A. Ever notice, when you add a bucketful of kitchen scraps to your compost heap that, to crib from Nelly, it starts getting hot in there?

That heat is a million happy micro-organisms running around like backup dancers, turning your grass clippings and egg shells into lush soil for your gardenias. The reason people tell you to turn your compost heap is so that it stays heated up. A warm compost heap produces beautiful new soil much faster than one that’s left alone.

So how do you know when to turn? Just check for cooling and shrinkage. If you’ve got a manual-turn compost bin, just give it a few cranks. If you’ve got an open heap in the corner of your yard, just take a pitchfork to it and stir things up a bit. Try to get the materials that haven’t started decomposing to the center of the heap. All that turning will kick-start another heating cycle, which means more nutrient-rich soil for your petunias.