Manure from _grass-fed_ ruminants makes excellent brown waste and people usually don’t mind someone taking it. Any farms where animals eat grass but spend the night in a barn nearby?

You’re right – it is better to have it too dry than too wet. When it’s too dry the process just slows down or stops, no problem. When it’s too wet, you’re inviting flies, maggots, and all kinds of mold.

>I can’t provide everything all at once.

The nature takes care of that – the process is slow with small quantities giving waste a chance to reach the critical mass. Then the speed increases.

> Where would my green waste go if the compost was already full?

I used to worry about that too but green waste is 90% or so water. Once you have the process going it will just disappear, often overnight. Some of our experiences here http://ftf3000.blogspot.com/search/label/compost

BTW, there is still a lot of space in our composter even though we have 5 people visiting now so a big bucket of green waste goes there every day – watermelon rinds and everything.

My method may be a bit too coarse for you, but I keep a bucket in the kitchen when I’m preparing meals. First, I tear the bits of cardboard up, then toss fruit and veg etc into the bucket. I also rip the windows out of envelopes, screw them up and drop them in (envelopes are not recyclable where I live). Add coffee grounds and liquid from our french press. Set the whole thing aside, away from the kitchen for a bit, then add to the compost bin after dinner.

I’ve found as long as you balance greens and browns, I can add as much as I want to my composter and it all rots down just fine. My composters are not as fancy as yours (I have two), just the dark plastic round or square types.

You might want to search online for the slow composting method researched by the CAT (Centre for Alterative Technology) in Wales, here in the UK.