Sick young tomato plant in new compost pile...

[Chris_NH]

5 weeks ago I had a sick, young Oregon Spring tomato plant in a raised bed. I pulled it up and replaced it with a backup specimen. I took the tomato plant to the newly created compost pile that was almost full to the top from some recent weeding. I was going to just throw it in, but after pulling it up I noticed I got most of the roots, so I thought 'what the heck' and burried the roots in the pile. There was a clump of grass I had pulled up with a half gallon or so of roots and dirt attached, so I put the tomato plants up against that clod of dirt and pulled a bunch of grass clippings around it. I gave it a handful of bone meal and a good watering with a mixture of Neptune's Harvest and water. I then forgot about it because I've started other compost piles. The sick little yellow seedling has grown into one of my better looking tomato plants with no further maintenance.

Quite a nice surprise. I can't figure out how it's grown so well with almost no soil and just green compost and no more fertilizer after planting. Has anyone had a similar experience?