No comments about Growing Tomatoes.

No comments about The tomato in prose & prosody.

No comments about Investigations on "spotted wilt" of tomatoes, (Australia. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Bulletin).

No comments about Partial resistance of tomatoes against Phytophthora infestans, the late blight fungus (Agricultural research reports).

5 comments about In Praise of Tomatoes: A Year in the Life of a Home Tomato Grower.

1. I was fully prepared to enjoy this book. I love travel and gardening memoirs and am an avid tomato (and rose) grower. But after reading three chapters, I tossed it. The author turns out to be a left-liberal who liberally (pun intended) sprinkles his text with snide and insulting remarks about Republicans. Note to the author: Conservatives garden too.



2. More than a gardening reference, and more than a memoir, this book was enjoyable from beginning to end. Whether writing on tomatoes, family and friends, or life in general, the author's warmth and love of life shine through. I read it as slowly as I could, vowing all the while to stop a little more often and smell the tomatoes.



3. What a simple pleasure, a good book can bring to one's life. I dream of gardens... filled with flowers and tomatoes. I love this book so much that it is one of the few books I do not let my fellow gardening friends borrow -- I buy them their own copy. If you love, really love tomatoes read this book.



4. I picked up this book because I've decided to grow tomatoes on my patio in Southern California. I figured that any advice I could glean from the Shepherd's years of growing tomatoes in San Diego would be helpful to me in Laguna Beach...what I didn't expect was the charming "day-in-the-life" subplot to the main tomato growing narrative of life in a working class, multi-cultural San Diego neighborhood. The simply told year-long narrative about of how growing tomatoes has brought Shepherd's neighbors together makes this a heart-warming and interesting book--not to mention all of the wonderful tomato lore that makes the book a gardener's delight.



5. This book is to tomatoes what "Trout Fishing in America" is to trout.I knew Richard Brautigan from Enrico's restaurant and bar in San Francisco in the 70s. I cherish his autographed inscription "to Richard from Richard" on my dog-eared copy of "The Tokyo-Montana Express".I look forward to meeting Steve Shepherd.He, too, is a keen observer of life. However, Shepherd sees the joys of life. He writes with a wry humor and a twinkle in his eye. You'll want to have his Italian-American neighbors over for dinner. You'll want to move to San Diego. You'll want to raise tomatoes. As an ex New Yorker and big fan of the New Jersey tomato, I found this book a joy to read. The title is great, too. "In praise of tomatoes." This book would make a great gift for anyone who has ever tried to grow anything, any place, at any time.

No comments about Growing Tomatoes: The Kitchen Garden.

No comments about Burpee Tomatoes (Burpee).

No comments about Compendium of Tomato Diseases (APS Disease Compendium Series) (Aps Disease Compendium Series).

No comments about National Gardening Association Book of Tomatoes.

3 comments about The Great Tomato Book.

1. This book is truly one of a kind for the beginner or the expert. It provides informative incite to from the seedling to the dinner table for those that consider themselves tomato addicts. The book is an extremely good bargain for the price and should be in every gardener's library.



2. The Great Tomato Book is simply an excellent book. Clearly and concisely written, it covers all aspects of the tomato, from its history right down to what to do with your harvest. While it may not have loads of colour photopgraphs like some other tomato books--it does have some though--it more than makes up for it in the numerous interesting and useful bits of information that are found throughout.



3. This book was a handy reference tool when I decided to grow heirloom tomatoes from seed. Though 145 pages, the bulk of helpful information is found within about 60 pages, which cover tomato growing essentials. The remainder is devoted to tomato history and tomato recipes. There is also a fairly good list in the back of the book of tomato seed resources. One noticeable omission from that list is Gary Ibsen's fabulous tomatofest.com, which offers more than 500 organic heirloom varieties (perhaps due in part to Ibsen's competing book of the same name!)
   
   Nevertheless, this book does its job in walking the reader through the steps of successful tomato growing:
   
   a. CHOOSING SEEDS (hybrid vs. OP, or open pollinated varieties.) I was especially glad to see the author discouraging the reader from hybrids, especially F1 hybrids, which:
   reduce naturally occuring varieties over the years
   encourage pollution through the seeds' reliance on fertilizers
   don't reproduce normally from seed
   F1s may be more disease resistant, but they also help the commercial seed grower maintain a monopoly over what kinds of tomatoes are grown, whch is why saving and sharing seeds of naturally occuring varieties is an essential component of biodiversity.
   
   b. CHOOSING POTTING SOIL
   c. STARTING THE SEEDS - how, where, when
   d. TRANSFERRING SEEDLINGS
   e. MAINTAINING AND ROTATING CROPS
   f. FIGHTING PESTS AND DISEASE - an important chapter, since heirlooms are more prone to disease
   g. MULCHING
   h. HARVESTING
   
   The book also covers "tomato lingo" fairly well, explaining such terms as determinate and indeterminate, and the difference between heirloom and other naturally occuring varieties. It features a few b/w photos and 8 color pages of tomato pictures that while pretty, are not at all functional. Better to have devoted the color photos to plants with insect damage or disease as a helpful reference to the home gardener.
   
   The Great Tomato Book is a beginner's book, and a good one. It got my tomatoes off to a wonderful start a couple of years ago and I've once again pulled it off the shelf to refresh my knowledge as I start a new crop of tomatoes from seed.