permaculture

[Jason Gerhardt <jasongerhardt@gmail.com>]

Thanks for all the perspectives you all! It definitely matters what kind of
space one is working with. I am field growing in the city, but am fond of
getting the highest yield from the smallest space, even if it means a
little extra work of pruning, staking, etc (which I find infinitely more
enjoyable than preparing more soil space). Pinching to me is a puttering
task. I like to design my life where my free time is spent puttering in
gardens, forests, and fields.

When I was farming here in Colorado we found we got much higher quality
fruits (which fetched $2 more per pound for us) with pinching. I should
clarify that this was only practiced on indeterminate varieties, which the
majority of heirloom tomatoes are indeterminate in growth habit. I grow
indeterminates up an 8 foot bamboo pole (one foot sunk in the ground, and
I'm 6' 3'', which makes reaching to 7' a cinch). At the end of the season
they are more or less at the top, with multiple trellises of blemish free
fruits.

I'll add this experiment to my variety trial and report back. Glad to have
reason to not fret over pinching back all of my plants. My guess is this
practice is more or less beneficial depending on climate, pest and disease
pressure, etc. My results will be for full sun in Colorado's semi-arid
Front Range. Also, I'll admit I'm a bit of a garden artisan so bigger,
prettier heirloom maters might be worth it to me ;) As one of my mentors
John Navazio always used to say, 'it's all about intended use'.

-- 
Jason Gerhardt

PO Box 4355
Boulder, CO 80306
720-496-9744