3. Are grass and leaves enough variety to get a good pile going?

Not really - you've hit the nail on the head, as they say. Grass and
leaves will EVENTUALLY rot up into humus. However, a compost pile works
best if you have lots of active, hungry redworms, and you regularly go back
and put apple cores, banana peels, etc. on it.

We have found a balance by using a 5 gallon bucket for our compost under
the kitchen sink. 5 gallons is enough so that we don't have to make trips
out to the compost pile more than once every 7 to 10 days. The lid fits
tightly, so we rarely get unpleasant odors indoors.

It may help to have an actual enclosure for your compost. I used some
wood pallets that a business had discarded, 4 to be exact. I then bought a
half gallon of copper napthenate at Lowe's, and proceeded to use an old
paint brush to treat all of the wood against rot and fungus. I let the wood
air out in the sun for a week. Treating the wood allows the pallets to last
for about 10 years instead of just 3 or 4.

Then I turned the pallets on their sides to form a simple box. Next I
used wire to bind them together. You can put some chicken wire on the
inside if you want. Today as a big bonus, we have lots of active redworms,
so I can always get some free fishing bait, too.