Choose an out of the way spot in your yard or a corner of the  vegetable garden you're leaving fallow for the year. When building a heap right on the ground, make it as close as you can to where you'll eventually be using the compost.

Alternate layers. Start with "brown" ingredients such as dried grass clippings, corn stalks, shredded leaves, and/or straw. The dried layer can be up to three inches thick.

Then make a moist, fresh, "green" layer: fresh grass clippings, kitchen waste, etc. If your green ingredients compact a lot, keep them to 1 inch thick; if you're using tomato stems or green vines, you can add more because they'll compact quickly.

Top the "green" layer with a little dirt, about 1/2 an inch or so. You can add clay to the heap. A light sprinkling of lime or bone meal wouldn't hurt, if you have some lying around.

Repeat layers as needed.

Absolutely use your kitchen scraps in your compost heap! That's the prime source of nutrition in the finished product. Just keep these tips in mind so you're not disappointed:

If you build your heap right on the ground, make sure there are NO bits of meat in your kitchen scraps. If you build an enclosure (see below) this is less important. Trust me, every dog in the neighborhood will find your compost heap if you put meat products or bones in it.

Keep your scraps in an ice cream pail and dump them in the pile daily or every other day. Anything bigger than that and your kitchen will enjoy the benefits of "composting" before it gets outside.

Everything can be composted: peelings, coffee grounds and filters, paper towels, shredded or crumpled newspaper (just don't throw it in without shredding or crumpling, or you'll find the Sunday paper intact in your pile when you turn it over). Leftovers. Aunt Mary's "healthy" cookies.

Don't put used cat litter in it, though. That's just no good.

You can start a heap any time of the year, although cold weather will slow it down. And, you can keep adding to it over the winter, if you like, because it'll keep "working."

Every time you add a bucket of kitchen scraps, stir it around a little with a shovel. And, every six weeks or so, turn it over completely. Otherwise, ignore it and just let it work.

If you're not adding kitchen waste, just build the pile and stir it every six to eight weeks.

You can spread the finished product over your garden in the fall after you've cleaned it up, and the nutrition will work its way into the soil through the winter and when you till.

Every time you dig a hole for transplanting, add a scoop of compost about the same size as the root ball. Water thoroughly, and plant as usual.

When fixing bare spots in the lawn, put down the grass seed, sprinkle a very thin layer of compost over the top, and loosely cover with straw.

When making patio containers or hanging baskets yourself, put a layer of potting soil in first, then add about an inch of compost. Layer like that a few times, depending on the size of your container, and finish with the plants.

Mix a little compost in with the new dirt when repotting houseplants, too.

Share a little with neighbors, if you've got any left.

There are plans all over the internet for composting enclosures, and you can invest hundreds of dollars in contraptions that supposedly make it easier for you.

Or, you can build a bottomless enclosure yourself with a few scrap 2x4s and a little hardware cloth. If you're really innovative and can hide your compost enclosure from the neighbors, you can even use old screened windows.

The point with any enclosure is to keep pesty cats and dogs out and let air and water in. Use anything you like, and make it light and portable. And keep a shovel nearby, so you can stir it easily.