Periods of rain. Potential for heavy rainfall. High 71F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Periods of rain. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.

As summer turns into fall, many home gardeners know exactly what time it is for them: Building their annual compost pile!

It is the key to having a beautiful, high-yielding vegetable garden in the coming spring and summer.

There is no such thing as a green thumb. Gardeners who know what their plants need in the way of nutrients get the best results. If you want to build your own airplane, you must know what makes it fly!

Building a compost pile is one of the easiest gardening projects you will ever undertake and one of the most important. Given time and exposure to elements, organic material will break down on its own. But you can also speed the process up. That's where composting comes in. Compost provides excellent nutrition for plants, builds the soil, feeds beneficial microbes, and keeps valuable resources out of landfills. There is nothing more beneficial to a home garden than placing compost in the growing zones.

Here's how to build your own compost pile:

Select the best location: The pile should be easily accessible, and, depending on your preferences, hidden from the main view of your yard/garden. Some people do not mind looking at their compost pile in their garden, but if you prefer not to see it, be sure to find a location out of sight or screen it off.

Start your compost pile during the right time of the year: While you can set up your compost pile during any season, certain times are better than others. During the spring or summer, high-nitrogen materials are ever-present, but not that much carbon material exists. Fall is when both high-nitrogen (lawn trimmings) and high-carbon materials (dead leaves) are plentiful.

Decide how much containment you want: The fastest compost pile to build is a simple mound — just throw everything to be composted into a heap and let it rot. Or you can enclose the pile with rocks, boards, concrete chunks, wire, or fencing.

If you decide you want a faster, more efficient means of composting, try using a composting bin and introduce your own vermicomposting bin. Because of the enclosure, compost bins are generally more efficient at breaking down organic materials than compost piles.

There are many ways to build a pile foundation. A very basic pile is all you really need, although you can upgrade to fancier containers if you'd like. Here's how to build your super-basic container: Measure out a plot at least 3'x3'. This will be big enough to accommodate a lot of organic material without creating an eyesore in your back yard. Get some wooden 2x4s or similar wooden stakes . Buy enough so that you can drive the 2x4s into a 3'x'3 square about every half-foot along the perimeter. This will take anywhere from 15 to 20 stakes. Drive a stake into the ground about every half-foot, until you've sectioned off a square. You may want to leave an opening on one of the sides. This will make it easy to reach your pile and turn it with a shovel or pitchfork.

Aim for a balance of carbon (dead/brown/dry) and nitrogen (green) material. It is usually recommended that you combine 60% carbon to 40% nitrogen.  Layer your materials with a slight mist from a garden hose to dampen (do not wet or soak) each layer.

If all you have is green plant material (like grass), you can add newspaper as the carbon source. Other sources of compostable carbon include straw, dry leaves, used animal bedding, shredded cardboard, sawdust and wood chips, small branches/twigs, and paper towels.

 It is up to you whether you shred the material or not. If you want a faster composting cycle, then shredding speeds the process up considerably. Shredding also makes for a neater looking pile and one that is easier to turn. Shredding creates a bigger surface area for organic materials, thereby exposing them to more bacterial invasion.  Larger pieces of organic material impede aerobic decomposition.

Do not shred highly vegetative or moist organic materials. These materials become too soggy. Their moisture contents make aerobic decomposition more difficult .

Start layering: This part is the most fun. Every time you add to your compost pile, try to add in layers. There are three basic layers in a compost pile, and putting them down together and in the right order is important:

Layer one — carbon: Materials that will provide carbon include hay, sod, straw, leaves, untreated sawdust, chopped corncobs, corn stalks, or small twigs. Put the bulkier items at the bottom of the pile, and lighter materials on top.

Layer two — nitrogen: This is the ignition, so to speak, that starts the composting process. Manures, fertilizers, vegetable wastes, grass clippings, garden debris, and starters provide nitrogen for your microbial army.

Layer three — topsoil: Avoid sterile potting soils or those soils treated with insecticides, as these do not contain or nurture much-needed microbes.

Be sure to add twigs if you have them. Every 8 inches (20.3 cm) or so, add some coarser material to guarantee proper air flow. Twigs or large plant stems can be good. You can use non-compostable material as well, so long as it does not leak toxins into your compost. The compost is, in a way, a living, breathing thing. The decay process is completed by microbes, beneficial insects, and worms — all of which need air and water to survive.

Occasionally "stir" the pile: This is done by lifting the middle to the outer edges and the outer edges to the middle using a pitchfork. Also, water if dry. This will ensure proper and even distribution of the decomposition process.

Maintain the pile.: You want to keep the center of the pile hot and evenly moist. Whenever the center of the pile dips below 110 °F (43 °C), use a shovel to stir the pile and turn organic material around.

You will know if the pile is hot, because in cooler weather you will see steam. In warmer weather, you can feel the heat when you turn the pile.

Remember that too much water will drown the microbes and chase away the worms; this can also cause the pile to get a "rotten" odor. If the pile gets too dry, the decay process stops. Aim for evenly moist.

For less active compost piles, turn and water every 4 to 6 weeks. If you seldom add new layers to your compost, you won't have to stir very often. A small compost pile that's assembled in the fall should be ready to use 3 or 4 months later at the beginning of spring.

Keep it hot. A hot pile rots faster, but it is not necessary. You can decide to just throw all your vegetation onto the pile and let nature take care of it. This is a slower process and takes about a year to decay most plants. To keep the pile hot, every few days go out and turn it.

“I like to elevate my compost pile because you don’t want to attract rodents. Most people get a 3-stage bin so you can have 3 different stages of compost at varying times.

It’s very important that you get the pitchfork in there and turn it. It doesn’t just sit. You must get the air and nutrients moving. Remember the rule: Two-thirds brown and one-third green. You don’t want to put too much nitrogen in your compost pile,” advises Deb Floyd, Master Gardener in Lilburn, Georgia.

“One big benefit from composting is that a lot of people burn leaves and such and if you compost those instead, it will help cut down on the burning and resulting smoke,” adds Floyd.

Celia Spillman, owner of the local Caswell Flower Company says, “We were composting with a lot of animal manure, but not as much now. If you do use it, you must let it age or it will burn your plants with too much nitrogen all at once. Put as much coffee grounds in the compost as you can since they retain moisture at a good level. Turning it will you get needed air and oxygen into it. Cut and add your table scraps as small as you can because that helps the worms and other composting elements and keeps it from smelling as bad. And most important, put it in a place that you have easy access to. You’re not going to give it the attention it needs if it’s not in a convenient spot.”

It seems like a lot of work but when that first bumper crop of cucumbers and yellow squash come busting out in June, it will all be worth it. Produce right out of the garden has no equal in taste, nutrition and, especially nowadays, controlling food costs.

Just remember to “turn it!”

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