From Seed to Seedling: An Anatomy Lesson

No matter how many times I’ve seen it, the magic of germination still awes me as if it was the first time. I still don’t understand how bushels of juicy tomatoes will come from a single seed smaller than the diameter of a pencil eraser, or how specks of basil seeds will turn into a forest of woody, fragrant herbs that grow over 3 feet tall.

It’s amazing what happens inside a seed before and after it sprouts, and being witness to such a process — something you can only experience by growing...