Botanical Terms

• Germination: Seeds contain many important parts, not the least of which is the embryo. During the germination process, a seed absorbs water and swells as the embryo grows, sending down the root system and beginning the green top growth. That is why newly seeded beds need liberal watering. In addition to water, seeds need oxygen and suitable temperatures to germinate. Seeds should not be planted too deeply, because they will be deprived of oxygen and they won't germinate. It is also important not to plant too early, because seeds sown in soils that are too hot or too cold simply will not come up. Seeds don't need fertilizer, because the nutrients are stored within the seed itself.
• Photosynthesis: When light hits a leaf surface, the plant is able to combine carbon with water to form food, mostly in the form of sugar. In the process, the plant releases oxygen. The carbon dioxide we exhale by breathing and belching is essential to the plant's survival, and the plant gives back oxygen that's essential to our own survival.
• Decomposition: The best place to examine the process of decomposition is the compost pile. This is where plants that once thrived come to rest. Just toss some dead flowers and discarded veggies, weeds, grass clippings and the like into a pile, add a little water, and in a relatively short period of time you wind up with a life-sustaining material known as compost.
• Compost: The end result of decomposition, compost is great for gardens because it has so many things to contribute to both the life of soil and the plants growing in it. It contains nutrients, including many that can't be found in fertilizers. Compost has conditioners that improve the health of the soil. It's full of disease-fighting organisms that actually protect plants. It contains buffers that eliminate pH swings.

The development of compost depends on billions of organisms that feed, grow, reproduce and die, recycling organic waste as well as themselves along the way. That's why it's so important to maintain your compost pile in such a way that encourages all those organisms to do their thing. What they need is a steady supply of food in the form of organic matter, a fairly constant supply of moisture and an adequate amount of oxygen, which is achieved by occasional turning of the pile.