How to make a compost pile to make "golden soil" for growing plants

Here is a tip for making an old fashioned compost pile that my parents taught me. This is a simple and great way to make the most of your garden with little work since the critters do it for you. With this "golden soil" you can have larger plants and vegetables PLUS, you know what is going into your garden because you know that it is without all of the chemicals that some fertilizers have.

Things You'll Need

• Shovel
• Branches
• Leaves
• Grass clippings
• Rail road ties or snow fencing
• Good old sunshine

Instructions

1. 

   Locate a spot in your yarn that has equal amount of sunlight and shade.

2. Dig a pit two feet wide and six feet long. It should be about two feet deep to encourage soil creature to get into it.

3. 

   Erect a wall around the pit. Old railway ties stacked on top of each other make an attractive box. Or is you can't get railway ties snow
   fences work well too. The wall should just be high enough to reach over
   comfortably so that you can turn over the rotting material once a week
   and push a stick down in various places. This lets in the air, which
   speeds up decomposition.

4. 

   Now you are ready to add material to the compost. Start with a layer
   of branches, then leaves, then grass clippings, weeds, spoiled vegetables and fruits and coffee grounds. If you will chop up leaves and
   branches they will decompose faster.

Tips & Warnings

• Check to see if your local town has laws that dictate the size of a compost pile and distance from your neighbor's property.