So this is a good way to compost if there is an area picked out in the yard which is not used often, is slightly remote and there are significant yard trimmings to go into the pile.  We had one for quite a few years and we set our up as a U shape with some bricks and just kept dumping our kitchen scraps and yard waste in the pile.  We would turn it with a shovel periodically.

We would add worms to our pile at the beginning of the year to break down anything that was not broken down during the previous year or over the winter months while covered.

The problems with this type of pile that we personally encountered were:

• If we dumped something unsavory that decays badly, such as crab shells, it made the pile smell very bad and it was hard to take the smell when turning the pile.

• It tended to draw outdoor scavengers to the pile.  We began to have problems with stray cats and groundhogs that were trying to feed on our pile leavings.