What's In The Garbage? Food For The Compost

Way back in January, I told you what's typically in our garbage.  Since then, we've been working on ways to lessen the amount we throw away each week.

One way to have less garbage is to compost some of the food scraps.  This would be pretty big for us, since probably a third of our garbage is made up of food scraps.  I know not all of that would be compost-able, but certainly some of it is!  The problem is that I don't know much about composting.  Things I don't know about are intimidating to me, so I put them off for as long as I can.  Anyone else have that problem?

Here's what I need to know to start composting:

• What can I compost?  What's not allowed?
• What are the different types of composting?  Big pile in the backyard, in a container, with worms, etc.
• How do I start my compost?  Do I need dirt or leaves or something to start, or can I just take my veggie broth scraps and put them in the backyard to start my pile?  I think that would attract critters, but I honestly don't know.
• Where am I going to put my compost bin/pile? We're still figuring out the logistics of our yard for gardening and flowers and kid play areas, so we need to figure out a spot for this too.
• What is the maintenance like? How often do I have to go scoop it around with a shovel? Do I have to do anything else?
• How do I use it (and how do I know when it's "ready" to use)? Is there a time frame? Do I just mix it in when I'm planting in the garden?

See? I told you I know nothing.  Stay tuned for answers to these questions, and where I find them...