"Drunken" Compost

[ChristineParticipant]

Just wondering if anyone had experimented with this way of speeding up the compost? i found it on youtube.
From what I can gather online I think they mean that you can make your pile work faster and get hotter by adding beer (yeast gives bacteria a good start), Sugar (eg cola or molasses for extra bug food) and ammonia (for nitrogen).
You have to turn it more frequently too but i quite enjoy getting stuck in so that wouldn’t worry me.
On the plus side, speedier compost would be great for me as i want to make a lot of new beds next year. It would also free up space as I have 4 large bins going at the moment and they don’t look pretty!
On the down side I don’t like the idea of adding pure ammonia. too chemically. My husband has been threatening to use his more natural alternative for a while now (his Dad used to do it!) is that too gross?
Also I’m concerned that by cheating like this it will get too hot and I’ll end up losing the good bacteria and fungi.
Any thoughts/ advice would be appreciated.

[GwynlegParticipant]

Hi Christine
I think the ‘natural alternative’ is used very frequently by allotmenteers and gardeners as a good accelerant! I have also used ‘soaked’ bedding from rabbits and guinea pigs which worked well.

[ChristineParticipant]

Actually G I did use guinea-pig and rabbit poo before so I don’t suppose I should be too squeamish! Might try the process on a small patch and see the results. Or even better I’ll do 2 side by side bins and have direct comparison in the style of Charles!

[JohnParticipant]

The Henry Doubleday Research Association (now Garden Organic) used the term Household Liquid Activator. I remember my grandfather’s daily routine of barrowing an enormous container full of HLA down to his 2 allotments, the produce of which he used to feed his very large family. I was just a tot at the time so the ‘enormous container’ was probably just a jerry pot. One of my plot neighbours uses HLA to mark his territory around his sweetcorn and he tells me that he never has problems with the local badger, although it also has the effect of keeping his neighbours away.

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