Guides
Composting Guides
Practical, plain-language composting guides — each one built on university cooperative extension and USDA research, with every number traced to a citable source and worked through the calculators on this site.
Extension-sourced
Worked examples
Links to the calculators
These guides answer the questions that come up when you actually build and manage a pile: how to start one from nothing, why it smells or won't heat up, what belongs in it, and how much finished compost to spread when it's done. Where the composting literature disagrees — and it does, more often than most guides admit — we show the range and explain which value we use. Every guide is written by Wes Calloway and reviewed against the sources listed on the methodology page.
Getting started
How to Start a Compost Pile
A complete beginner's walkthrough: pick a spot, layer browns and greens to the right C:N ratio, set moisture, and turn — with a worked first-pile recipe.
Fixing problems
Compost Troubleshooting
Rotten-egg or ammonia smell, fruit flies and rodents, a soggy mat, or a pile that just sits there — the cause and the fix for each common failure.
Diagnostics
Why Your Compost Isn't Heating Up
A step-by-step flow through the five reasons piles stay cold — too small, too dry, too little nitrogen, too dense, or already finished — and how to restart the heat.
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 and the real reason behind each rule.
Application
How Much Compost to Use
Depth and volume guidance for new beds, established beds, lawn topdressing, and container mixes — with the extension-backed rates for each.
New guides are added as they're written and reviewed. Have one you'd like to see? Suggest a topic.