How to Make My Own Patio Compost

Put a 30- to 40-gallon plastic bin in a protected location on the patio, out of both wind and rain. The bin can sit in sunshine but suffers in drying wind or with too much cool water. If you cannot offer a protected location, use a lidded container to keep rain out during winter.

Fill your bin halfway up with a mixture of garden soil and shredded paper to give the compost structure and moisture retention. Add yard scraps like grass clippings, dead foliage, old leaves, twigs and sticks, and household leftovers from the kitchen. Use rotted or the scraps of fruit and vegetables, bread and pasta goods, coffee grounds, egg shells, cookies and cakes, but avoid anything meat- or dairy-related, as these will draw pests to your compost pile. Add wood ash, sawdust, kitty litter, dryer lint and paper for recycling.

Sprinkle bone meal or compost starter into the pile to start the breakdown process, then water the mixture until it's moist throughout but not soggy.

Mix the compost with a shovel or garden fork and start a schedule of mixing the pile once or twice every day. The micro-organisms that break down the organic matter must have air to do their work, so mixing the pile more often results in quicker composting.

"Feed" the pile once a week with new organic additions, and water the pile at this feeding or anytime you notice it drying. The micro-organisms must also have consistent moisture to do their job, and die in dried out or overly soupy compost. Monitor the pile at each mixing for dryness and water as necessary.

Use compost when it achieves a dark and crumbly consistency. Scoop out the finished compost and transfer it to the garden as a soil amendment or fertilizer, then add new material to the compost bin. If you have a compost pile that holds both finished compost and newly added material, stop adding new scraps and wait until all of the material breaks down, then use the entire batch in your garden.