Leaf mould, the slow way
The council sweeps the lane at the bottom of the site twice in November and, if you ask nicely, will tip the leaves by the compost bays instead of taking them away. This year I asked nicely.
Leaf mould is the easiest thing to make and the slowest. Leaves rot down through fungi rather than the bacteria that do the work in a compost heap, so it needs no turning and no greens, just time and moisture.
The cage
Four tree stakes and a roll of chicken wire, about a metre square, in the shadiest corner behind the shed. I filled it with three barrow-loads, trod them down, watered the top because they were dry, and filled it again.
By next autumn it should be a crumbly mulch to spread on the beds. By the autumn after that it will be fine enough for seed compost. Oak and beech take longest; the lime and sycamore from the lane should be quicker.
There's something satisfying about starting a job you won't see finished for two years. It's the opposite of courgettes.