Turn kitchen scraps and garden waste into wonderfully rich compost in just a few weeks by learning the art of hot composting.

It takes time to make compost. Organic matter requires about two to three months to break down in hot compost piles, and up to a year or more in cold composting systems. But if you add a compost ...

The food scraps and leftovers you normally throw away can be turned into new soil or fertilizer and soil conditioner.

How Often to Turn Compost How much you’ll need to turn compost depends largely on whether you are doing hot composting or cold composting.

Hot composting requires the proper carbon to nitrogen ratio and moisture content to achieve the necessary temperature. This is not important for cold composting.

Here's how to keep composting in winter so you'll have finished compost in spring. beekeepx / Getty Images Gardeners often assume outdoor compost piles stop working in cold weather, but beneficial ...

There are two types of composting: hot, which is fast and aggressive, and cold, which is slow or passive. Hot composting is more labor intensive, providing finished compost in two to three months.

Hot composting produces heat to help decompose materials quickly but needs careful monitoring of proper proportions of materials and moisture.

The other issue with cold composting is that you end up with lots of large pieces left over in the compost when the process is completed, whereas hot compost looks like fine black humus (soil).

There are factors to consider in terms of both the compost and mulch you choose, but the overarching message is the same: It’s time to figure out where your compost and mulch is going to come from.

How much you’ll need to turn compost depends largely on whether you are doing hot composting or cold composting. Which method works best for you depends on your gardening goals and the time of ...