A couple of weeks ago, we built a compost bin in our backyard. It's already saving us lots of space in the garbage (and yes, attracting a few critters—until my fiance souped it up this weekend), but we know that come early spring, we'll want to have some compost ready. So friends of ours gave us a compost kit and, well, it looks very promising.
The secret ingredient we'll soon be adding to our compost pile? Microbes. According to our kit, they will encourage better breakdown, help prohibit bad smells, and even help us get to the usable compost a little bit faster.
The kit, which is similar to this one at Microbial Earth, includes microbes, clay, and other materials that will more thoroughly break down our compost and make it even richer in nutrients. Since microbes help encourage the break down of compost, it will also give us a little more room in that scrap heap, which is quickly filling the space we made for it.
The kit comes with step-by-step composting instructions and will help get our spring garden off to a healthy start. Have you added microbes to your compost—and if so, did you notice a difference?
Related posts:
• How to Make a Shipping Pallet Compost Bin
• How to Start and Use an Outdoor Stacking Compost Bin
• How to Build a 2-Material Quick & Cheap Compost Bin
Ellen's Thirties Style Small Space
Juan's Garage Turned Modern Guest House
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Commercial Flour Sa...
10 Picnic-Ready Salads to Eat Outside
Recipe: Thai Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry
I've taken a number of classes on gardening from my local University extension office, including one exclusively on composting. Even in the non-composting specific classes, composting was discussed a lot, and these products were mentioned several times.
The prevailing opinion of the "pros" was that they don't do much. You're going to get all the microbes you need just from the ground and material you put in the pile. One seemed to be of the opinion that these would help jump-start a totally new pile in a relatively sterile location, but even they suggested that if you had an existing pile, or if your spot of ground where you place the pile had a decent amount of "wild composting" going on, that these were generally not worth the money.
While it's a thoughtful gift, I have to agree with qhartman. If you feel you need to add a microbial boost to your pile, compost from a neighbor or a few handfuls of soil from the area will provide you with more than enough of your local fauna.
If you pile is smelly or attracting pests, consider changing the mix of materials. Ask your local coffee shop for spent grounds to discourage rodents and be sure to bury eggshells which are especially attractive to rats. Cover fruit and veg with a layer of "brown" leaf mulch or grass clippings.
It's also important to properly aerate your pile if you want it to get cooking. If the pile is too small to make forking it over a good idea, this kind of tool is helpful: http://www.gaiam.com/product/eco-home-outdoor/outdoor/view all/compost turner.do
More "static" composting methods will by definition take longer to break down, so be patient. If you want soil more quickly invest in or build your own tumbler.
And yay! I love to compost too: http://bit.ly/bIgUCF
Huzzah for dirt!
I agree with the previous comments. You can get the same results (or better!) by adding a few handfuls of soil from your yard to your compost bin -- soil inherently brings minerals, sand particles (which earthworms use as grit to help digest their food) and some of the local microflora and microfauna.
If your pile is stinky and attracting critters, it's too "green"/wet (too much nitrogen). Add dry leaves, shredded paper or other "brown" (carbon-heavy) material to balance out the drippiness. While you are working out your green/brown balance, put some cardboard over your pile. It's not pest-proof, but it can deter them while you tweak the balance of things.
If you want faster composting, maybe consider switching over to a worm composting system? It's quite efficient if you are only processing a few lbs a week of food waste. For people who don't have yards that produce adequate yard waste (browns/carbon), worms are a great alternative.
I'm not sure how much volume you're working with, but definitely consider turning the pile weekly to aerate and expedite the process. Composting rocks! Keep up the great work! Yes, it is okay to ask your neighbors for their grass clippings (as long as they don't use chemicals).