A stationary composter provides neat, easy-to-manage disposal of kitchen and garden wastes.

A tumbler makes fast work of turning compost and keeps it away from critters.

A ratio of three parts "browns" to one part "greens" will help keep your compost cooking.

As long as they are not holding mature weed seeds, you can add pulled weeds to your summer compost pile along with failing garden plants.

Set up conveniently located pens to collect leaves for composting in the fall.

If you turn the pile, it will decompose more evenly and quickly. Invest in a good quality turning fork to make easy work of reaching into the pile to mix the ingredients.

There are as many ways to make a compost pile as there are gardeners. You can create a free-standing compost heap, which is literally a mound or pile that is preferably out of sight. Or you can buy composting bins in many styles, or you can build your own bin out of lumber and wire-mesh fencing.

The Ingredient Layers

Any material that was once a plant, from asparagus trimmings to autumn leaves, can be composted. Most households generate a steady stream of compost materials from the kitchen, garden, and landscape. Begin layering organic materials such as leaves, straw, old corn stalks, weed-free and pesticide-free grass clippings, egg shells, coffee grounds, tea, fruit peels, and other organic matter from the kitchen; just avoid meats, greasy ingredients, and pet droppings. If most of the compost materials at your house come from your kitchen, consider using an enclosed composter. In addition to keeping the compost hidden from view, stationary composters discourage unwanted visits from animals.

The bigger your garden, the more you will need a good place to compost its waste. An open pile that can be chopped and turned quickly works well for composting garden waste. Leaves need to weather for a while before they decompose, so it is often best to stockpile them in a bin through the winter. In spring, the weathered leaves can be used as mulch, or you can combine them with kitchen and garden waste to help them rot a little faster. Some gardeners chop leaves with a mulching mower or a leaf shredder so that they are small enough to add to a pile immediately.

Sprinkle your pile with a couple of shovelfuls of topsoil or previously composted materials to include the needed microorganisms for decomposition. Just a sprinkle of organic fertilizer such as blood meal or feather meal also adds nitrogen to speed decomposition.

If you are creating an open-air “pile,” continue layering these items until your mix is 3 to 4 feet tall. Water between layers, but don’t make the pile soggy. If you put your materials in a purchased compost tumbler, just add and tumble.

Balancing Browns and Greens

There is no precise recipe or formula for making compost beyond the simple ratio of 3 parts “browns” to 1 part “greens.” As shown in the list below, most “browns” come from trees, and they are rich in carbon (often abbreviated as C in composting lingo). “Greens” come from fresher, juicier materials like garden and kitchen waste, but any ingredient that is rich in nitrogen (N) qualifies as a green.

Every gardener has plenty of greens in summer, followed by an abundant supply of browns in the fall. To make it fast and convenient to balance your compost, save up shredded leaves and pine needles in the fall, and store them in trash bags, an old garbage can, or large wire pen. In summer, should watermelon rinds and spent plants overload your compost with greens, layering on some leaves will set things to right. Composters who live in areas where leaves are scarce often use shredded newspaper to keep summer compost from going gloppy with too many greens.

If your garden is small yet your yard has many trees, your compost may need additional greens to balance all the browns from collected leaves. Grass clippings from lawns that have not been treated with herbicides will give fast results when mixed into a stalled leaf-based compost, or you can energize it with high-nitrogen plant meals like alfalfa, canola, or cottonseed meal. When sprinkled in among layers or mixed in well, organic fertilizers made from poultry manure provide nitrogen for compost, too.

When made of 3 parts “browns” and 1 part “greens,” any compost will make good progress.

Air, Water, and Stirring

Air and water are the secrets to good composting. Keep the materials moist and well aerated. You speed the process by turning the compost with your turning fork, basically stirring it. One ingenious method puts compost in plastic garbage cans covered by tight-fitting lids with air holes drilled in the top. That way you can roll the can to stir the material inside.

Compost Does Happen

If you turn the ingredients every week or two, the compost will form more rapidly than if you don’t. Some people rarely turn their piles; others do so religiously. Find your own balance here. Compost turning is good upper-body exercise!

Good compost has a pleasant, earthy smell. Unpleasant odor is the sign of too much water or too many green ingredients. Turn more often, reduce the moisture content, or add dry, brown ingredients such as leaves or straw to balance the mix.