Cooking the samples....

I have collected one sample of earth from four squares within my 9 square metre quadrant (squares labelled 1-4).  I repeated this process at 9 various sights on the farm.  I want to compare the soil samples to investigate the diversity of land at Little Dodnash.  To do this, I will cast the four samples from each site in clear resin - almost like an enlarged scientific slide.

I have 36 soil samples and need every single one needs to be bone dry in order to cast in clear resin.  How do I do this??  Luckily my cousin is a scientist.  In order to extract all moisture I need to bake each sample.

I looked into the process scientists/geologists use compare soil qualities.  After extracting all moisture, they grind the particles down into their purest form and then pass them through a sieve.  This produces a delicate, fine powder.  I repeated this process to 36 samples.