Right after starting our last compost pile the Santa Ana winds hit us and dried it out despite our best efforts to water it daily. Consequently it didn't stay hot and once that happens it can be very difficult to get it cooking again. No matter, the worms are doing a bang up job of dealing with our kitchen waste and turning the whole pile into really great worm castings. You can tell by the clump that I am holding that there is very little recognizable material and that worms are literally woven throughout the pile.
There are a fair number of sprouts growing like this little white one which wouldn't be there if the pile had heated up properly.
There are also all kinds of bugs throughout - like the sow bugs, ants crawly backs tiny millipedes (if you look closely you can see a tiny millipede in the bottom right of the chunk in the top picture)
So far so good. I'll have to sift out some of the bigger sticks that take a really long time in a cold pile but over all we still have really good compost in about the same amount of time.
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If you have problem with your compost drying out, wet it, and put a tarp over it. Old carpet works too. With a tarp, it will heat up and sweat, but will condensate and keep your pile moist.
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