American Tomato: The Complete Guide to Growing and Using Tomatoes [Paperback]

Robert Hendrickson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 8, 2005

Everything you need to know about selecting, growing, and preparing delicious tomatoes.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A lot has happened in the worlds of food and gardening since 1977, when Hendrickson published The Great American Tomato Book, now updated, revised and renamed in paperback. The new edition attempts to cover everything from history to recipes, but Hendrickson's no-nonsense approach is a minor addition to the market in today's local–produce– crazed, foodie world. He's at his best when he takes home gardeners by the hand and walks them through the complexities of growing tomatoes, either in the ground or in containers. Other authors have written more artfully of the tomato's history, and any local gardening columnist will have more to say about why to choose one Heirloom varietal over another, but Hendrickson is a man who knows his seedlings, soil, sun and sowing. When it comes to practical problems like staking, mulching and fertilizing, home gardeners will find him to be a useful and informative guide. Most will also welcome the too-brief canning and preserving chapter. However, there are few surprises in the perfunctory recipe section. The appendixes include descriptive lists of hundreds of early, main season and late season tomatoes. But photographs—which were integral to the original edition—would've helped the book fare better among the stiff gardening competition. (Jan.)
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Review

"...home gardeners will find [Hendrickson] to be a useful and informative guide." (Publishers Weekly )

"Those who value lycopene will appreciate American Tomato: The Complete Guide to Using and Growing Tomatoes," (Sue Doerfler Arizona Republic )

Written by Robert Hendrickson, this informative, easy-to-use guide shares the secrets of growing and enjoying tomatoes. (Orange County Home )

An entertaining homage to the "love apple," [American Tomato is ]...a complete and valuable resource for gardeners and connoisseurs alike... (Jessica Damiano Newsday, (Long Island Edition) )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing (December 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158979222X
• ISBN-13: 978-1589792227
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 8.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,418,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lacks Detail. No Illustrations. Poor Quality Content., May 14, 2008

By 

demari18 (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: American Tomato: The Complete Guide to Growing and Using Tomatoes (Paperback)

As a gardening and tomato enthusiast, I was excited to find a book dedicated to my favorite vegetable. This volume, however, was a complete let-down.

Not only does it lack illustrations/photos, it offers gardening tips and information readily available in your standard gardening book or guide. From the information available on the author, it seems that he has little if any gardening background at all, making his many unusual and unconventional cultivating tips suspect at best.

Although 'American Tomato' offers some lists of the different varieties of tomato available, the lack of illustration and absence of detail for the varieties named is both frustrating and disappointing.

If you are very fond of growing unusual, exotic or rare tomato types, this book will surely disappoint. This book simply does not give the level of detail or description that one would expect from a book dedicated solely to the tomato. Content is rather basic, and seems directed to the casual or new gardener. This audience, however, would be better served by purchasing a general vegetable gardening book.

It is interesting to note that the author has written several other books, all on wildly varied number of subjects. Perhaps the author should become better acquainted with one subject area allowing him to be able to write with more authority, rather than spending his time writing numerous books of lackluster quality on such a wide range of unrelated interests.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars GOOD but not a first book., July 27, 2007

By 

T. Mckenna - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Tomato: The Complete Guide to Growing and Using Tomatoes (Paperback)

if you are not a really good gardener, and maybe don't understand the standard lingo, then this good book could disappoint. it helped me diagnose an illness in one of my tomatoe plants, but i disagree with the comments on pruning. but the biggest problem is that it does not have pictures. so, if you are new to gardening, you also should buy the vegetable gardener's bible by edward smith. together, i think a beginner can do well. (if you don't prune, make sure you have LOTS of room. and stake, stake, stake!)