My boyfriend and I recently went on an extended vacation leaving his mom at our house to take care of the dogs. With 40 years of gardening experiencepersonal and professionalunder her belt she set out to make some changes in our yard.

First she uncovered a few withering artichoke plants that now produce more artichokes than we can eat. (Tip: She hit up all the coffee shops in town to collect their coffee grounds for use as fertilizer).

Next she planted a few vegetables and herbs that we are super excited about including basil, parsley, arugula, thyme, rosemary, oregano, garlic, mint, dill and several tomato plants.

Finally, she started a compost pile for us in the side yard. All she did was take a pile of weeds from the yard (of which there were plenty), mixed the yard scraps with some food waste from the kitchen, hosed the pile down and let it do its thing.

Here's how it works:

Take any once-living substance, throw it on the pile of yard scraps, cover it with more weeds and the whole mess turns into a pile of organic soil that can be used for gardening. The best part is that you can compost things you would never even think of like hair, dryer lint, coffee filters, fireplace ashes and eggshells. You can even compost cotton rags.

We have always been conscious of how much we throw away but I had no idea that so much of what we did toss out could be recycled in our own yard. I have to say it feels great to see our small stack of trash, next to the large pile of compost, and know that we are reducing our impact on the landfills.

For more information on how to start you own compost pile visit:

http://www.epa.gov/wastes/conserve/rrr/composting/basic.htm

or check out

http://vegweb.com/composting/