I am sure that others will step up and add to this post, but in the mean time you might want to....:-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Check out the GW compost forum....

The basic info you need to remember is equal parts browns and greens. There are all kinds of fancy formulas and proportions but this works and is easy to remember. A brown is "dead" plant matter like leaves in the fall, hay, shredded paper, etc. - you can also think of this as dry stuff, meaning not much moisture left. A green is wet plant matter, such as freshly pulled weeds (chickweed and henbit grow most of the year in Alabama and make great compost), kitchen scraps (veggie and fruit peelings and cores, coffee grounds, tea bags, moldy bread, etc.). You can layer browns and greens or just throw them in when you get them. If your pile is not decomposing you probably have too many browns. If it starts to smell you have too many greens so add browns. You can turn it and it will decompose quicker or you can leave it alone and let it work. During a dry spell, all some water. That's about it. The compost forum is really good but they do tend to bog down in minutiae sometimes. Once you get started you will find it is addictive and will save coffee grounds from work and filtch bagged leaves from the curd. Good luck and good composting. Linda

Linda ----as my 14 yr old girl sez.....OMG!!!----i can't belive you mentioned the addiction and filching bagged leaves from the curb ----i had completely forgotten about this but 25 yrs ago in our first house I had a small compost/natural area and actualy picked up bagged leaves from the curb to add to my pile ----i remember now I couldn't stand the thought of them going to waste----after we moved and with some professional couch time I conquered my addiction and drifted away from the garden arena --am I now looking the beast in the eye once again and about to let him out of the cage??? ----all those years of therapy shot to the devil--- oh well----it's just money because I can tell right now I'm about to jump back in with both feet ----can't wait to peel an orange and save the skin ---I know this doesn't seem right but it's me ----JE