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ScottinAtlanta · July 5, 2014

I would like to post some thoughts on mensplace's post, and the responses, because I think it is important to make information accessible to people who do not have the time or temperament to read through an enormous amount of information.

I am a newcomer to tomatoes. I started 5 years ago, and on TV four years ago. I have spent, conservatively, 500 hours reading posts on this Forum. It has been a wonderful immersion bath that has helped me immensely.

But I think this investment is not possible for many. I agree with mensplace that an indicative list of a good starting point for newcomers, ranked along common questions such as color, earliness, region, and taste, would really help folks make better decisions for their gardens, and improve access to the collective experiences documented in thousands of posts. Such a list should be updated regularly.

The top 10 could be called "TV Favorites" or something like that to give people without much time a fighting chance of picking something different that meets their needs.

So, while I completely agree with Carolyn that it is impossible do anything definitive or complete, it seems quite possible to do something more limited that helps many people without the time to do the research themselves on this forum.

I tried one approach that was posted separately. It was simply an experiment to try to consolidate more systematically subjective information spread across 8 years and hundreds of posts, and therefore almost inaccessible. I have spent many years making complex information accessible to people who need it and recognize that the methods are always problematic, but it seems to me worth the effort to make the site even more useful to a wider range of readers.

July 5, 2014	#7
ScottinAtlanta Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Posts: 2,593	I would like to post some thoughts on mensplace's post, and the responses, because I think it is important to make information accessible to people who do not have the time or temperament to read through an enormous amount of information. I am a newcomer to tomatoes. I started 5 years ago, and on TV four years ago. I have spent, conservatively, 500 hours reading posts on this Forum. It has been a wonderful immersion bath that has helped me immensely. But I think this investment is not possible for many. I agree with mensplace that an indicative list of a good starting point for newcomers, ranked along common questions such as color, earliness, region, and taste, would really help folks make better decisions for their gardens, and improve access to the collective experiences documented in thousands of posts. Such a list should be updated regularly. The top 10 could be called "TV Favorites" or something like that to give people without much time a fighting chance of picking something different that meets their needs. So, while I completely agree with Carolyn that it is impossible do anything definitive or complete, it seems quite possible to do something more limited that helps many people without the time to do the research themselves on this forum. I tried one approach that was posted separately. It was simply an experiment to try to consolidate more systematically subjective information spread across 8 years and hundreds of posts, and therefore almost inaccessible. I have spent many years making complex information accessible to people who need it and recognize that the methods are always problematic, but it seems to me worth the effort to make the site even more useful to a wider range of readers.