Top of the (compost) heap

Composting is not brain surgery. It is probably easier than you think. You encourage nature to do what it does naturally when leaves and other green material fall to the ground, gather in a pile and then bacteria breaks it down. The earthworms come along and pull the decomposed matter deep into the dirt to condition the soil and feed the plants.

Making compost happen faster is a matter of creating the right environment. Using equal parts brown matter (carbon in dried leaves and straw) and green matter (nitrogen in grass clippings and kitchen scraps) makes the pile heat up faster. The heat comes from millions of bacteria partying in your pile. Keep the pile moist, and it decomposes faster still. Turn the pile to introduce oxygen, and you could have complete compost in weeks.

Or not. Passive composters toss their green waste and kitchen scraps into a pile and wait to let nature take its course.

There are rules: Don't use animal products, which attract rats and other vermin. Don't use dog or cat manure, which can carry disease. But feel free to pee on your pile and use your chicken and rabbit manure in the mix.

There are many ways to get the end result — compost. Here are some methods from three master gardeners with the University of California Cooperative Extension.

Teena Spindler

How long: 15 years

Property: 2⁄3 acre

Passive or aggressive: Aggressive; two square bins, one tumbler plus trash cans to hold the finished compost

Favorite tool: My Black & Decker female-friendly chipper/shredder

Secret ingredients: Wood shavings from my father's wood shop, yard clippings, cat hair and coffee grounds

Comments: You can never have enough compost. I use my compost mostly on my fruit trees, roses and bulbs.

Mara Gunn

How long: 15 years

Property: Small

Passive or aggressive: Passive. My bins are built with cinderblocks, and I just throw my materials on top of the pile, water and walk away. At the end of the year, I dig out the finished compost, sift it and apply it to the garden. I also keep worm bins.

Secret ingredients: Cereal boxes, cardboard, egg cartons. The worms get the kitchen scraps and paper bags.

Comments: The worms love coffee grounds and get really zippy when I feed it to them.

Ingrid Cebula

How long: 13 years

Property: Acre

Passive or aggressive: Both. I've got a three-bin system down the hill where I do hot composting and a single bin that is cold (or passive) with kitchen scraps.

Favorite tool: Antique pitch fork that got handed down to me from friends.

Secret ingredients: Green waste, kitchen waste, paper towels, chicken manure, horse manure. Anything you can think of that cuts down on what goes to the trash.

Comments: It took me a while to find out what works for me. I didn't cut the stuff up small enough in the beginning, or I let the pile dry out. But anybody can compost. My folks are in their late 80s, and they have a compost pile. If you want to cut down on your kitchen waste but don't garden, just dig a hole and throw your kitchen scraps in there.