A successful organic garden most often starts with successful soil and the nourishing materials you add to your garden beds. However, most people don’t know that the most nourishing materials can come from their own home and yard.

Since spring is when we start pulling weeds, planting and mowing the lawn, I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about composting. You can do it right in your back yard, or if you live in a city, start a composting bin in your freezer then bring those ingredients to your local community garden, (as long as they have composting).

• Here’s what you do:

Composting can be complicated, or it can be as easy as you want it to be.  All you really need to get started are scraps and a place to put them. I’ve known people who have started big piles of scraps in their back yard, others who have built composting bins and in my case, roommates who have lugged frozen buckets to the community garden weekly. There are many composting styles you can follow, but it’s best to find one that works best for you, your lifestyle and one that won’t “stink” up the neighborhood or apartment.

• What to put into a pile:

Fruits, veggies, coffee grinds, tea bags (tags and staples removed), newspapers (no shinny ads), plant trimmings, leaves, grass clippings, eggshells and a whole host of other items. For a more complex list visit Earth911.

• What to leave out:

Meat, oil, and dairy products, which don’t break down quickly, smell bad and attract unwanted pest. Avoid weeds that have gone to seed because they’ll produce more weeds. In the Southeast your pile will compost year round, but it will do so more quickly in the warmer months.

• How it all works:

Tiny microorganisms need four things to break down organic material into rich, brown, crumbly, dirt. They are: oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and moisture. Carbon comes from leaves, straw, wood; nitrogen comes from scraps such as grass and coffee grinds; you need about two to three times more brown material that green material in your pile. Because composting is an aerobic process, the microorganisms need oxygen to do their job. So you must always make sure there are air holes in your pile and turn your bin regularly. Turn the pile with a pitchfork to make sure air gets into the center of the pile.  Lastly, the pile should be kept about as moist as a wrung-out sponge, which keeps the microorganisms alive without killing them.

• What to expect:

Compost is finished when it smells good, looks good and feels like nice, dark rich earth. The scraps that you added should be unrecognizable. If you do nothing to your pile but add scraps, it will stink and take a much longer time to become rich earth. If you actively work on your pile, turn it and keep it moist, it should take a month or so to finish its process.

• When it’s complete:

Once the compost it complete, sprinkle a little on the soil surface before you plant anything. You’re invigorating the soil! A layer of compost benefits your veggie garden, flowers and lawn.

Composting gives you the opportunity to recycle and reuse garbage that you generate in your home and is nature’s way of recycling organic materials into rich soil. It improves sandy or clay soil, enhances water retention so you water less, (big eco plus), and feeds plants so they grow organically and strong. Once you start composting you’ll be hooked.

Here are 10 great sites with composting tips, advice and awesome ideas:

• EcoFriends, eco-friendly daily organic dump compost.

• Build a compost box in your apartment with simple instructions from Planet Green.

• Make your own compost from instructions at GreenYour.

• Rot ‘n’ Roll over at Grist.

• Build your own compost tumbler with instructions at Treehugger.

• A great resource from WebEcoist on smart composting tips for urban gardeners and apartment dwellers.

• Interesting read from Earth First on prisons that have gone green with organic farming, composting and recycling.

• Manage organic material from your home with great tips from Earth911.

• GenGreen has awesome articles on Biodiversity.

• Care2 Will help you build a healthy heap.