Guides
Composting Guides
These are plain-language composting guides, each one grounded in university cooperative extension and USDA research. Every number here traces back to a citable source, and we work it through the calculators on this site so you can check it yourself.
Extension-sourced
Worked examples
Links to the calculators
These guides answer the questions that actually come up once you're building and managing a pile: how to start one from scratch, why it smells or refuses to heat up, what belongs in it, and how much finished compost to spread when it's ready. Where the composting literature disagrees — and it does, more often than most guides let on — we show the range and say which value we go with. Every guide is written by Wes Calloway and checked against the sources listed on the methodology page.
Getting started
How to Start a Compost Pile
A beginner's walkthrough start to finish: pick a spot, layer browns and greens to the right C:N ratio, dial in moisture, and turn — with a worked recipe for your first pile.
Fixing problems
Compost Troubleshooting
Rotten-egg or ammonia smell, fruit flies, rodents, a soggy mat, or a pile that just sits there doing nothing — the likely cause and the fix for each.
Diagnostics
Why Your Compost Isn't Heating Up
A step-by-step walk through the five reasons piles stay cold — too small, too dry, short on nitrogen, too dense, or just already finished — and how to get the heat back.
Reference
What You Can and Can't Compost
A master list of greens, browns, and the "it depends" and "keep it out" materials — with the C:N ratio for each one and the reason the rule actually exists.
Application
How Much Compost to Use
Depth and volume guidance for new beds, established beds, lawn topdressing, and container mixes — with extension-backed rates for each one.
We add new guides as they get written and reviewed. Got a topic you'd like covered? Let us know.