Oh, I'd say the current pile is probably about 2-3 feet in diameter but maybe 1-2 feet high. Maybe closer to 2-3 feet max if anything.

The smaller the bits and pieces you put into your compost pile the faster the bacteria will get to working on it and the faster that compost will be ready for use, finished. However, the bacteria will still work on larger chunks of material, it will simply take longer for that material to be digested.
Another thing that can influence how long it takes is the volume of material. Optimal size for composting is 4 x 4 x 4 although a 3 x 3 x 3 can also work. Anything much smaller can take a very long time although it will, eventually, become compost as well.

Thanks! In general, how long *should* it take for a 3x3x3 or 4x4x4 pile of 'properly' sized material to break down?

If it's an optimal green-brown mix, moisture maintained, and the pile turned a couple times, you can get compost in a few months. You might find that you can sort out the chunks that haven't broken down, get the good stuff out, and throw those pieces into the next batch.

If you want a low tech way to chop, you can just use a sharp shovel, or get one of those $10 machetes at a military surplus store. I like to use the machete and an old stump as a chopping block.

Nice! Maybe I'll pickup one of those cheapo machetes from Harbor Freight in that case :)

If you work really hard at it, and the material is of good size, you can get finished compost in 14 days. A bit less work can mean finished compost in about 3 to 6 months.

I'd rather spend the time doing other yard work, and there's always something more urgent than breaking down yard waste.

I toss all yard waste, including entire plants like sunflower stalks into one big pile, probably 5x5.

For now, it's contained by a wall of concrete blocks, the garden fence and the compost digester. There's too much yard waste to fit in the bin, so I save that space for food waste layered with browns. The digester gives me enough material when I need it, so I'm in no rush for the yard waste to turn to compost.

I've poked into it a couple of times, and stepped on it periodically to make room. The plan is to turn it next spring, and see what it looks like. It's been a good mix of browns and greens of different sizes, including small wood chips and lawn clippings, so I'm optimistic. Just like the digester, any pieces too big will be thrown back in the pile.

Sounds good! Yea, I just keep adding random yard clippings to it. Although, I don't have that many greens... I've been slowly adding some kitchen scraps to the pile, but not much. I've also been starting to rake up the rest of the yard to collect wood chips and other scraps. The main problem I have is that the stupid association did paint work on the building within the past year and left a bunch of small paint chips (in addition to NAILS) laying around my yard. It's quite dangerous actually, thinking about it. I'm considering borrowing a metal detector for the nails but I'm not sure what to do about the paint chips - I can't imagine those would be good to have in a compost pile. Ughhh... these are the challenges of cleaning up a yard that had plants in it and was left untouched for almost 20 years. What kind of "digester" are you using btw?

What's a digester?

Karen

It's a round black bin, can't remember the brand.
Like this, but round and bigger:
http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=2818

I never would have been able to afford it new, but our neighbors had one, and I noticed that they never used it, so I asked for it a year after we moved in. As a bonus, it was half full of really nice compost from the previous owner.

The county used to sell these at a huge discount, but no more. Sometimes they show up on freecycle. Totally worth the cash if you can afford it!

We've got that exact one - the day after I bought it from town's Public Works Dept, a bear ripped it apart. It's worked OK for the past couple of years (we had no room for old one in moving van 5 yrs ago), but DH just built a 3-compartment pallet structure this summer. Too soon to tell if it will break things down any faster, but it holds a lot more and is easier to turn.

Just threw some broken-up okra (my 1st year growing - man, those stalks are woody) in there, I'll let you all know if they're gone in the spring ;-) Worse case, I'll have to sift the finished compost and throw them back in the first bin.