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matter for your compost such as mushrooms, peat moss and scraps of veggies. Of course, to keep things affordable, you can stick with composting the scraps of yard and food scraps that you commonly produce.

C OMPOST P ILES (ALSO CALLED C OMPOST H EAPS)
    Another cheap way to create compost on your own is to create heaps of scraps. This is probably the most cost effective because it doesn’t require you to buy or build any structures. You simply throw all your old food scraps into a contained pile somewhere in your yard.
    A small compost pile could be about five feet wide and three feet tall. The length and size of your compost pile will vary based on how much food scraps and organic material you throw in and how quickly you use it in your garden.
    Heaps should be used if you have sufficient space in your yard. Simply add scraps to the pile that you accumulate daily, or keep them in a container and dump them into a heap once you have generated enough. By creating a heap in the fall, your compost will continue to decompose throughout the winter months.
    If space allows, you should try to create two heaps of compost. Once the first heap is large enough, then allow it to decompose, while you work on building the second heap. It’s not required for you to turn the compost in your heaps, it is entirely up to you. But keep in mind that the decomposition process will take longer if you don’t.
    Avoid throwing food scraps onto a heap of compost that has not been turned because it will attract insects (mostly flies). Wood can also be added, but make sure that they are chopped up, so that the pile doesn’t become brush. Wood takes longer to decompose, sometimes up to a couple of years – but it will make a richer compost when you combine as many kinds of compostable organic material as you can find.

S HEET C OMPOSTING
    If building heaps of compost isn’t something you want to do, you can use this method instead. All you have to do is spread a thin layer of organic materials on an area of your garden – this can be materials like leaves, food and garden scraps and cut grass, all of which should be shredded or chopped before being added. Once this is done, you will then till the layer of materials using a spade, hoe or other tool.
    One issue with sheet composting is that it tends to release carbon residues, which will pull nitrogen from the soil to help with decomposition. Also, if you have items in your compost that are high in nitrogen and could end up releasing nitrogen too fast; this could slow down the decomposition process.
    The best time to do sheet composting is in autumn. The compost should be spread out in a two inch by four inch layer. The best tool to use for tilling is a rotary tiller, if you’re planting a vegetable garden.  A garden fork or hoe would be best if you’re planting perennial or bulb flowers.

    Sheet composting in action.

T RENCH C OMPOSTING
    Trench composting is known to be one of the easiest ways to create compost from food scraps. All you need to do is dig a hole in your yard that is about a foot deep, then simply chop up and mix the food scraps with the soil you dug up. Afterward, you will place about eight inches of additional soil on top. If the temperature is warm enough, the compost will take between one month and a year to decompose.
    There are some people who randomly make trenches of compost, while others create an organized system. One system that is commonly used is to bury food and garden scraps inside of holes that were dug near the drip line of bushes and trees.

    Trench composting in action.
    In England, they use a trench composting system that involves a three-season rotation, known as vertical composting. The garden is divided up into rows that are three inches wide. Here is how the system works:
    Year One – A hole is dug that is a foot wide and then filled with compostable materials. Once the compost is an inch high, the hole is covered with soil. A one inch section is left open