Compost doesn't usually have a clay-like texture. Compost that isn't ready to be used would be dark and crumbly and have half-rotted leaves and vegetable bits in it, not clayish. I suspect that what you have is piles of clay that someone dumped there after doing some yard work. Depending on what kind of soil you've got, this could be good or bad - some clay soils are very fertile, but others aren't. You could get the soil tested to see what you've got. If it's OK, you could mix it with some real compost and use it to fill raised beds, picking out the trash as you go. You don't say how thick the sticks are; you could run them through a chipper/shredder and then use them and the pine needles for mulch, or mix them with grass clippings when lawn mowing season starts, to make a real compost pile.

I'm pretty lazy about making sure things are covered and thus have a pretty much constant fight with critters. Well actually I'm kinda lazy about that too. This year I finally got hardware cloth all the way around the bin but I found where something (a squirrel I think) had pulled up the bottom edge of the wire and was sneaking in underneath. I don't really care all that much but laid a piece of 2x4 on that spot to slow him down... We fight back and forth, its kind of a game ;)

lilacs of may - I agree w/the "need more greens" opinions above (which is not to say that I disagree w/the "need more water" opinions - I just don't have an opinion about the water thing b/c my bin is in a container & I tend to have too much moisture more often than not). The way you described it - 1 thin green, 1 thick brown of mostly leaves - seems like it would take a real long time to decompose. I've noticed leaves in my bin take a long time, which I didn't expect. But, my bin takes a short time to decompose when I've used mostly garden/kitchen waste, intense greens (such as UCG/dried blood/alfalfa), and some browns such as (leaves/paper towels/napkins/shredded moistened cardboard) - IF I turn it ALOT (again it's in a bin so this might not be as crucial to your formula). Plus, I also find that we each have a preferred "formula" for our individual systems, lifestyles & area of the country. I've added below a link to my list of 201 Compost Ingredients, if you want to brainstorm about more "greens." BTW, we just got our first Starbucks (10 min away) - prior to that the nearest starbucks was 1 hour away & that was just in a bookstore. I am already collecting from a local coffee shop (actually, they were new about 2 yrs ago - pre-local-Starbucks - and I told them about Starbucks' habit of bagging & offering UCG for peoples' gardens & so now they're doing it! yippee!). And, actually, most of the UCG I gather go directly onto soil (under the store-bought pine/other bark/shredded mulch) or onto the grass. So, do it again this year & keep experimenting to see what works! polly in IL - that is BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for the pix! All the Best, Tree Here is a link that might be useful: 201 Compost ingredients

I was always under the impression that a compost pile should make contact with the ground so that worms could naturally enter the pile and make the composting process faster. Worms are not a part of hot composting. I do have a stroage bin that sits on the ground. Worms can come and go as the please. Specifically how do you use a 3-bin system like this?. Suppose you start filling one. When do you stop? When do you move it over to the next bin? Etc, etc. Ideally you would want to build a pile in one day and then it's done. One week will also work. But most of us take months to fill a bin. This means the materials are composting to some degree over that time period. Having the empty bin to turn into speeds up the decompostion. After a while you will realize that the pile will not collapse much more with the added material. Then stop. Start a new pile but continue turning the old one as well as the new one. Where do you suggest finding pallet lumber? Maybe its best I start gathering it now so that I can start this in the Fall? Lumber yards have lots of pallets that they don't want. Get ones with the heavier 1x4 lumber. You can dis-assemble them with a hammer and cat's paw or a reciprocating saw. To build a bin with new lumber costs about $80 - $90. Much cheaper with used pallets. The only animals in the bin are mice. The screen is for screening the compost. It's 1/2" hardware cloth. You can screen lots of other things as well. I would be reluctant to reduce the bin size. A certain size is needed to provide insulation for the inner material.