.. in an hour or two ... ken

My guess, because the builder is no longer in business, is that when they built this housing development they scraped off whatever topsoil existed when they were leveling the area (it's on a long, foothill slope with lots of twists and turns and there are a lot of rocks not too far down) and either didn't bother saving it like they are supposed to, or didn't try too hard and it washed away, or they just didn't have enough to go around after the foundations were poured. There are areas around in the region that have naturally occurring boron-affected soils, which is one reason for that rule about conserving topsoil and reusing it onsite, and the builder, either knowingly or unknowingly, decided to use imported dirt to fill the lots up to landscaping grade. Luckily for me, my lot is only partly affected in that they only landscaped the front yard, which they did cookie-cutter with lawn and trees. So the back yard only has the regular issues with desert soils. The most labor intensive part of the front yard was ripping the dead lawn up, removing as much of the fill as I could, replacing it with dirt and OM amendments, and then planting select drought-adapted mostly native stuff. The crappy dirt I moved to the steep sloping sides of the lot where I made a couple of berms and covered them with 3 inches of river rock mulch. The sickest tree died, the other survived having its rootball exposed and new dirt tucked in and has come back nicely.