Yea we usually let ours get straight and tall and prune lower leaves off so the sun can get to the late comers. We pick and choose based on which way a low branch is facing and encourage some to grow out over the side of our garden or fill in a square that didn;t grow. I have in the past had 3 or 4 producing plants from one root stalk. I aint got a clue what variety these are as these were given to me over 10 years ago. They like the seeds I lost before that long pale and not as slimey as the creole short ones. Like you gene we save them in ice bags in the freezer all sliced till we have a pot full. we also add thin sliced sausage or diced tasso to ours smother them down and either freeze or can depending on which has the most room.