Every gardener wants to make great compost, and experience is the best teacher. Just know this ? you cannot fail, because compost knows what to do.

Starting a new compost pile can be a fast, easy project. Beginners sometimes feel frustrated as they struggle to learn more about how the process works ? an understandable problem since there is a wealth of information available about composting and not one, absolute 'right way' to do it. As we take a close look at the basic truths of composting, it's obvious that the world of composting is seldom black and white ? or shall we say brown and green? At the same time, home composting is much easier than what you might have heard.

Here are five fundamental facts that will guide you through the composting process.

1. Balancing ingredients is optional. To help compost decompose rapidly, a balance of 'two parts brown to one part green' is often preached as composting gospel, but in truth, keeping a balanced ratio is simply an option. (Dry materials, such as leaves, pine needles and dead plants, are usually considered 'browns,' whereas wetter materials, such as grass clippings and kitchen waste, are considered 'greens.') It's not that balancing browns and greens is wrong; it simply makes home composting more complicated than it needs to be. You can pile up all your organic material without worrying at all about greens and browns, and it will still mature into compost.

2. Good compost can be either hot or cold. Most people who carefully manage their compost piles for a balance of ingredients are trying to produce hot compost, which heats up or 'cooks' as the materials decompose. But slow, cool composting works just fine.

3. Small or large ? any size pile will work. You can be absolutely sure that your compost will eventually rot, and super-sizing a heap offers little insurance that it will get off to a smoking start. You can save yourself a lot of trouble by simply piling stuff together until the heap is big enough to merit some attention. Then, one day, when you're in a composting mood, pick up a digging fork and spend some time setting the heap to rights by mixing the materials in the pile and adding water to keep it moist.