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 "harvested" my compost today from one side of my Mantis Compost-Twin. It looked about half full, way less volume than I started out with. I dumped out two small wheelbarrow loads, and now it does not look like there's much left in it at all. Cranking it is ridiculously easy now, so that confirms there is not much left. I had been daydreaming about what all I'd do with my compost when the first batch got done. I've gotten a jolt of reality, I guess. Where I was thinking of putting inches of compost on the first flower bed that I worked on, the reality was I put a few shovelfuls sprinkled here and there, and that was all I had in the small garden wheelbarrow. I'm not giving up on composting or anything like that. But at this rate, it will take me a decade or two to do much to my flower beds. There is a local botanical garden which offers leaf compost loaded into your truck for a donation. I guess I need to explore that possibility. Sadder but wiser Jim

dk., Easier and just as good. There's nothing wrong with your original method of making a pile. I make both cold and hot piles, and if that pile of yours has got some rough, brownish, too chunky, not finished compost, don't worry about it. Pile it around a tomato or a plant you are fond of and let it break down there. Start your next pile, and let your cold pile finish. If anyone has my situation: a lot of space for bins and places to get compostables (My local dump is a cold mine.), time would be better spent gathering compostables, than breathing down the neck of the compost pile. I am not talking about restricted circumstances or city dwellers or people who live where they aren't allowed to have compost piles (Criminal!) If you have a car, a large yard, and access to materials, you can make a lot of compost. A neighbor of mine just started composting last fall, after she saw my not revolting and disgusting, sogless piles, and I'm amazed by her talent. She hits up my local store and comes home with tons of lettuce, eggshells, and bread (which she feeds to my chickens, of course), tomato ends, onion skins, and coffee grounds from every coffee shop she passes. I introduced her to my leaf and grass supply and I may have to restrict her to one day a week. She's starting to step on my toes. I'm going to be very annoyed if I head out on Nov. 1rst and find her out on the road gathering up the smashed pumpkins. She's got five piles going---two hot, one passive, two leaf mold. If you've got the space, the car, the inclination, you might try a month or two of super-active compostable collection. Making compost isn't as important as gathering compostables, you know, imho.

Im thinking after reading this two things. One my pile wasnt big enough in the first place and second after getting it to 130 and not getting it there again all winter that by spring it was done. Also Ive read that once your pile is finished that when it cools then worms move in and finish the pile actually making it darker. Im also gathering that especially at first you should turn it every 3-4 days and that the turning process during this period will help heat it up. Im just not sure how to gather more debris for keeping the pile hot once the pile start going down.