would you consider doing a lasagna style bed? I built a bed in 2007 right on top of existing sod (old meadow). First you start with a layer of wet newspapers, then alternate greens and browns like you would a compost pile. In spring of 2008 I was able to top it off with a layer of well composted horse manure and shavings. It was a terrific garden that did not require tilling. You should need to add worms, they'll find you. We do have a utility trailer which has made collecting things easier. I started off with old grass clippings from a neighbor. If you want to put your compost area where you plan to garden, it seems to me you might as well do a lasagna garden. No turning needed. It will be well decomposed by next spring.

Agreed on the worms, no need to buy them.

Here's a green and brown list. Google is your friend!

http://earthfriendlygardening.wordpress.com/2006/05/09/browns-greens-what-to-compost/

Have fun.

I think your plan will work fine, but that you don't really need to turn the pile. Just keep adding material during the fall and winter. If there is a drought, the pile should be watered, otherwise, not. In the spring, use a garden fork to remove any material from the top that looks like it needs more time, the finished compost will be underneath, ready to be spread around and tilled in.

Try the compost calculator! Put in the cubic feet of your whatever (BTW, a 5-gallon bucket is 0.7 cubic feet) and see what ratio you get.

Somewhere between 20 and 40 is OK. Lower than 20 is high on nitrogen and may rot and stink. Higher than 40 is not a problem, it just will be a bit slow to compost.

Top any layer of food scraps with some dry stuff to minimize food odors and you should have no problems.

Here is a link that might be useful: Compost Calculator

Thanks for the help. In the lasagne method, how thick do you make your layers?

Patricia Lanza recommends building a bed 18-24 inches deep. It will condense a lot. My original bed is now level with the surrounding lawn. Aim for four times as much brown (high carbon like chopped leaves) as green (high nitrogen like fresh grass clippings, kitchen scraps, fresh manure). She alternates 2" layers of peat with 4-6" layers of everything else. I did not put much peat in mine. Also she adds things like a sprinkling of bone meal, wood ashes, and blood meal.Expect the original 18-24" to shrink to 6" over winter. I made a big mistake last year by topping two new beds with about 6-8" of fresh steer manure. This seemed to harden over winter and the layer of fall leaves underneath did not decompose as they should have. This spring I made large holes which I filled with good compost/soil mix and planted winter and summer squashes and tomato plants. Over the summer proper decomposition has taken place.
I don't want to make this mistake again but otherwise I'm not fussy about how thick a layer is. Kitchen scraps get spread in a section then covered with grass clippings. This spring we got a load of manure I thought was too fresh for spring planting so I have been using it in the compost bin.
I found the original 'perfect' composted horse manure on Craigslit and went back again this year. The man just charges a nominal fee to use his tractor to load our utility trailer. He puts wood ash and kitchen scraps in the pile over winter and must turn it with the tractor bucket because in spring it is beautiful, black stuff. I continue to watch Craigslist and the farmers market bulletin for free manure. We have plenty of our own grass clippings now and enough leaves in the fall.
According to the compost calculator posted, I'm way too high in carbon. Looks like I need to add more nitrogen sources.
At the same time I made the lasagna beds we started a traditional asparagus bed beginning with digging out an area. Anyone in their right mind would not do it this way but my husband has a new used backhoe and was willing to do anything that required a backhoe. This still required adding layers of composted manure and grass clippings. Maybe it isn't fair to compare an asparagus bed to a vegetable bed but the lasagna bed doesn't require any machine work. There's no tilling. No turning over. This is second year for the original beds which have produced nicely. Due to long, cold wet season in New England some of our neighbors gave up on their gardens. Others complained they were too muddy to work in. Drainage in mine is great despite having swampy areas in the lawn (we're next to a boggy meadow). I guess I can trust the earthworms to do the soil cultivation. We did not need to buy or borrow a tiller. I plant closely a la square foot method so just hand weeding is required. The soil doesn't get compacted because I rarely walk on it (the two original beds are too wide which I will change for next spring).