Set the pear tree free!

  This is a picture of the wonderful pear tree we inherited with our house 8 years ago.  Heavily pruned, with branches curving to the ground, we decided to let the tree grow as it wished.  Today, we have people stop by to tell us they have never seen a pear tree as tall as ours.  I'm not sure if they are admiring it or criticizing us.

 Masanobu Fukuoka (福岡 正信), 2 February 1913 – 16 August 2008) was a Japanese farmer and philosopher celebrated for his Natural Farming method.  This was part of his implementation of the Tao-philosophy of Wú wéi translated in part as no-action (against nature), and he described it as no unnecessary pruning, nature farming or "do-nothing" farming, of fruit trees, distinct from non-intervention or literal no pruning. He ultimately achieved yields that were comparable to or exceeded standard/intensive practices of using pruning and chemical fertilisation.