Pay special attention if you are composting fruit and vegetables. City of Minneapolis Ordinance prohibits these materials in home composting bins. This will help air flow up through the pile. Long sticks make turning the pile difficult, and smaller pieces will break down quicker. Sprinkle on a thin layer of soil or finished compost.
Repeat steps two through four until the bin is full.
If you already have greens and browns mixed together, you can combine steps 2 and 3. After a few days, your pile will begin to heat up as the microorganisms thrive and your pile begins to decompose. Ideally, your pile should heat to about 140-160 degrees to kill weed seeds or diseases in garden plants. The frequency that you mix the compost depends on how quickly you want a compost product. The more the materials are mixed, the more air will get to the microorganisms, and the faster they will be able to decompose the materials.