I understand the confusion here. Perhaps it's the tool your using.
My compost piles ranges from 2 yards to 10 yards of material, depending on year, material available and time of year based on whether I've just purged and put it all into the garden(fall).
Personally, I have a cold pile and some years a hot pile. No matter which it is(my garden is under 1,000 Square feet) I dig trenches in the garden and put leaves down and compost on top of that then replace the original dirt on top. It gets 6 inches to 18 inches of material every year.
This further decomposes over the winter and reduces to under 6 inches in the spring and is gone by end of summer.
It seems like alot of work to my neighbor, but my veggies are always happy.
The more the compost the better.
That is the best technique I know of.
Mine is all spade shovel, I don't bother with the pitch fork, it just confuses me which to use, when I am ready to play in the pile or garden.
We've had two big storms this year, I've brought in 22+/- yards of organic material this year, my leaves were mulched into the yard. Didn't need them for the garden.
Over half of it is in the garden and the piles under the garden look like moguls in a downhill race.
The best technique my wife used was she got a husband who didn't mind doing the work of turning a pile.
A friend of hers told her 15-20 years ago > "marry a man who is good with a shovel, you will always have a good garden."
I hope that helps with your technique issue.
