Boiling Roots At Time of Harvest???

[stinkyattic]

they suggested pulling up your plants by the roots and soaking the roots in a stream or a river to wash them clean.

PLEASE DO NOT EVER DO THIS!
you will be spreading pollution and killing fish!

.

That's silly. Nutrient pollution on the scale of the leftover dirt with some nutrient salts, clinging to your roots, then washed in a stream, is nothing. Fertilize your lawn before a rainstorm and let it go into the storm sewer; well, there's a problem. And it doesn't directly kill fish, what it does is cause an algae bloom, and as the algae die off, the oxygen demand from rotting vegetable matter is what kills the fish by suffocation.

Messing around with roots is the biggest waste of time that misinformed growers participate in. Just break up your root ball, toss it in the compost, and next spring you can use all that yummy nutritious humus on your tomatoes.