How to Make Compost for Vegetables

• 1). You need to select a site to prepare for your compost pile. Ideally it will be close to both the vegetable patch and the kitchen--the garden because that is where the compost will be required and the kitchen because you can compost much of the kitchen waste. But if you have to choose between the two, the vegetable garden will be the better location.
  
  
• 2). The site should be relatively flat and large enough to accommodate two piles of compost. That way you can have one pile ready for use while the second one is being built. It is a good idea to define the compost piles with open fencing, allowing an area of about 6 square feet for each one. That will help to keep the piles tidy and to allow you to stack them about 4-feet-high without danger of them collapsing.
  
  
• 3). To start building your compost heap, you can use grass clippings, dry leaves, old plants, weeds (avoiding seed heads) and some of your kitchen waste. Vegetable peelings, banana peels, spoiled fruit and leftover vegetables can all go in. Avoid fish and meat or you will attract all the neighborhood cats and dogs. You can also compost coffee grounds--your local coffeehouse will often let you have them free of charge. Ideally you want a balance between fresh green material, such as grass cuttings and brown material like dry leaves. The green materials supply nitrogen while the brown provide oxygen, both essential to aid in the decomposition of the pile.
  
  
• 4). You can buy compost starters (proprietary blends of microorganisms), to get your pile off to a quick start, but if you have the right balance of brown and green materials (about 2 to 1) this really is not necessary. There will be plenty of natural bacteria and organisms to get the pile working and if it needs any help at all, a shovelful of good soil from your garden will be enough to get it going.
  
  
• 5). Compost piles require little maintenance apart from making sure that they do not dry out and turning them from time to time. They will naturally build up a lot of heat and turning them helps that to escape, as well as ensuring that the materials are well mixed together.
  
  
• 6). Your compost pile should take about 9 to 12 months to break down into beautiful, friable, black compost. You can then dig it into the vegetable garden in the fall, ready to break down for the spring plantings. You can also use it as mulch for the vegetable beds after they are planted, where it will help to inhibit weed growth as well as provide essential nutrients for the plants.