these are not really defined in a person's mind, the whole subject
they are a part of may be confused. So this chapter will clarify
these basics.

Compost making is a simple process. Done properly it becomes a
natural part of your gardening or yard maintenance activities, as
much so as mowing the lawn. And making compost does not have to take
any more effort than bagging up yard waste.

Handling well-made compost is always a pleasant experience. It is
easy to disregard compost's vulgar origins because there is no
similarity between the good-smelling brown or black crumbly
substance dug out of a compost pile and the manure, garbage, leaves,
grass clippings and other waste products from which it began.

Precisely defined, composting means 'enhancing the consumption of
crude organic matter by a complex ecology of biological
decomposition organisms.' As raw organic materials are eaten and
re-eaten by many, many tiny organisms from bacteria (the smallest)
to earthworms (the largest), their components are gradually altered
and recombined. Gardeners often use the terms organic matter,
compost, and humus as interchangeable identities. But there are
important differences in meaning that need to be explained.

This stuff, this organic matter we food gardeners are vitally
concerned about, is formed by growing plants that manufacture the
substances of life. Most organic molecules are very large, complex
assemblies while inorganic materials are much simpler. Animals can
break down, reassemble and destroy organic matter but they cannot
create it. Only plants can make organic materials like cellulose,