By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

During the summer, I normally take some time to enjoy at least one good book.

This year’s reading list was full but I had not really taken the time to even start the first book.

Community garden responsibilities, my yard and garden, and thesis work always seemed to get in the way of my limited leisure time.

But as I was about to throw my literary hands up, I was contacted by a friend who recommended this book.

So away I went to the bookstore in search of Tomato Rhapsody.

Once I discovered the book, the cover intrigued me. It resembled an old painting that I would have expected Michelangelo to have painted. The crackled appearance I would discover added to the mystic of the story.

As I cracked open the book, I was greeted with Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

Now that the main gardening season is almost over for most areas (I envy you, California and Florida and all the other lucky places where it is warm enough year round), we can finally relax a bit.

I think that this winter, I’ll be reading lots of tomato related books.

Here are some suggestions that I found.

The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table: Recipes, Portraits, and History of the World’s Most Beautiful Fruit

As I was reading the latest tomato news via Google Alerts, I kept seeing reviews for a new book called the Heirloom Tomato. Evidently, the author, Amy Goldman, grows 500 different varieties of tomatoes every year. This book profiles many of those varieties, as well as the tomato history, a growing guide, and recipes. It’s now in my Amazon shopping cart.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe: A Novel

Towanda! I loved the movie, and I love reading the book. A quintessential story of love, passion, murder, loyalty and friendship, as well as Read the rest of this entry »

By Kira Hamman

If you live in New York, I hope you are visiting the New York Botanical Garden frequently.

What a place!

In addition to all the amazing gardens they grow and all the fascinating classes they offer, they have a number of galleries featuring garden-oriented art. How cool is that?

But best of all, beginning on August 30 one of these galleries will host “Portraits of Historic Tomato Varieties from the Gardens of Amy Goldman,” an exhibition of photographs by Victor Schranger.

For those who don’t already know, Read the rest of this entry »

By Kira Hamman

Looking for a good book to pass the time until the tomatoes are ripe?

Try these:

100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden, by Carolyn Male
This book from Smith & Hawken is, according to Amazon, “for the true tomato snob.” Well, that would be me. Male gives excellent assessments of the relative strengths of the varieties she features, plus tons of information on culture and, of course, mouth-watering photos.

In Praise of Tomatoes, by Ronni Lundy
From tomato history to tomato pop culture and everything in between. Brush up on your tomato trivia!

Grow the Best Tomatoes, by John Page
The Storey guide to growing tomatoes. Storey’s guides are simple, straightforward, and reasonably complete. Plus, Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

In Part I of our Holiday Book Recommendations, we talked about books with tomato gardening tips and in Part II, about tomato memoirs–now it’s time to get cooking. Here are some tomato cookbooks you or your tomato lover might enjoy:

- The Heirloom Tomato Cookbook by Mimi Luebbermann

In this cookbook, Luebbermann, who has written nearly 20 books on gardening and cooking, offers not only delicious recipes and great photographs by Robert Holmes, she also includes information on the top 25 heirloom varieties, including growing tips and seed-purchasing information. Among the 50 recipes are Gazpacho with Cucumber Salsa Verde, Cheese and Pesto Fondue with Tomato-Focaccia Skewers, and Grilled Sea Bass with Lemon-Oregano and Tomato Relish.

- The Tomato Festival Cookbook: 150 Recipes that Make the Most of Your Crop of Lush, Vine-Ripened, Sun-Warmed, Fat, Juicy, Ready-to-Burst Heirloom Tomatoes by Lawrence Davis-Hollander

Publishers Weekly says “Davis-Hollander’s first book brings together familiar preparations, like tomato sauce and ratatouille, with contemporary restaurant innovations like Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

As the holiday season creeps up on us, you may be looking for the perfect gift for the tomato gardener in your life. There are plenty of books out there on how to garden and we told you about them in Part I, but here are three books written for gardeners by gardeners with firsthand tales of their tomato trials and tribulations:

- The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden by William Alexander

Lauded by Publishers Weekly as a “hilarious horticultural memoir,” The $64 Tomato recounts Alexander’s experience with growing a vegetable garden and orchard in the Hudson Valley. As a telling example of how things went for Alexander, he begins his journey organically-obsessed but ends up covering his entire property in pesticides when he finds himself in a battle against just about everything he comes across.

Your favorite tomato gardener may just find solace in Alexander’s own troubles–and humor dealing with them.

- Blithe Tomato by Mike Madison

Madison is a subsistence farmer in California with more than 20 years experience in the local farmers’ market scene. Blithe Tomato is a collection of essays on Madison’s Read the rest of this entry »