Thanks for the response, Jim, but I have yet to see a single worm in my garden. Unfortunately, what I turned into the garden was largely wood mulch, not compost. However, the mystery might be solved. When I didn't get an answer over here, I went and made my first ever post on the MSN site. Someone mentioned that 'amines' smell fishy. Amines are protenated nitrogen ions, and I suspect they may have arrived through a combination of very acidic soil, fertilizer, and lime. The precise mechanisms still escape me and this is really nothing more than a WAG, so I would be anxious to hear anyone else's comments. Matt On 5/20/06, jim@wildpepper.com <jim@wildpepper.com> wrote: > In my opinion, that 'fishy' smell is likely to be caused by worms.