Compost piles are a feast for millions of microorganisms. Once the proper mix of food, moisture & air are available, the parties come to the feast & do their work. However – most of those who compost want it as fast as possible & some suppliers of garden materials tell us we need an accelerator or starter for the pile to make it work faster. They are only ½ right when it comes to an accelerator for the compost pile.

Consider the compost pile that is made for fast decomposition. It will have a carefully blended supply of brown or carbon rich material along with the right amount of green or nitrogen rich material. The moisture content will be that of a wrung out sponge. Properly turned it now has oxygen to all parts of the pile. All it needs now is some way to ring the dinner bell & get all those microorganisms in to feed themselves on all those goodies.

accelerators tend to come in two different varieties although, like most products on today’s market, they can sound like they come in myriad disguises. There is more. There is more. The two will either be a blend of microorganisms ready to eat or some substance ready to be mixed with water & poured over the pile. Both will assume that the pile is made for fast composting.

The water blend tends to be active for just that reason, it has water. Back on the farm we had to be very careful of the moisture content of the hay we were making that season. Properly cured hay has about the carbon-nitrogen mix of a good compost pile. Add water & the composting action would be so great that the microorganisms would have so great a heat in the middle of the pile that it would burst into flame & a barn fire would result. OK. Some of the manufacturers know that compost pile builders often have too dry a pile & the addition of the water will get the microorganisms active. They will also be in the accelerator material but there will likely be more than sufficient in the compost material itself, just like there was on the hay.

Other compost accelerators are generally simple blends of the microorganisms found in an active compost pile. These are found almost everywhere there is soil. In fact you have likely added them to your last compost pile. Most of us pull weeds & add them to the pile. Maybe you beat a lot of the soil off the roots of the weeds, but it is doubtful that you beat off all the soil or washed it off at the garden. That soil contains the microorganisms that are needed for the pile to work. Remember all those leaves & grass that fell on the lawn & gradually disappeared? They composted under the work of these same creatures. So they moved in on the weed roots; roots of plants pulled from the garden because they were spent, harvested, or bolted to seed; or sod removed from the lawn. Just to make certain of the availability of the little beasties, some composters will toss the occasional shovelful of garden soil on the pile as they build it.

Finally, remember that dish at the back of the fridge that used to be stew, or soup, or leftover broccoli before it turned into a green science experiment? The bacteria & fungi were there to start it composting. Do you follow? They will follow it to the pile.

Is compost accelerator necessary for a pile to work? Yes, but it is already there.

Darrell Feltmate is an avid gardener who has been composting & gardening for over 25 years with gardens up to 1/2 acre & compost piles for each. His composting site may be easily found at Compost Central. You can be a master composter in no time at all. Compost is a great addition to any garden & is not very hard to make. For lots more information & instruction refer to Compost Central.