Sarah,
Thanks for the Starbucks article. I'm like you. I don't drink coffee, but I'll take the coffee grounds. I've been considering it for years, but now I'm going to hit up my local Starbucks for their coffee grounds because of your post.
As a rule of thumb, manure from herbivores is fine to use in your garden. It needs to age or run through the compost process to avoid "burning" your garden plants.
Composting is a bit of an art form and obsession, once you start doing it. It can be broken down into two methods: hot and cold composting. There are pros and cons to both methods.
Hot composting Pros:
-Quicker. You can get usable compost in two weeks.
-Temps can reach >150 degrees F, hot enough to kill weed seeds and break down harmful chemicals.
Hot composting Cons:
-Labor intensive, in order to get compost quicker you need to turn it more frequently. You have to turn the pile daily to have a chance at getting compost in two weeks.
-If you don't get the Carbon to Nitrogen ratio close to 30:1, don't have enough critical mass, the right moisture level, and you don't turn it to provide aeration and mixing you won't get the heat required for hot composting. (It's not as hard as it sounds.)
-Too hot for worms at the upper levels.
Cold composting pros:
-Just throw stuff in the pile and let nature take its course.
-You don't need critical mass to start a pile.
-Great for raising worms.
Cold composting cons:
-Can take up to a year to get usable compost.
-Doesn't get hot enough to kill weed seeds.
-At some point you should stop adding material to let the compost "finish". Usually the stuff on the bottom is black gold, and the stuff on the top is what you'll use in your next compost pile.
The method that Longy described is hot composting. Personally, it's the composting method that I use most. Here is a link to the compost journal post from a while back.
Compost Journal Post I don't bother with the sticks at the bottom because I try to turn my piles daily. The pile gets aerated while you turn/mix everything up. I accomplish this with a cordless drill and a bulb auger. I've tried other methods and tools for turning a pile, and this is by far the easiest. You may be able to get your husband to turn your pile because it's justification for him to use his drill.
Welcome to the composting community. Good luck.