How to Compost at Home

6. Making a Compost Pile

Start the pile with a four-inch base of twigs, hay, or straw to let air circulate underneath. Add a four-inch layer of brown materials, then a thin coat of garden soil, which seeds the pile with the bacteria that kick off decomposition. Next add a four-inch layer of green materials and sprinkle on an activator to feed the bacteria extra nitrogen and protein. Good activators include alfalfa meal, fresh manure, high-protein dry dog food, or bone, blood, or cottonseed meal. Keep building in the same pattern until the bin is full, aiming for more brown material than green overall, roughly two to three parts browns to one part greens, which keeps the pile from turning wet and smelly.