Craig LeHoullier

A gorgeous book all the way around with beautiful photography, brightly coloured backgrounds and eye-catching layouts. The information regarding growing tomatoes is solid but will appeal more towards those amateur growers who want to expand into breeding their own tomato plants. There's plenty of good information for rank beginners too, but the bulk of the book talks about breeding and how anyone (with patience and space) can do it.

My disappointment with the book was small: I had been hoping for more information about what tomato plants should look like towards the end of the season because mine always look bedraggled beyond belief and I want to know if that's normal or if my plants are getting diseased. There is a good section on diseases here, but it could have been beefed up with photo examples of what the affected plants look like: most lacked any photos at all and descriptions only go so far.

I picked up a lot of good information though and I'm already looking forward to next spring and the chance to try out new techniques, new ideas and new tomatoes.… (meer)

I read garden magazines and books the same way I read travel guides and fancy cookbooks - that is, as a dreamer fondly imagining places she will never really go. Garden texts in particular have always been a gateway to expanses of glorious flowers and delicious vegetables merely pondered. Hidden nooks and crannies full of fabulous blooms furnish my mind, but not my actual environs. (I get this in part from my mother, but she actually gardens when she's done dreaming over pretty pictures.) So I won't be reviewing this book in any practical sense. But I will say that Mr. Lehoullier's writing is not merely practical; he is also an excellent historian of his specific obsession, and as such this book was a delight to read. (He has been avidly involved in parts of that history through his work with the Seed Savers Exchange, and that comes through wonderfully in the text.) It is also a very beautiful book, full of photos of the fruit itself and the plant in question, as well as some lovely old ads for various varieties. On the whole, this was an excellent read, and brought a nice dose of sunshine to my mind's eye when I really needed some.

For my own future reference, the author's Ten Tastiest ranking of tomato varieties:
Nepal
Yellow Oxheart
Polish
Green Giant
Sun Gold
Lucky Cross
Lillian's Yellow Heirloom
Brandywine
Cherokee Purple
Mexico Midget… (meer)