If you want healthy, organic soil, you need to use organic ingredients. That means nothing treated with chemicals, pesticides or fertilizers. Those substances won't break down in the compost pile. 

Use my pointers below as a guide for what to toss into the compost bin and what to save for the trash. And if you want to learn more about composting, check out my earlier post on Composting Myths Debunked.  

COMPOST INGREDIENTS: What goes in there, anyway?

1. Produce Scraps: Every apple core, watermelon rind, onion peel and potato skin that would otherwise go in the trash or down the disposable should be saved for the compost bin. If you always buy organic produce, you're fine. If you don't, make sure you've washed the skin or rind of every pre-sliced or diced fruit or veggie that could end up in compost. 

2. Whole Fruits or Vegetables: Your ingredients don't have to be scraps to be break down. Had that onion in the fridge a week too long? What about that wilted lettuce? And the Halloween pumpkin, come November? These are all great items for the bin, and even a large pumpkin will break down surprisingly fast. 

3. Egg Shells: Not entire eggs, whites or yolks, mind you. Just the shells. 

4. Coffee Grinds, Tea Bags and Loose Tea: Yes, even an entire tea bag can go into the compost bin. Just be careful to check if your brand attaches the string with a staple; that will need to be cut out. Most natural, non-bleached coffee filters are fine, too. If yours are white, not brown, throw they go to the trash instead. 

5. Yard Clippings and Garden Trimmings: It may sound counterintuitive, but I can be more picky about which outdoor items go into the compost bin. Yes, it's all part of Nature, but the backyard can be a less-controlled environment than the kitchen, especially for renters in urban areas.  Consider these possible sources of contamination: Did your older home ever sport a coat of lead paint? What about that chipping back deck? Do you know if previous homeowners/renters used lawn fertilizer? (Note: You can buy kits to test your home or soil at home improvement stores, or order them from the state environmental department). But remember: When in doubt, exercise caution. Every pruned leaf and uprooted plant from my raised-bed, organic vegetable garden gets composted. But if I'm getting rid of a store-bought bouquet, I opt for the trash, unless I know the flowers were grown organically.

Did she say clean? But isn't it, like, all about keeping a big pile of rotting waste in your yard? 

Okay, technically, yes. That's true. But there's nothing dirty or icky about composting, so forget anything you've heard and read below to get the dirt on composting fact versus fiction. 

COMPOSTING MYTHS DEBUNKED

MYTH #1: It's gross. It's not, I promise. And I get grossed out easily. When you add garden waste and kitchen scraps to the pile, they aren't rotted or putrid or moldy. What you're actually handling are items like fresh yard clippings or the orange peel you just took off. 

MYTH #2: It will smell. Wrong. Even in the hottest summer heat, your compost pile will not stink. Trust me. When you take the lid off your compost bin, you won't be overcome by stench. The bins are designed to keep your pile aerated. And keep in mind, your scraps are breaking down in a natural process that produces soil. You're not making manure in your backyard. 

MYTH #3: It will attract rodents. Wrong again. It will attract worms and all sorts of insects, and that's a good thing. It means it's working. Rodents and other small animals won't care about your pile. It won't even interest your neighbor's dog. That's because they are attracted by animal scraps -- bones, skin, fat and cooking oils and grease. You're not putting those things in your compost pile. 

MYTH #4: It's expensive to get started. Not necessarily. It's true that you can buy top-of-the-line compost bins at fancy garden stops and the chain stores. But you don't need an over-priced contraption to facilitate what Nature wants to do on its own. And you definitely don't need one of these rotating bins to turn the soil. Just get the most basic model (four sides and a cover) and turn it yourself with an ordinary shovel. Or, better yet, call the DPW in your city, town or county and ask if they subsidize the purchase of compost bins. My town did, and I only paid $20 for a bin. The scraps -- and resulting soil -- are free!

MYTH #5: It's a lot of work. It's the easiest task in the garden. Keep your compost bin near your back door for easy access. Open the lid, toss in your kitchen and garden scraps and close it back up. About once or twice a week, turn the pile with a shovel. If it hasn't rained in a while, water the pile. That's it. 

Saddest. Carrot. Ever. This little guy -- and all his brothers -- should have grown three times this size. Where did I go wrong? I welcome your comments!

My blogging philosophy is that I share my failures along with the triumphs. And this summer's attempt at growing carrots definitely failed. As my first veggie-growing venture, I knew the season would be about experimenting and learning, and I knew some plants would fall ... short ... of expectations. 

I planted the carrots exactly as instructed on the seed packet. Their above-ground greens sprouted tall and thick, promising a bounty below. But each carrot we pulled was short, puny and extremely bitter. We kept giving them more time underground, with the same results. 

What happened? I'm not sure. Stay tuned next summer when we try again!

ABOVE: This squash is nearly 10 inches long and will be even bigger in two days. BELOW: I had to let our sprawling squash plant grow over the bed.

But there's one key tradeoff: A squash plant takes up a LOT of space so if you don't plan carefully, it will easily dominate your garden, invade other plants beds and force unwelcome shade over neighboring seedlings. 

I would carve out at least a four-foot square for each plant, ideally more. I couldn't afford to do that, so I let my squash plant grow out over the sides of the raised garden bed. It wasn't ideal.

I expected to let the plant produce a few rounds of squash and then rotate it out. But this plant was so hearty and generous, I couldn't bring myself to do it.  We're eating grilled squash in the Food Aisle kitchen two to three times a week, and giving extra squash to family and neighbors. It's the one plant that makes us feel like successful farmers!

This Roma II bean bush grew about 14 inches tall and six inches wide. That's a nice fit for a small garden bed, but it only produced three to eight beans at once -- hardly enough for a snack!

If you do, here's an important tip: Plant at least three bushes. They grow straight and tall and so don't take up too much real estate in your garden bed. I learned the hard way this summer that one plant is just not enough. I planted a Roma II bean bush (aka, Italian pole beans) that produced a steady crop throughout the summer and early fall. But I only got about six to eight beans a week, hardly enough for a side dish. 

I promise you that growing your own is worth it. They are so crisp and sweet when eaten raw. I don't often cook or season them in the summer. I love them cut up and tossed into a salad, where their natural flavor can really shine.  

Close up view of a plant leaf, bitten to pieces by relentless cucumber beetles.

And yet, despite its hard-knock existence, our plant still put all its energy into producing one perfect cucumber for us. Then, right after we plucked it from the garden, the plant just gave up and died, as if it were the final dramatic act of some sort of Victory Garden opera. 

We decided to offer our plant dignity in death the only way we knew how: We sliced up that cucumber and promptly ate it on top of our dinner salad. Delicious.

Cucumbers start out small and fuzzy but grow rapidly, taking in more water than most plants in the garden.The cucumber beetles disappeared once we pulled up the plant. I don't know where they went or where they came from, and how they managed to find our garden, growing what's probably the only cucumber plant in like a five-mile radius. 

Since we were adamant about growing a thoroughly organic garden, we were limited in our pest-control methods. Most organic gardening books and blogs I consulted suggested that we simply pluck off the beetles and kill them. Without a hired guard to monitor the garden, this wasn't very effective. 

If you have any suggestions, please share them with me here.  

 The key thing we learned early on is that a cucumber plant requires a lot of water. The cucumber fruits are about 90 percent water, so it makes sense. Once we realized this and adjusted our morning hosing, the plant doubled its growth. 

And the taste? The best salad you'll ever have is the one made with ingredients you grew yourself.  

First radishes of the season, fresh from the ground

Radishes are a fairly no-fuss vegetable. They grow really quickly -- only about three weeks from seed to salad bowl -- so we'll be eating them all summer and into early fall, as long as it stays warm for a while. 

We planted them in a short row in our raised-bed garden, starting with about a dozen plants and thinning them to six at a time, spaced about two inches apart. As they grow, their rounded red tops poke out of the soil. 

Pluck them from the ground too early and, not surprisingly, they are too small. Pluck them too late and they are long, warped and squishy. We keep a close eye on our radishes between weeks 2 and 3. You can always pull out a tester to see if the batch is ready. 

The radish shown on the left is perfect: nice and firm with a vibrant magenta color and round, even shape. 

Our raised-bed garden, with organic soil mounds and freshly-transplanted seedlings.

We referred to some great how-to and advice videos here and here. 

Or, you can follow this step-by-step guide to copy our bed. Feel free to email me with any questions:

Pick a flat location in full sun. For a standard 4' X 4' bed, you'll need 16 cubic feet. Pick a spot off the side so you can mow around the bed and use the rest of your lawn.1. PLANNING: Before you get started, make sure you have two things: a flat surface big enough for your planned garden and plenty of sun. Most vegetables need full sun so you don't want a spot under a tree or in the shadow of a garden shed. 

2. MEASURING: A 4' x 4' bed should work for most gardens. You don't want to go much bigger or else you won't be able to reach the middle without stepping into the bed. 

Here's a close-up of the basic structure: The cedar planks will be stacked one on top of the other at all four sides, and the rectangular posts (visible on the inside) anchor it together.3. BUYING: Read labels carefully. Do not buy pressure-treated or chemically-treated wood. Don't worry about the bed wearing down; you're creating a healthy, organic space for food to grow, not for building a pool deck. Cedar is considered the best option. 

4. WHAT YOU NEED: 8 cedar planks that are 4 feet long, 2" wide and at least 6" high. You'll also need 4 rectangular cuts of wood to serve as posts that stand 12" high.  

Constructing the bed is pretty easy and quick. It took us only 45 minutes, with the aid of a power drill.5. BUILDING: Each side is made from two wood planks, stacked on top of each other and screwed into the post. (See photo to left). The planks will create a bed that stands 12" from the ground, which should be sufficient for most plants' root systems. You might need a second person to help hold the structure as you drill. You want to make sure the planks line up closely on the sides to create a tight seam. 

6. SETTING IN PLACE: You'll need to dig a shallow trench, about 2" deep, to set the bed in. We didn't bother to pull up the grass; we just trimmed it with sheers. Without sun, the grass will die underneath, anyway. Just make sure you pull up any weeds, like dandelions.

I recommend using organic soil to fill the bed, and topping it off with a layer of compost, if you have some. We worked our bed into mounds before planting.7. FILLING WITH SOIL: You went through all that trouble to build an environmentally-friendly bed, now fill it with good, organic soil. One of the key benefits of a raised bed is being able to closely control your soil, so start with some good stuff. For a 4' X 4' bed, you'll need 16 cubic feet of dirt. Soil is sold in bags measuring 1 or 2 cubic feet, so fill your shopping cart accordingly. 

 8. PREPARING TO PLANT: We worked our soil into four evenly-spaced mounds. Several seed packets recommended growing this way, and it creates an organized layout. Make sure you label as you plant, or you'll lose track of what's what. We used wooden popsicle sticks, purchased for about $1 at a craft store. 

It's been five days since we first planted some seeds to start indoors and we already have sprouts. We were skeptical, but our sunny windowsill was able to trap enough sunlight in early May. It's not quite a hothouse, but it seems to be working. 

All our seeds in a row ...

Our trusty sunny windowsill at the old place will need to help us out one last time. We are getting some seeds started here until we can move in and build a raised vegetable bed.

Here's what we're starting indoors, per the seed instructions: Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, pumpkin and some herbs, including sage and basil.