Aphids are no reason to not compost. The only reason to not compost something if it is diseased and you don't know what the disease is or you do know what the disease and you also know it can survive the winter and the composting (rare).

To prepare for next year just add any organic matter.

ok -- thanks! I read somwhere else on here that you shouldn't compost tomatoes... I can't remember why. But I'll add everything to the pile :)

Leisa

I think some people say not to compost tomatoes cause the seeds WILL survive. You might get some volunteer tomatoes in your garden next year. I always get a few and if there is room, I let them grow and see what they turn out to be.
I got pumpkin seeds in a load of compost I bought this year. We kept a few plants and ended up with about 10 25-35 lb pumpkins!

In zone 6 they might survive, but in my zone 5 they rarely do. In your zone 8 I imagine they survive more readily.

I yanked out everything in the bed and then emptied my composter into the raised bed. I did a light turning of the soil with a shovel and then placed all the old plants into my composter to start over for next spring. I also plan on putting mowed over leaves into the bed soon and lightly mixing in those as well. The rest of the leaves will go into the composter.