Liza wrote:
You can 'make' compost however you like. The main aim is to keep the
compost as warm as possible, so it breaks down quickly. You can pile up a
heap of manure,leaves, grass clippings etc and put a plastic tarp over it
and let it sit. The real key to good compost is to include a variety of
ingredients or roughly equal quantities, and make sure there is manure.
(any type will do really)


While manure is good, it is not a requirement. I have zero manure in my
compost piles and they decompose just fine.

Be wary of 'cookbook' suggestions for compost as they tend to introduce the
authors biases. Done properly, you could compost an entire elephant ...
rider and all. Try a couple smaller piles for practice first.

What you are looking for is a balance between materials that contribute a
lot of carbon and materials that contribute a lot of nitrogen. To these,
you'll add air, water and patience. I find that a mix of (approx.) equal
parts (by weight) of high nitrogen material with low nitrogen material
works well. By volume, that tends to be about twice as much low nitrogen
material as high nitrogen material. For instance, twice as much straw as
grass clippings, mixed well and watered. Or, one part dried tree leaves
plus one part straw to 1/2 part grass clippings and 1/2 part kitchen waste.
Play with the numbers to suit the materials at hand.

Mix well, preferably into a pile that measures at least 3' (1 meter) in each
direction. This can be done on the open ground, in a pit or in any
container of your liking that allows drainage and free access to oxygen.
You do not have to mix at all if you are willing to wait longer for the
results and are willing to tolerate the survival of more weed seeds.

My most recent pile, made in a wire bin measuring 4' diameter x 4" tall,
went from an ambient 72 deg F to 160 deg. F in less than 24 hours and was
at 170 deg F the following day. It is still, a week and 3 rain showers
later, at ~135 deg. F. When it goes below about 100 deg. F, I'll consider
turning and re-wetting it.

All it contains is purchased straw, grass clipppings from the alley behind
my house and a strip alongside a busy road and some old wood chips I was
given. Oh ... and some kitchen scraps.

Alternately, you can spread the ingredients out on the site of a future
planting bed and till / turn it under which is what I would recommed to a
person just establishing their garden for the first time. That method is
quickest and captures the most nutrients / fibers. It just won't work very
well once the beds are planted ... thus compost piles the rest of the year.

There are LOTS of ways to return organic material to your soil (the ultimate
goal of composting). There are even ways that don't rely on any disturbance
of the soil at all. Search the web using the search term "compost" in your
favorite search engine. Likely you will never read all the pages the search
reveals.

I would like to make two specific suggestions. First is to obtain a
long-stem compost thermometer with a probe of ~20" or more. Comparing the
temps indicated with the results you get from the mix you made is a great
self-training tool. They generally go for around $20 USD, so the price is
not horrendous. The second is that you not bother with the so-called
'compost starters' 'compost innoculant'withces brews. They just isnt'
needed. At most, they might shave 2-3 days off the first batch. For the
second and subsequent batches you will always have a small amount of the
previous batch to add as an innoculant if you are so inclined. The bacteria
you need are already present on/in the material you will be composting.
Unless you live in a sterile biosphere, let nature handle matters. I
usually add a couple shovels full of the old material just to give things a
kick start. But even that isn't necessary.

I know this is long. I just hope it is also helpful.

Bill