Charles Wilbur and the Dao of World Records, Organically

Charles Wilbur is a great follower and teacher of the Dao, in my view.

From the mind
of a single, long vine
one hundred opening lives.

by Fukuda Chiyo-ni

English version by Patricia Donegan & Yoshie Ishibashi
Original Language Japanese

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World-Record Tomatoes

IN ORDER TO BECOME A THREE-TIME GUINNESS WORLD Record champion, it helps to set your sights high. Say, 275 feet. When Mr.Wilber visited California’s Sequoia National Park, he stared at the giant tree known. as General Sherman for a long time, “You could see very readily that what nature provides is very simple,” he says. “And it was all right there.” The obvious elements included air, rain, fallen leaves and limbs, weeds, grass—and no weeding or hoeing. Mr. Wilber decided then and there to try to replicate nature’s system and unlock such growth potential in his own plants… Mr. Wilber named his first giant General Sherman.

In the years that followed, Charles Wilber netted three Guinness records… “I’m through with breaking records,” says the 85-year-old grower, who now uses his expertise to help commercial growers improve their yields. “I’d like to help someone else break one now.”

“THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO PREVENT STRESS,”

Charles Wilber says of growing tomato plants. “It’s just like with a person—the more stress you get, the worse shape you’re in.”

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SOME PEOPLE MAY THINK THAT MR. WILBER’S PROCESS requires too much effort. Mr. Wilber says that, aside from the compost and the green manure, preparing the site as he’s described takes only about six hours. The rest of the season’s work includes mere watering and pruning. So the next time you’re pulling weeds in the hot summer sun, con­sider the double benefits of following Charles Wilber’s wise counsel—a bountiful harvest and less backache.

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http://home.comcast.net/~pobrien48/Tomatoes_World_Record.htm

How to Grow World Record Tomatoes: A Guinness Champion …
http://www.amazon.com › … › Fruit
Charles Wilber tells his personal story of learning to work with nature, and his philosophy and approach …

World-Record Tomatoes article