Two years ago I decided to start a compost pile. I got on the Internet and found a very helpful web site (though the address eludes me now). I printed a 32-page how-to guide and got very excited about doing something good for the environment.

I was surprised to find out how much useful waste I was just throwing away from my garden. So, that fall, I went to the local big box home improvement store and got chicken wire, yard stakes and some burlap and built a 3-sided compost bin.

My compost bin consists of "brown" and "green" materials only. This means that I don't add any animal products or waste, i.e., grease, fat, egg shells or "droppings," if you know what I mean. According to my guide, this will prevent rodents from being attracted to the pile and, for my neighbors' sake, any foul odor as well.

"Green" materials are basically still living or fresh matter: green plants and leaves (like used up plants from the vegetable garden), grass clippings, leftover vegetables and fruits, potato skins, used coffee grounds, etc. "Brown" matter is basically dead: brown leaves, the dried ornamental grasses I mentioned the other day, old mulch, etc.

When the time came to pull out dying/dead plants, I chopped up the bigger stems and loaded them up in the bin. Then I covered them with leaves vacuumed and chopped from the yard. Fresh lawn clippings were also loaded into the pile. My co-workers started saving their used coffee grounds for me, and I added ashes from our woodstove over the winter and various leftover veggies, fruits and potato skins. I also made sure to wet down the pile periodically and turn at least once a month over the winter to ensure deep brown, nutrient-loaded compost in the spring.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen as "naturally" as I'd hoped. Last spring all I got was some slowly decomposing leaves, and big chunks of potting soil that I had added after emptying my pots in the fall. Once again, I had to order a couple yards of fresh dirt to add to my flower beds.

So this past fall I was determined to get better results. I decided to get a little help in the form of powdered lyme and blood meal. According to the "Gardening Guy" on HGTV, adding these to your compost helps speed up the decomposing process.

Well, yesterday, I turned the compost pile only to find I'm pretty much in the same boat as last year. HELP!! Does anyone have a sure-fire way to ignite the decomposing process in a successful compost pile?

Stay tuned: Starting next week I'll be adding photos and helpful links, and if all goes well, video and slide shows. In the meantime, clean up those beds, scrub up your pots, and fix up any gardening tools that need help, planting time is on it's way!