Does anybody know of any good books/references/guides for the common (and not so common) life forms found in the garden and compost piles? I have a slow and a fast compost pile and the number of life forms in the slow pile is astounding, and I think it would be quite a fun 'get to know the world around you' thing for kids (and me) to identify some of them and understand what they do, their life cycles etc. Tamsin
Tasmin, All of the suggestions you have received are good ones. Also the USDA National Resources Conservation Service publishes an excellent well illustrated booklet entitled "Soil Biology Primer" written by Elaine Ingham, Andy Moldenke, and Clive Edwards. The first printing was free but I believe there is now a charge. Well worth the money. http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/SoilBiology/soil_biology_primer.htm Good luck in the bins, Jon Rowley Interbay P-Patch Seattle
