A garden isn’t ever done. Sure, the main structure plants will be in place, meaning trees and shrubs.

But I am addressing the act of gardening, the day-to-day tending of the plants. That is the stage that I have, finally, thankfully, arrived at. I feel like I have survived the installation of this garden.

There are those of you out there who relish a blank slate to fill with plants. Not me. The joy for me is in the tending. I love to weed. I love to deadhead. But to figure out what goes where and with what, good grief.

There are gardens in this town that have been shaped by artists, and they are gorgeous. Methinks the fine line between artists and craftsmen moves into the gardening arena. I am a craftsman.

In all of the garden magazines and books that I have read over the years the term “focal point” is mentioned countless times. Here you are in a lovely garden and your eye is drawn to something in particular, a fountain, a tree, a view, a gate. You get the idea.

In my garden the focal point is — the compost bin. Now what does that tell you? Well, it could tell you that I don’t have a clue what I am doing in the way of design, or as I prefer to think, that the compost bin and its accompanying manure pile, is the heartbeat of this garden.

I have a little rocking chair down by the bin. It is an excellent vantage point for looking up at the house with its surrounding perennial beds, trees, shrubs and, of course, the vegetable garden. It’s a very peaceful spot. And there is the lovely smell of a compost that is working properly.

Have I hooked you yet? Are you ready to make your very own heartbeat? There isn’t much to it. Of course there are books devoted to the subject. There are books on everything. I am sure you can find a wealth of information on the Internet. But just how many details do you need? There is nothing to it. Humans have been making compost piles since they settled down and started raising crops. It is now your turn.

Although my three bins are made of roughcut wood, each is a three-foot square, you can just make a pile of the materials on the ground. Leave yourself enough room to turn the pile over.

I have a 25-year-old wheelbarrow that, at the time, was called a GardenWay cart. It is rectangular with large wheels and has a plywood body. It has served me well, but, like some of us, it could use a new body. It is now relegated to toting grass clippings for me.

Once every couple of weeks my barrow and I trundle down the street to a friend’s house when she mows. No commercial products are used on her lawn so she has virgin grass, so to speak. You are going for simple here, so no herbicides or pesticides are going into your compost.

In the meantime you have been collecting the kitchen refuse in a covered bucket. Refuse includes trimmings from fruits and vegetables, grains, legumes. No meat, grease, fat. If it originally grew up from the ground, it can go into your bucket, but if it originally walked around on the ground, feed it to the dog. Fish is a welcome addition, but you might consider leaving the carcass and trimmings in the refrigerator until you are ready to build the pile.

You have been collecting manure from a horse, mule, cow, alpaca, llama, goat or rabbit (have I missed something?). Chicken manure is “hot” and needs to hang out in a pile all by itself for a year before you use it in any capacity.

What about the weeds that you have been diligently pulling? Add them to the pile.

Have your water hose handy. You will want to water each layer as you go along, unless the materials are so wet that they feel heavy, which I doubt. I discovered watering the layers a few years ago and it made a huge difference in the success rate of the pile.

So here we go: A nice layer of fresh grass clippings, the contents of the bucket from the kitchen, a layer of weeds, a layer of the raspberry canes that you shredded either last fall or early this spring (if you have them), a layer of manure. Now start layering all over again. Keep making layers until you have used all of your material. My pile will be about two and a half feet thick. I like to cover it over with a piece of plastic, this seems to aid the heating up process.

Now you have two choices: you can either leave it where it is until next year or you can turn it over every three or four days for two weeks and get a finished product that you can use right away on your garden.

I prefer to turn, but then I like action. The first time you plunge your garden fork into the pile you will be amazed and astounded by the amount of heat that will blast into your face. You will actually see a plume of steam rise out of the pile.

As you turn the pile over for the first time you will be able to see individual layers. But wait three more days, turn the hot pile again and you won’t be able to make any identification of the materials. A fish carcass is the most interesting. It takes five days for one to disappear. The pile should keep heating up. Every time that you turn it you are adding oxygen and that encourages the process.

After about two weeks of turning, the pile will be cool, the composting process complete. Go ahead and spread it around your plants now, you do not need to wait.

That’s all you have to do, back and forth every three or four days for two weeks and your garden will love you for it. There will not be any offensive odor. You will be using materials readily at hand, no more commercial products. You will be eating organic produce.

I am so proud of you and your heartbeat.

Rosemary Fitzpatrick has been gardening with gusto in Homer for 27 years.