I try to keep my pile in the mesophilic range. It does heat up a lot if I've added things like grass clippings, (in layers and spread around, but still they are like jet fuel), and what I notice is that a hot pile gets dried out quickly and the worms leave the scene. So then I'll mix, aerate, and water to get back to a medium heat that seems to make the nicest product.
The photo of your 'too hot' pile was interesting too, because there were larger sticks (or maybe stalks - I wasn't sure which) in the pile. My two compost piles don't often get very hot and I *thought* that maybe it's because I didn't mulch everything into smaller pieces before adding it.
My wife is a flower gardener and so she ends up with a ton of flower stems and dahlia tubers that go into the compost piles.
Anyway, your picture just made me realize I must be off balance with other elements of my piles (to have them remain on the cooler end), glad to know I don't have to break down *everything* that goes in and I can still reach a healthy mesophilic temp.
I try to keep my pile in the mesophilic range. It does heat up a lot if I've added things like grass clippings, (in layers and spread around, but still they are like jet fuel), and what I notice is that a hot pile gets dried out quickly and the worms leave the scene. So then I'll mix, aerate, and water to get back to a medium heat that seems to make the nicest product.
I learned a lot here :)
The photo of your 'too hot' pile was interesting too, because there were larger sticks (or maybe stalks - I wasn't sure which) in the pile. My two compost piles don't often get very hot and I *thought* that maybe it's because I didn't mulch everything into smaller pieces before adding it.
My wife is a flower gardener and so she ends up with a ton of flower stems and dahlia tubers that go into the compost piles.
Anyway, your picture just made me realize I must be off balance with other elements of my piles (to have them remain on the cooler end), glad to know I don't have to break down *everything* that goes in and I can still reach a healthy mesophilic temp.