For PunkRotten, sorry for my late reply. I'm afraid coz I'm still newbie in composting
Have your pile hotter now?
[quote]My green/brown ratio is probably half and half, maybe a 2 brown to 1 green ratio. [/quote]
May I know what is your green materials?
[quote]I used to lay it all down evenly covering the entire ground. But now I rake it up into a tall pile. Is this better?[/quote]
Underground I think it's good for insulating your compost but be careful of lack of oxygen (anaerobic composting). Hot composting consume more oxygen. Tall pile I think is better.
[quote]I also throw new materials beside it and weekly I turn the compost and usually rake the pile on top of the newer materials beside it. Each week I rotate it like this.[/quote]
As I've read in this nice helpfulgardener forum, it's better for you to build your new pile than always add your new materials with your old compost. Your mesophiles bacteria can't create hotter room for your thermophiles bacteria.
Hope, this help you and CMIIW.