When I moved into my house in September 2012 there was already an expansive compost bin set up. I was not familiar with this method of composting, but the great thing about teaching yourself to garden is that compost happens, whether you put in a lot or a little effort, organic materials break down into soil. I've grown to love this three bin system because it takes less physical maintenance than the trench method I had experimented with in the past. Each bin will have a different purpose at any given time: 1) ADD 2) SIT 3) HARVEST. 
1) First, pick which bin you will be adding materials to (try starting with the bin on the left). This is where you will deposit all of your kitchen food scraps, bunny poo, soiled paper towels, layered with leaves, undesirable plant materials, etc. You want your compost to be layers of green and browns. Think of your greens as you kitchen food scraps, while the browns are leaves or twigs and other related materials. Layering will help accelerate the breaking down process and will also make a more balanced, nutrient rich compost.
2) After your ADD bin becomes full, top it with a layer of BROWNS and water it with the garden hose. This pile has magically become your SIT pile, and the middle bin #2 will now be your new ADD pile, and the process continues. I'm calling it a "sit" pile because you can let it sit for a few months, and harvest it when bin #3 becomes full. You can also use a pitch fork or a shovel to turn the compost pile from time to time, such as every week, or every two weeks, etc. Turning your compost allows for more oxygen to mingle with the critters and also speeds up the process. The decomposers need oxygen and water while they feast on your pile, turning it into rich organic soil. Don't forget to water the piles from time to time, especially in the hot summer months. Remember, your compost is living. You can see one of our potatos sprouting in my harvest pile.
3) HARVEST: I'm using a pitchfork to loosen my oldest pile and remove any large sticks or "chunks" that haven't broken down all the way. I always place the chucky compost on top of the SIT pile because it literally needs to sit a little longer before it is ready to harvest.
How to harvest your compost:
It is ideal to have a devise you can sift the compost with, and something to collect the sifted goodness. The photo below shows how I place a shovel scoop of material into a screen placed inside a plastic crate-type-thing. You can be high tech or low tech with your sifting equipment, just do what you can with what you've got! All that matters is that you start :)
After your compost scoop is placed on your sifting device, SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE, it back and forth, allowing the tiny particles of soil fall into your container below.
Again, not all of the materials will be fully broken down into tiny pieces so just empty the contents of the sifter back onto your SIT pile since they are not ready. REPEAT this process until you have the desired amount of compost to plant new seedlings or to fertilize your garden.
Get ready to fall in love with composting when you realize how easy it is. Hopefully you will gain a new appreciation for "rollie pollies," black beetles, flies, and worms once you see what they can do for your garden.
Our compost is super fertile and yields a lot of veggies because a lot of our kitchen scraps contain seeds. The compost pile is the perfect environment to keep the seeds intact for months! Over the summer, when I harvested the majority of our compost and sprinkled it around the garden, all these tomato plants started sprouting up!! We enjoyed "volunteer" tomatoes from June 2013-January 2014, which is pretty much amazing. I am so thankful I have the opportunity to learn so much from growing food in my own back yard.
GROW- your own food, expand your mind, learn new things and grow as a person
EAT- the food that sprouts out of your fertile compost
SLEEP- when I close my eyes after a long day of gardening, I see tomato plants :)
REPEAT-compost all winter, plant in the spring, harvest in the summer, reap what you sow.
