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He put in a 1,000-square-foot vegetable and herb garden to supply the Nancarrow table with everything from asparagus to zucchini. He planted an orchard of avocados, citrus, and stone fruits. He brought in chickens to provide fresh eggs. Turkeys and either a cow or a pig are usually on hand, too. With all the animals on the premises - and access to neighbors' horse stables - Nancarrow has no shortage of manure. He also maintains a huge compost pile and encourages private tree trimmers to deposit trimmings, which he uses for mulch on his property. Naturally, his soil is wonderful.

Pest management is Nancarrow's biggest problem. Aphids, cucumber beetles, gophers, rabbits, snails, and tomato hornworms all like his crops. "Being an organic gardener is a lot like being a hunter," says Nancarrow. "You learn your prey's life cycles, habits, and needs. Then you use that knowledge to do them in."

* We asked organic gardeners to share their most important techniques. They recommended seven methods to help a garden grow naturally Among the experts we consulted were Kelly McCombs and Saint Elmo Newton, who practice these techniques in their Seattle garden.

1 Pick a garden-friendly site. That means a location in full sun and sheltered from constant winds, which stunt plants. McCombs and Newton planted their garden on an unused sunny lot.

2 Build or bring in good soil. Ideal soil is deep, loose, and fertile, and contains plenty of organic matter, which in turn holds water, nutrients, and abundant beneficial life. Many organic gardeners observe that as soil health improves, plant disease problems decline.

For instant results in rocky or otherwise unusable native soil, build raised beds. McCombs and Newton filled theirs with topsoil enriched with organic fertilizer (3-2-1).

3 Kill the competition. If you're gardening in soil that's laced with weed seeds (any native soil, for example), do this: After beds are prepared, water every couple of days for two weeks; your goal is to germinate as many weed seedlings as possible. Hoe them off lightly as they appear (if you disturb the soil deeper than 2 inches, you'll just bring more weed seeds to the surface). Then plant.

You can also mulch to keep more weeds from germinating. McCombs and Newton layered each of their raised beds with 3 inches of straw after vegetable seedlings were established, and they had no weed problems at all.

If weeds do appear in your garden, pull or hoe them well before they flower and reproduce. Be especially vigilant for grasses, since they're among the most difficult weeds to control and the fastest to spread.

4 Plant the right varieties at the right times. Choose varieties with disease resistance bred in and with successful track records in your area. County extension offices often have lists of recommended varieties and suggested planting dates. Plant seedlings close enough together so that as they mature, they'll shade out any weeds that emerge beneath them.

5 Interplant flowers and vegetables. Harmful insects usually prefer environments in which only one type of plant is grown. Beneficial insects - which feed on insect pests - thrive on diversity. McCombs and Newton include annual flowers, perennials, roses, and strawberries in their planting scheme to provide cover, food, and water for beneficial insects. When allowed to flower, bronze fennel, carrots, celery, and parsley attract lacewings and syrphid flies. Yarrow and pink clover attract other beneficial insects, and they keep honeybees in the garden to promote pollination. However, some crops - corn for example - have to be planted alone to ensure pollination and to avoid cross-pollination with other corn varieties.

6 Keep things growing. There's U nothing like vigorous growth to help plants overcome insects and diseases and to guarantee abundant harvests. Never let plants dry out completely before watering, and feed plants regularly.

7 Be there. Walk through the garden every morning and evening to check for plant problems before they get out of hand. Pests, diseases, and weeds are easier to control when they're caught early.

Nancarrow's organic gardening tips

Replenish beds before putting in new crops. Nancarrow adds at least 4 inches of compost supplemented with fishmeal, bonemeal, kelp meal, cottonseed meal, and soft rock phosphate.

Attract pollinators. Cosmos is an excellent magnet for bumblebees and other pollinating bees. If you take a piece of cut wood, drill a few holes in it, and hang it in a tree, the bees may nest on your property.

Use blood meal to scare off rabbits. This fertilizer smells like death and makes rabbits think predators are around. Sprinkle blood meal around susceptible crops, and water it in well so that it doesn't burn your plants.

Toss banana peels under the base of a plant to kill aphids. Nancarrow doesn't know why it works, only that it does. He's had good luck with this method with roses, butterfly weed, and artichokes.

Catch gophers first thing in the morning. They dig all night long and cover up their airholes first thing in the morning, before sleeping the rest of the day. Flush them out with a hose, grab them with long-handled barbecue tongs, drop them in a bucket, and dispatch them.

Provide water for birds. Birds drill holes in ripening tomatoes because they're thirsty, says Nancarrow. If you keep a birdbath full of fresh water, birds will leave your tomatoes alone.

For more tips from Nancarrow, read the book Dead Snails Leave No Trails: Natural Pest Control for Home and Garden, which he coauthored with Janet Hogan Taylor (Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA, 1996; $ paperback).

RELATED ARTICLE: What does organic mean?

To commercial farmers, organic is a set of guidelines - spelled out in the Organic Foods Production Act passed by Congress in 1990 - that regulates organic food production. Many state departments of agriculture also have their own specific guidelines. The California Department of Agriculture, for example, states: "Organic gardening ... promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It is based on management practices that restore, maintain, and enhance ecological harmony." The guidelines prohibit the use of certain chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides (excluding low-toxicity oil sprays, insecticidal soap, biological insecticides such as Bacillus thuringiensis, and natural, plant-based insecticides such as pyrethrum and rotenone).

To home gardeners, organic means pretty much the same thing - "chemical-free" gardening - although the guidelines are interpreted more loosely.

- Lauren Bonar Swezey

RELATED ARTICLE: When pests do come

Nontoxic remedies from the experts

Organic gardeners around the West tell us which nontoxic pest controls have worked for them.

* Aphids. Wait two weeks after you first notice them to see whether lacewings, lady beetles, and syrphid flies arrive to control them. They usually do. Otherwise, hose them off with water. If infestations get heavier, spray with insecticidal soap.

* Asparagus beetles. Spray these beetles off plants with water, or shake them off. (You can squish the insects that fall off.)

* Birds. Cover rows of seedlings or tender plants such as baby lettuce with bird netting over hoops. String reflective tape across vulnerable parts of the garden (while beets are small or tree fruit is ripe, for example). As breezes twist the shiny tape, it flashes in the sunlight, keeping birds away for enough time to save the crop. To keep crows from eating corn seed, plant kernels extra-deep.

* Codling moths. To keep these insects from traveling among fruits, thin small (1-inch-wide) apples to 4 to 6 inches apart, before they grow large and begin to touch. Or use pheromone traps to catch moths and help prevent egg-laying on or near apples.

* Cucumber beetles. Catch and dispose of them. You can use calendula flowers as a trap crop. When you harvest petals for salads, collect the beetles and squish them as you go.

* Damping-off disease. This soilborne fungus is a problem on greenhouse-grown plants. Use a well-drained planting medium, avoid overwatering, and thin seedlings early.

* Deer. If all else fails, build an 8-foot-tall fence to keep them out.

* Root aphids on lettuce. These insects indicate stressed lettuce. Water it regularly and avoid growing lettuce when the weather is too hot.

* Snails. Handpick them at night (use a flashlight to find them). Or trap them: Elevate a wide plank or piece of plywood about an inch off the ground in a snail-infested area. It'll offer a daytime hiding place, from which you can collect and dispose of them. Wrap copper bands around the trunks of trees and around raised beds.

* Squash bugs. Set boards near plants so the bugs will congregate underneath them at night. Then collect and destroy the bugs in the morning.

* Weeds. Hoe between plants. Hand-weed everything that's too close to vegetables to hoe. Till lightly between rows.

- J. M. and L. B. S.