Jamie Anne Detlaff, age 10, of Spokane, Washington, for her question:

What is the purpose of organic  gardening?

People started talking about organic gardening just a few years ago. We learned that it has two purposes, both of them pleasant. One, it helps the patient earth to control our messy pollution. Two, it gives us healthier vegetables that taste extra good. The word organic can be mysterious because it has several different meanings. In this case, it means nature's way of growing living plants. The idea seems very up to date because most of us only just heard about it. But actually it began long before people gave it the name organic gardening.

Ages ago, our ancestors were wandering, hunters. The first ones who settled down to make a living were farmers and gardeners. They worked very hard to till the soil and sow their seeds, to save their crops from droughts and deluges. In spite of the hardships, they knew that the earth was their long term friend. And they strived to work in partnership with nature, learning by trial and error. They didn't know it, but actually they were the first organic gardeners.

Gradually, they learned about the seasons and cycles of nature. They recycled their waste materials to fertilize their fields. They knew that the soil remakes these trashy wastes into new food to feed next year's crops. Patiently they learned which plants need extra sunshine, water and special fertilizers. Their crops improved because each year they saved seeds from the best plants. This took ages of patience. But in the long run, it worked because it went along with nature's own plans.

Then came the Age of Industry, when people wanted easy ways to do things in a great hurry. Man made chemicals were invented to wipe out weeds and pesky insects. More chemicals were invented to add quick and easy fertilizers to the soil. For a few years, some gardeners got bumper crops the easy way    even though the vegetables lost some of their tasty flavors.

However, we soon learned that at least some of those cunning chemicals were deadly dangerous. DDT and its relatives polluted the world and threatened every living creature. Meantime, the soil grew hungry for its favorite old fertilizers. These natural wastes were piling up or being dumped, creating more pollution problems. This is when sensible people started talking about organic gardening. It, with nature, recycles our wastes and rewards us with better vegetables.

You can get in on this modern organic gardening, even if you have only a flower pot or a window box. Make sure there are no phoney fertilizers in your patch of soil. Refuse to use chemical short cuts to shoo away enemy bugs. Study what each kind of vegetable needs    and copy nature's ways to help it to do its best.