I did a little work to make my compost pile a little easier to use and maintain. Many of the things I setup to be self reliant I did with the mindset of thinking of my physical energy to work would return before I became disabled. I am now trying to work smarter instead of harder. While my disability makes a bit more noticeable, I think many people still think they should be able to do the physical work like they did as a 20-30 years old at least the boomers and my generation. Guess what we can’t! We need to work smarter not harder and our age and experience should make it fairly easy, but it is not easy to admit you are slowing down. Add a little pride and a self-reliant mindset and it can be hard to ask for help or simply pay cash for the work and save your physical energy for the important stuff!
Anyway back to the new compost pile I’m making, I saw how my neighbors made a raise bed and made a new compost pile in the raised bed in the summer or fall and then they planted a garden in a the raised bed the next year. They added a bit of topsoil and did the work to make it nutrient rich. But it is amazing to see how well their gardens grow! I always thought that compost piles or heaps needed to built to some standard before you even think about dropping some coffee grounds in the pile and not your garbage can.
Now this won’t be a raised bed/compost pile, but I think I picked a better spot next to my shop and I will be moving my garbage cans to a small concrete slab to make it very easy to sort my garbage and drop it off everyday if needed. I have divided the compost area by thirds and simply marked of the areas with some broken up concrete that were part of a walkway. Having the three areas of working compost is new to me and since I will walk by it everyday I hope it will remind me to use the compost heap as well as water and turn it over so it can work it’s magic. Since the compost will generate a bit of heat while it decays it should warm the metal wall of my shop as a bonus.
I have no idea if this will work, but I can say without a doubt my other composting setup/ideas have not worked. I often find I need to screw up a few times and find out what doesn’t work for me. You can use other people do as guidelines and get the basic ideas/concepts down. You still need to figure out what works for you and that is when your doing and practicing comes into play and why all us preppers talk about the big difference between theory and practice.
It doesn’t matter if you can talk a good game! Can you play a good game?
My Adventures in selfreliance 
I did figure out how to do things smarter. I became 100% disabled and got older (67 now). One year I just threw compost material in a 4x 4 foot bed and allowed the three hens access as I added leaves and more kitchen scraps. Then, I blocked the hens for six months and planted. it worked.
I cannot do all I could 40 years ago, 30 years ago, or even 20 years ago, but I can do lots by changing my methods.
PP, I have been buying a lot of tools to make things easier. Plus I have some great neighbors that will do work for me for the use of my tools and some beer. I don’t feel so dependent when I can barter/trade for work they do to help me out.
My neighbors also use chickens to work their compost piles. I setup the new pile so when I can afford chickens and put in a chicken coop they will all be close together. When I make my beer I give the leftover grains to the neighbors to augment the feed and the chickens just love it!