Hi Lucinda, recipes that call for "fed" or "ripe" starter refer to starter that has been fed at room temperature and allowed to rise to its highest point. It's considered ripe when it's at this high point, or just beginning to fall. Most bread recipes call for "ripe" starter, although we do have a few that call for discard. "Discard" starer is the portion of starter you discard when you go to feed your starer (if you're not planning to bake), or starter taken directly from the refrigerator. Discard starter is generally not as active as "ripe" starter, so is often used as a flavor element rather than contributing to the rise. For our recipes calling for discard, you don't have to feed the starter before adding it to the recipe and most often you can use it directly from the refrigerator. I have a separate container in my refrigerator to store my discard starter, and add to it over the course of a few weeks, using it straight from the refrigerator when I want to make one of our discard recipes. Every few weeks I dump it out and start fresh; although the discard starter doesn't really spoil very quickly, it can get a little funky-flavored over time. 

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