PRUNED, OR SIFTED, WHICH WILL IT BE?

I grew up in the State of Washington on what would probably be referred to today as a "hobby farm." Each year my dad planted a garden big enough to feed the whole neighborhood. As a kid I got to (had to) help. My job consisted mainly of weeding and "thinning" with just a bit of actual pruning. Do you know what thinning is? It's not weight loss! On my hands and knees I had to thin his loooooong row of carrots. He said some of the carrots needed to be pulled out to give the rest room to "grow bigger." I also had the job of "thinning" our apple trees. Pulling off some of the apples when they were...