Compost Pile Settling - September 2022

Ten days in the life of a recently turned compost pile is an eternity.  At least, that's how it seems with my compost bins.  Ten or so days ago, I posted the details of how I emptied my compost bins (and tumbler) and refilled them with a proper mix of browns and greens along with some alfalfa cube accelerant.  At that time, the main, properly mixed bin was heaping.  By that, I mean I piled up the compost into a mound that extended well above the top of the fence panels on all sides and was mounded about 30" past the top of the panels in the very center.  Go here to have a look at the pile ten days ago.

Thanks to active decomposition and gravity, the 'heaping pile' bin is now well under-control.  See below for an updated photo showing the edges of the bin have all sunk down and are now under the top of the fence panel edges.  And the center mound?  That's dropped by more than half, too.  

We're getting close to the start of leaf collection season, so that means that I need that left bin (the one without the aeration pipes) mostly empty so I can store everything that falls from the trees.  Ahead of the leaves, I'm going to get out my pitchfork and pull as much of the material (which is mixed currently) from the left storage bin up on to the top of the right bin, so it can - once again - settle and begin to compost.  

I don't think I'll get it all in there, but I should be able to empty out most of it to allow for a full bin of leaves in the coming weeks/months.