Garden

[depglass]

I went to a garden conference put on by our Michigan State Extension and got all fired up about composting. I've been donating my coffee grounds to a friend and she says keep them and start doing it myself. Problem: DH will not put up with a mess, or bad odors, or anything too unsightly. We live in the woods and have plenty of critters. Don't I need air, in other words, a closed garbage can will not work, or will it? And I'm not about to spend hundreds on those fancy composters in the garden catalogues. What is the absolute minimum system I can get away with? Outside of leaves, coffee grounds and vegetable waste, do I really need anything else? How long before I get a batch I can use? Obviously I didn't take a composting class, another class just said it was vital.