If you have found yourself in the middle of a debate around the dinner table about composting lately, you are (surprisingly) not alone.

As navel oranges come into season and onions find their way into slow-cooked meals, can you just throw their peels into your compost bin?

And what about leftover bread, coffee grounds and cardboard?

"There's nothing to be afraid of when it comes to composting," host of Gardening Australia, Costa Georgiadis, said.

"Composting is the people's art. More money doesn't make better compost."

While that might be music to the average homemaker's ears, composting is indeed an artform, and an area littered with old wives tales.

So if you are in the habit of throwing anything and everything into your bin and leaving it to fend for itself, there are a few things you should know.

Costa Georgiadis, host of Gardening Australia, says good compost is an art. ( ABC )

There's some truth to the rumours

"The odd mandarin peel or the odd lemon in there, a good thriving compost will manage that no problem," Costa said.

"But if you're juicing oranges five or six days a week for three or four family members, that can overload a compost."

Costa said most backyard gardeners would have a compost heap suited to general household kitchen waste and garden clippings.

But, in order for things like citrus to break down properly and not overload the heap, it was important to take into account the climate of both your compost and the area you live.

"As the cooler months kick in, the citrus is not going to break down as readily," Costa explained.

"I'd suggest drying your citrus — putting them on a rack and drying them in the sun."

Oranges are fine to go into your compost bin, but in moderation. ( ABC Wide Bay: Jess Lodge )

And, while drying citrus might sound laborious, Costa said people should bear in mind that, once the citrus has dried, you could use it in baking, to make your own citrus cleaners, or even as fire starters.

"You'll get that wonderful citrus aroma when you cook them off because the oil in them is released, they're like nature's little lucifers," he said.

As with citrus, things like onions, eggshells and garden waste can also be added to your compost, but with caution.

"If you were a French onion soup distributor I'd think carefully about dropping in bucketloads because, like citrus, it's going to have that same overload impact," Costa said.

"I get asked the same thing about eucalyptus leaves, and you can put them in, but not all the time as the compost can't deal with it.

"Think about your ingredients, and think one word: balance."

What else can you put in your compost?

If you're a French onion soup distributor, you've probably got too many scraps to put in your compost. ( Unsplash )

The usual rule of thumb is that anything that has "lived" can go in your compost, including fruit, vegetables, tea bags and coffee grounds.

Even things like paper and cardboard (including toilet rolls!) can go into your bin as layers, to break up the food waste.

"Think about cardboard as basically something that has lived," Costa said.

"Anything fresh, like food scraps or fresh green leaves or twigs or grass clippings — they're all nitrogen because they're still alive.

"Something like cardboard is basically like a dead tree, so you can use that because it gives you balance; it's carbon. The worms love it, they get in there and munch it down."

As well as cardboard, you can recycle your newspapers in the compost, by opening the newspaper up (as if you are reading it) and shredding it down the length of the page as narrowly as you can, before shaking it into your compost.

"You can even put old cotton clothes in there, and the worms will eat it and break it down," Costa added.

It's all about balance

Lots of worms indicate a healthy compost. ( ABC Rural: Michael Cavanagh )

The key to a good healthy compost goes beyond what you add to it; you need a good balance between carbon (dry, 'brown' materials like cardboard, paper and dry leaves) and nitrogen (moist, 'green' materials like garden clippings, vegetable and fruit scraps).

According to Costa, getting a good balance is the area where people fall down 99 per cent of the time.

"At the end of the day compost is usually too wet, or too dry," he said.

"If you squeeze it and it's like wringing someone's hair after they've come out of the water, it's too wet. If you squeeze it and there are sand particles coming through, it's too dry."

A general rule of thumb is to have two parts brown material to one part green material, but if even that is sounding too overwhelming, the best thing to do is turn your compost regularly.

"I look for a compost that gets turned regularly, once a week or once a fortnight," Costa said.

"Use one of those cone barrel composts, or a compost corkscrew or you can buy from the nursery.

"Corkscrew it once a week or once a fortnight, add a little bit of water, about your average watering can's worth, and when you squeeze it, it should be just moist enough to get a drop or two of juice."

Eliminating barriers

Cardboard packaging can provide great balance to your compost; just make sure you shred it first. ( ABC Radio Darwin: Jesse Thompson )

If the thought of compost "juice" put you off, chances are you are also concerned about things like flies, rats and mice. A few simple tweaks can eliminate all these things.

If you cover the top of your compost you will not end up with vinegar flies, and if you get the balance of your compost right and avoid meat products, you will eliminate smells and rats and mice will stay away.

"You can also place a piece of chicken wire on the ground and put your bin on top of it so all of the liquids and any microbial activity can still move up and down through the earth, but vermin won't be able to burrow their way up," Costa explained.

Another thing to consider, especially if you live in an apartment, is a small, indoor composting system like a bokashi bin.

Latest figures show that in the ACT alone, 37 per cent of the weekly rubbish collection consists of food scraps.

Something like a bokashi bin, which can sit in prime position on your benchtop, or even a balcony worm farm, is perfect for collecting that food waste.

Good compost is a 'joy'

The general rule of thumb is to have two parts 'brown' compost to one part 'green'. ( Pixabay )

If you do struggle to get the balance in your compost right, the good news is that everything is redeemable.

"When a compost is singing, you can stick your head in the bin and it will not offend," Costa explained.

"It will be like a lovely, lush, fruitcake-like smell.

"If you do have an anaerobic compost, all you have to do is add carbon, brown material — shredded paper or some soil, to take up that moisture. As soon as you get air back in there the smell goes immediately.

"When you find the sweet spot and it's humming, it's just a joy."

You can watch Gardening Australia on ABC TV 7:30pm Friday or catch up on iview.