The Tomato Handbook: Tips and Tricks for Growing the Best Tomatoes

Pleasance Crawford is a Canadian landscape and garden-history researcher
and writer and the co-author of Garden Voices: Two Centuries of Canadian
Garden Writing.

Jennifer Bennett, who lives in eastern Ontario, is a prolific writer,
editor, and reviewer of garden literature. This monograph on North
America’s most popular vegetable is a valuable addition to the Firefly
Gardener’s Guide Series, which continues the Harrowsmith Gardener’s
Guide Series and uses the same attractive format and overall design. As
in previous volumes, color photographs—in this case mainly by Turid
Forsyth and Walter Chandoha—and black-and-white drawings enhance and
amplify the text. A list of sources and an index round out the book.

The book has six chapters. In “Introducing the Tomato: From Wolf
Peach to Big Boy,” Bennett writes an engaging history of the tomato.
In “From Seed to Garden: What Do Tomatoes Want?” she reminds readers
that the tomato’s ancestors still grow wild on the slopes of the Andes
and assures us that even today’s garden varieties are essentially
undemanding. Nevertheless, she provides an excellent, up-to-date
compendium of tips for cultivating healthy plants with well-formed
fruits.

“Kinds and Considerations: The Favorite Tomatoes for Home Gardens”
contains brief descriptions of what the author calls the “best-selling
tomatoes offered by North American seed catalogs” in each of five
categories: cherry, medium-size, large, paste, and unusual tomatoes.
Each category includes a surprising number of heritage varieties as well
as recent introductions. Since this is a broad survey, it lists
cultivars developed through both northern and more southerly breeding
programs.

“The Tomato Ward: Managing Diseases, Pests and Disorders” is a
troubleshooter’s guide to plagues and poxes. “Pots and Plans:
Extending Tomato Space and Time” discusses containers and soil
substitutes for use out-of-doors, on windowsills, and in heated and
unheated greenhouses; it also describes nine varieties that are
especially suitable for growing under glass.

“From Fall to Winter: Taking Tomatoes from Garden to Kitchen”
reviews ways of extending the all-too-short season for garden-fresh
tomatoes: by saving their seeds or ripening their fruits indoors; and by
drying, freezing, or canning them. It concludes with a septet of simple
recipes.