I add lots of scraps from the kitchen , grass clippings , leaves , crushed egg shells ,
plant scraps , coffee grounds filters and all , shredded newspaper , shredded cardboard , hair from hairbrushes as that keeps pests out , composted cow manuer (I have a cousin with a few head of cattle and I go gather dry stuff yearly and leave to dry til next
spring , the older stuff is ready to add to compost now and turn ) ,and chicken manuer to my piles. I have an open air compost area , actually it is an old dog pen 10 X 20 out in the back yard that I keep all my piles in there . I turn and rotate them weekly and water a couple times a week to keep them moist , about the consistency of a wet sponge. In winter time I put a black plastic sheeting over the top to keep it warm . If there are heavy down pours or extended rainy times I cover the piles to keep them from washing away . I have 5 piles not counting the cow manuer , one is going to be ready when I am ready to put the
plants in the ground , one is at the point of turn , water and cook , 3 are having stuff added to them everyday . I have bags of leaves that my son raked for a neighbor . I keep them so I can add to the piles as I add new green stuff . My piles do not stink and they are doing real good , I don't have to worry about neighbors because it is in a spot that the only one who sees it is me and grandpa and he helps with the compost too . So no worries there . If you like Paul James the gardener guy check his website for options on compost , there are ways to do it that no one even knows what it is . I really like his "compost in a can" idea . Actually I like all his ideas , LOL , just love that gardener guy . My kids say I am cheap when it comes to things like gardening , I say I am frugal and why pile up the landfill when I can pile up the compost ? Right????