A Recipe for Compost

There is not much more satisfying than a compost pile that is cooking hot on a cold, rainy day.

Lots have their favorite containers for their compost.  I just like a pile, very economical.
Most things will rot eventually.  With a good recipe, weeds, kitchen scraps, fall leaves, etc. will quickly turn to compost that will enrich a garden beautifully.
I took a wonderful class this Spring, a great overview on biointensive gardening, where I learned an effective recipe for compost.  Build it like a lasagna.
Choose a convenient, shady spot, three by three feet in size, and loosen the soil six to eight inches deep.  Cover the ground with branches, 3/4" in diameter to improve drainage.  Layer the following materials, watering the pile after each.
"Brown" Material:
straw
mowed fall leaves
corn, sunflower, and amaranth stalks, cut up into pieces
"Green" Material:
plant material (weeds)
grass clippings
kitchen scraps
coffee grounds and egg shells (both VERY good for building compost)
Soil:
Think of it as "starter", full of the bugs and microbes needed to transform ingredients into compost.
Again, build it like a lasagna, watering between layers, to three feet tall.  The whole pile can be skewered with a stake.
After four to six weeks, the pile should have cooked enough to turn.  The stake, when removed, should be cool.  Think of it as a toothpick test, like checking a cake for doneness.
Prepare a new pad in the same fashion as the first.
Transfer the contents of the pile from the first location to the second, burying the material around the outside of the pile in the center of the pile.  Secure the pile with the stake to check for doneness.
When the pile has cooled, screen the compost and cover it to dry before use.

My pile lacks stalks. 
I planted sunflowers to feed the compost and chickens.  They make good perching spots for birds, looking for bugs in my garden.  I have amaranth coming up from plants that went to seed last season.  They look great in bouquets.  I plan to follow my garlic with beans and corn.  The corn will never make it to the cob by frost, but it will feed the soil, along with the beans.  Its stalks will go to the compost pile.
My pile does have mowed leaves I saved in leaf bags for it.  It has plenty of "green" material.  I water it regularly, as often as I do my garden.  When I turn it, it is still warm.  Things are cooking.  When the contents of the pile no longer resemble their previous selves, they are ready to be run through a screen, dried, and stored for later use.
Start a pile now.  Use what you have.  Plan for what you will need.  When you give back to the soil, it will give you its bounty.