Please advise on my compost pile

About three years ago I started composting. I put a pallet on the ground and starting piling food scraps with leaves and things in between. After about a year I stopped using leaves. Only green food scraps have gone in there. Mostly fruit. The level of the pile has actually dropped over the past year. I think its cooking.

I can reach under the pallet and grab handfulls of compost. It appears completely processed. But it smells a bit sweet like fruit.

I'm not sure whether to keep going as I am or remove the compost and pile it back in with hay or something so it gets more air. Or I could build a new compost system. I could do anything really. I don't know much about compost.

What do you all think I should do?

It's about 3' dia. and 4' high.

i use pallets to build my composters, kinda like this |_| with 1 pallet per side.
if there was one thing i would do is buy a Pitchfork from wally world, mine cost 15 bucks, and mix that pile up well.
the air pockets in your pile need to be exchanged, this will speed composting noticeably, and help eliminate odors.

Clamdigger is right on... as usual

Thanks for the advice.

You might try alfalfa rather than just hay to add into the pile. Get it at Tractor Supply (If theres one near you, or a farm feed and supply.) Google the benefits. It has triacontanol in it. Really seems to make a difference!!!

I'm going with a bale of alfalfa and a pitchfork. Thanks.

Why did you stop introducing leaves into the pile? You need about 70-80% carbon, browns in your compost to keep a aerobic rather than anaerobic decay. Alfalfa is great I always add some to my pile, however, I'm look for using the stuff around me as much as possible.

I don't have leaves all the time. So I ended up buying a bale of straw for browns. I made a new bin next to my old one and re-composted the whole thing into the new bin enchilada style. It's got 2"-4" layers of straw and old compost, with alfalfa meal, peat moss, rock dust, fish meal, fish bone meal, blood meal, bone meal and some old fish emulsion that I poured into it at the end. I fed the pile some extra kefir grains (em-1 kinda stuff) and am making a nice batch of compost tea for it with compost, some fish and alfalfa meal and agave.
My straw bale is right there next to the bins so I can easily mix my new pile correctly from the start this time. I practically live on fruit so my compost is mostly fruit peals, cores and straw now.

I found with my compost by covering it with some black poly, it really sped up the decomposition. I also added some of that compost activator stuff you can get at any garden centre. That and occasional grass clippings mixed in well and my garden just explodes with this stuff. It does need a really good stir every once and a while though with the ol pitchfork.

sounds good, i'll give it a stir now and then!