Commercial growers worry about things like ease of harvest and uniformity of fruit size, and they tend to have much more intense disease pressures than hobby growers. People who cage generally just let the plant grow as it will. Pruning is reserved for dying or diseased leaves, aside from aggressive removal of leaves from the bottom of the plant to keep foliage away from the soil. Some people will prune off growing tips once the end of the season gets near in order to try to ripen up the fruits already on the plant before frost. Others don't bother and say it doesn't make much of a difference. Some will cut off the tops once the plant grows as tall as the cage, but others will let the vines flop over the top of the cage and continue to grow and hang down. Regardless, the leaves are where the plant produces the sugars and other nutrients that go into making the fruit, so there's some logic to the idea of keeping as much of the foliage as possible. Disease is what you have to weigh against that, so it's a balancing act. Length of growing season is also a consideration. Is there a point in letting a plant get huge and wild and produce a gazillion flowers and set a ton of fruit if you don't have the time for those fruit to mature before frost? Also, if you want to plant a lot of varieties but have insufficient space to let them all grow into huge, caged plants and are OK with a smaller harvest from each plant, you could prune enthusiastically and grow the plants closer together. It's really a matter of what your goals and needs are.

mustangs - For relatively small amounts (1-cup or less), store your tomato powder in a dry environment - either vacuum-sealed or in a refrigerator (refrigerators are dry due to the frost-free feature). I keep a user-friendly amount in a pint jar in the refrigerator with some moisture absorbers in it (recycled from supplements we take) to keep it from clumping. When I open a #10 can of tomato powder I keep it free-flowing in a vacuum-sealed canning jar/s, FoodSaver canister, or some other container that can be sealed with a FoodSaver Universal Lid. I like to use the Universal Lids when I move food from long-term storage to the pantry, especially things I get in-and-out of frequently. -Grainlady

Lol - that must be for last year's Covid gardener newbies. I'd guess I easily save $217 or more on tomatoes alone if I had purchased the same amount as I harvest at a farmer's market for $2/lb.

I'm in a similar situation. I had tossed several gallons of green (unripe) tomatoes into the freezer. Today, I thawed them, with a plan to put them through my strainer and dehydrate them. However, I find that the seeds of green tomatoes are smaller than when fully ripe, so they sneak through the strainer, or clog the strainer. So, I'm just going to keep the skins and seeds and blend them for dehydraying. I still have bunches of delicious green tomato salsa left from 2021, so I will just keep the dehydrated leather for future recipes. Martha