Nothing that you can do here is going to be quick, cheap or easy. There is no way around testing before you continue. None. And there's no way you're going to be planting much this year. I think you'd better do it right, or not at all. Call your local Cooperative Extension Service/Master Gardener Program and ask who does this kind of testing locally. (Shipping soil can get expensive if they want a quart or so at a time.) Explain what you want, don't just ask for a soil test. Then explain again to the test lab exactly what you've got, and what you're trying to do. Since it was used for auto and truck parking, ASK what tests they would recommend for the substances associated with vehicles. Your main contaminants are probably petroleum products, coolants, and maybe lead, but there could be others. Once you have your test results in hand, call your Master Gardeners again. Ask if they have a list of plants that you could plant that would draw the contaminants from the soil. These plants would be cut down, collected and taken to the local landfill (NOT to be used as mulch -- they're toxic). Ask if some of these contaminants CANNOT be collected this way. If the plants will work, ask how many times you are likely to have to do this. I'm sure that they would suggest more tests after a certain number of plantings. You live in Calif, so you might be able to get two or more plantings in by next spring. I have read that petroleum hydrocarbons and lead can be absorbed by certain plants. Radiator coolants can contain heavy metals, and I don't know about them. If you have trouble finding answers, you might call the local Environmental Protection Agency for recommendations. If the answers you get indicate that you can't clean the soil well enough with plants to grow food, the only other way that I know about is to go in with heavy equipment and dig out a couple of feet of soil, and replace it with noncontaminated soil. None of this is cheap. If your friend is trying to grow vegetables to save money, the best bet will probably be to find a nearby patch of decent land (vacant lot attached to a homeowner's property might be best) and make an offer to the owner to keep the weeds down, then your friend grows the vegetables and shares with the property owner. Make sure that water can be used on the property, or it's worthless. Just make sure that THEIR land wasn't used as a dump. Sue Here is a link that might be useful: Alameda County Master Gardener program

My first suggestion is to figure out what you like or the look you like. Look at all your clippings, your bookmarks or however you've saved things that have caught your eye and see if there's a pattern or trend. Look around your house, what decor do you like? Getting a good grasp of what you really like will help you decide what kind of garden junk, or yard art as some like to call it, you prefer. Examples: Do you collect "little stuff" , figurines etc? You might like fairy gardens and garden figures. Do you like rusty old stuff? Old gardening and farming stuff might interest you. Are you more "natural", do you prefer rocks, bark, things with texture? You might be happier with things that will blend in with their surroundings. Do you like shiny things/glass? Totems might be a good place for you to start. Are you more of an eclectic? (Most of us are). Try to find a common thread that will hint through your garden junk. Otherwise you might wind up with a real "junky" look. Second suggestion: You said you're renting so be sure whatever junk style you choose is portable and/or packable. It's hard to leave good garden junk behind. Last suggestion and it's more of a question: What sources and resources do you have for junking? You can spend a lot of time and money "going junking" but, to me anyway, that's contrary to the true spirit of a "junker". In my mind anyway... One more thing I almost forgot: You're renting, find out if your landlord will mind your junk. Welcome to the Junk Yard!

Mark. If there is one thing that annoys me more than anything else in this trade, it's the never ending line of people who tell the customers want they want to hear whether its accurate or not. Reminds me of the service manager that told one old lady that the fog that she kept finding on the inside of her car windows was a small coolant leak and we simply had to tighten a hose clamp, instead of telling her that as the vinyl interior cures it will give off chemicals that can fog the glass and it will go away completely by the end of the summer all by itself. I think I saw that car in to get the windows cleaned every week all summer long. What the service manager did was tell her what she wanted to hear, that something got fixed. You wrote "I just fixed an intermittent electrical issue for customer that spent a small fortune with 3 different garages that failed to fix the problem. " It takes four things to be able to fix a car. The right person, the right tools, sufficient training, and a broken car. Intermittent by nature are a car that isn't broken all of the time. If it happens to not be broken at the time that any of the other three shops saw the car, then they had no chance. Now keeping in mind what I started off with, people in this trade wanting to tell the customers what they want to hear, instead of the way it really is, you can go right ahead and fault the shops as you did, and play the hero card here. The facts are the forces at work inside of this industry that you allude to are going to hurt the consumer until we all learn how to be professional. Quote" The flat economy has effectively forced many employment/income/savings/credit challenged people to become self sufficient electrical/emissions troubleshooters and/or forced them to use the services of unemployed/under-employed mechanics that work from home, or on-site" Side work is stealing, pure and simple. Someone doing side work has no insurance, which a shop has to pay in order to protect the customer as well as themselves. They don't pay taxes which short changes everyone else that does. They operate in the street, or in a garage not zoned for the business, the list goes on and on. It's the classic apples to oranges kind of a comparison. You cannot compare what happens in someones back yard to what a real shop does today. Quote "Having a little knowledge also helps prevent customers from being taken advantage of by dealerships, independents, tire/brake/inspection outfits etc" Now where does one get this knowledge? In some back alley? Here on the Internet? You can find videos of people unlocking a door on the Internet with a tennis ball that has a hole cut in it. Its fake, but people want to believe it. Your response is IMO another tennis ball trick that unfortunately I don't have all day to debunk. Plus I have the disadvantage of having to tell it like it really is, not the sugar coated version that people want to hear as you did. Yes it costs money, and sometimes you might consider it "big bucks" for something that may seem relatively easy. Did you see Jerry's response just now? Quote " and the Security fault. My truck is a basic model, manual windows and locks, no electronic security. The dealer shop was successful in getting the SES Icon off, and in applying two "silent" recalls (not happy I didn't get a notice), but the Security fault did not result in any action... I'm concerned it is a computer problem, expensive to repair. The problem may be that the Security fault isn't on all the time, so if I had a reader I could look when it is on. The reality of that paragraph is first that Jerry contradicts himself in saying that the vehicle has a Security issue, but at one point says that its a base model with no electronic security. Not blaming him of anything here, but in a way that's a classic perception, and not an uncommon description that a customer might give to a shop. The security issue is likely real, plus it's intermittent. Tell me Mark are you trained and equipped to service that system? If so what scan tool are you using? (brand and software updated to 20XX model year)?? Sadly this is going to end up rhetorical, because I have to give the answer to make my point. Real techs today, understand that the ONLY tool to service that system correctly is the GM tech II, and the shop has to have a subscription to SPS. What tool would you use if Jerry would happen to own a Ford with a similar reported problem? How about a Toyota; or a Mazda; a Honda, an Acura, a Lexus, a Nissan, an Infinity, a VW, a BMW, Mercedes, Kia, Hyundai? Or any one of the other manufacturers currently available in the US market? The reality is techs and shops need vehicle specific training, and specific O.E. tooling for each one of the manufacturers or else they are working with a handicap, and potentially will find themselves unable to actually complete a given repair without sending the car back to the dealer, or having a mobile diagnostic technician come to their shop, or in fact they could come to a shop like mine for about 90% of the most common vehicles on the road. I ask you Mark are you genuinely equipped and trained to service the security system on Jerrys Truck? Would you be for all of the other manufactures that the readers here are likely to own? By taking on that expense, uncommon in the industry, it impacts what a shop like mine has to charge for even the things that are indeed easy. You attempted to make that look as if it is dishonest with your response and I take extreme exception to that. Dealerships, by their franchise agreement, have to be equipped for, and employ techs who are capable and trained to service things like Jerry's Security system. Only shops and techs who "get it" in the aftermarket step up to the plate and make the required investment in the tools, training and equipment required to do the complete job. Customers who understand this, realize that there are many ways to undercut the real professionals, but understand doing so causes either the professionals to charge even more for what they do, or else they have to dial back the services for which they are going to be able to perform for the customers. Or worse yet, simply shut down and no-longer be a viable option for the public. Think that's an exaggeration? Look at how many dealers are being forcibly shut down. If your above average, your still not trained and equipped to fill the void caused by a dealer that closes. I can't do that simply because of the volume of work that could be displaced. (There are only so many hours in a day). Back yard Bob isn't going to do it, because he wont go to any updated schools, and he darn sure won't buy the tools. Auto repair isn't cheap, it's actually under priced for what it really takes to do it correctly, and armed with the knowledge that is based in reality, a customer has a chance to find a real shop that will repair their car. That's my goal here Mark, exactly what was yours?

To aswer lynxe's question, for example, making a greeting card is, for me,a creative outlet and fun. It also saves $$, I think $3+ for cards is high and I won't pay it. It also means that I don't have to use gas and time to make the 16 mile round trip to a drugstore to purchase a card. WRT shopping at thrift stores, we happen to have two in the same town that's 8 miles away, and I usually go once a month on a Saturday morning. The closest mall is 40 miles away, but I'm not even sure what stores are there, I've only been there once or twice in the years we have lived here, I'm just not a recreational shopper and I hate paying full price, so if I do go to a retailer, it's TJ Maxx or Marshall's, they have a great selection and good prices. I do think there is a distinction between being frugal and cheap, for instance, I'm not one to skimp on a tip, never ever, and I buy the best, say, turkey breast at the deli counter or 95% lean ground beef because Iike the more expensive cuts of meat. But when it comes to cars, I drive a low end Civic and mr. sandyponder drives a 10 yera old Jeep. I will pay for vacations, dinners out, good quality furniture (retail or, my obvious preference, CL) and recreation, but bring all my potted annuals in every fall and overwinter them in the house, I just can't see paying $200 each year for flowers when I can invest in them once and reuse them. I think some folks here and IRL confuse frugal with cheap, IMO cheap is undertipping the server, or as a former neighbor of my parents did, buying LL Bean clothing at garage sales and returning to LL Bean and asking for a refund because the item was defective. They called that frugal, I call that theft (and *of course* they were fundies who were holier than thou, loudly). I call my quirks frugal, and by not using the dryer, we save about $50 a month. In the summer that's gas for the boat and in the winter for the snowmobile. I said I am a proud tightwad and I am, not ashamed at all, but the conspicious consumption glorified in the MSM makes me sick, so we don't have cable, but we do have Netflix, cuz I do enjoy watching HBO shows, just not paying for them. I would much rather be called cheap than extravagent, to me one is a compliment, the other a slur. sandyponder