It's a Long Road to a Tomato: Tales of an Organic Farmer Who Quit the Big City for the (Not So) Simple Life (Paperback)

~ (Author), Flavia Bacarella (Illustrator) "Twenty years ago, a little past the age of forty, I was living in a small apartment in New York City, working as a project..." (more)
Key Phrases: driveway rabbits, hardneck garlic, organic label, New York City, New Zealand, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

If one is fortunate enough to live near one of the more than 3,700 towns or cities that support a regular farmer's market, then one has undoubtedly met the likes of Stewart, an upstate New York farmer who transports his harvest of organically grown exotic vegetables and herbs to New York City's venerable Union Square Greenmarket, where he has won loyal fans and attracted the attention of both the Food Channel and PBS. But to visit a farmer's market is to see only the tangible result of a ceaseless cycle of planning, planting, weeding, and harvesting. Stewart's beguiling and enlightening collection of essays recalls both the triumphs and tragedies, the demanding reality and the rewards of pursuing a way of life that 20 years ago Stewart decided would be infinitely more satisfying than the corporate ladder he was climbing in Manhattan. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description

Already in his early forties and not entirely content with his lot, Keith Stewart traded life in New York’s corporate grind for an upstate farm. Starting as a one-man operation, short on experience and with modest expectations, Stewart soon found that the agrarian life, despite its numerous challenges, suited him well. His new business flourished. Today, he has a crew of six to eight seasonal workers and grows about one hundred varieties of vegetables and herbs. What began as a yearning—"to live on a piece of land, closer to nature; to work outside with my body as well as my brain; to leave behind the world of briefcases, computers, corporate clients, and non-opening windows"—has become a life "more full, more varied," often "more demanding and exhausting," but "always more real."

Stewart sells everything he grows directly to consumers and restaurateurs, and in doing so has developed loyal and growing ranks devoted to his Rocambole garlic, varied herbs, heirloom tomatoes, and other organic produce. Now, in It’s a Long Road to a Tomato, Stewart presents interlocking, complementary essays, addressing his mid-life development as a farmer; some of the nuts and bolts and how-tos of organic vegetable growing and selling in an urban market; humorous and philosophical stories about domestic and wild farm animals; and insights into the political, social, and environmental issues surrounding agriculture today and why they matter to all of us.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; illustrated edition edition (March 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569243301
• ISBN-13: 978-1569243305
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 7.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #322,341 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #5 in	Books > Home & Garden > Gardening & Horticulture > Regional > Middle Atlantic
  #13 in	Books > Home & Garden > Gardening & Horticulture > By Plant > Tomatoes
  #59 in	Books > Entertainment > Humor > Rural Life

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A serious book, but still an earthy and enjoyable read., April 3, 2007

By	Nonfiction Addict - See all my reviews

Just looking at the cover of this book makes me wish it was summer, and I could find a homegrown, red, ripe, juicy tomato.

I'm a cold-weather gal, so wishing for summer is not something I do often. But there is something very earthy and very appealing about Stewart's memoir of his organic farming life. (The fact that it is illustrated with woodcuts done by Stewart's wife, Flavia Bacarella, doesn't hurt-I love woodcuts. And how about that name? Seems like I could be earthy and appealing, too, if my name were "Flavia.")

It's an interesting book, with each chapter/essay offering a short perspective on the challenges facing small farmers of all types, as well as different aspects of rural life and farm marketing in New York City's Union Square Greenmarket. On my mental "gardening/rural life books" continuum, I liked it better than William Alexander's horrible The $64 Tomato, in which the author told about trying to kill an opossum in the most bungling and painful way possible; but did not like it as much as Michael Ableman's On Good Land, which seemed to be a bit more personable, or humorous, or something. But in the end I still enjoyed this one very much. I particularly liked its opening:

"Twenty years ago, a little past the age of forty, I was living in a small apartment in New York City, working as a project manager for a consulting firm, wearing a jacket and tie to the office every day. It didn't feel good. I had never aspired to be a member of the corporate world, but somehow that's where I had ended up. I had little affection for the work I was doing and seldom experienced any feelings of pride or fulfillment. Rather, I felt like an impostor, obliged to feign interest and enthusiasm much of the time...Today I am a farmer, a grower of organic vegetables and herbs, and can honestly say that I am a happier man." (pps. 1-2.)

Kind of gives one hope, doesn't it?

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nature Writing at its Best, October 31, 2006

By	B J Bosman "Book Fiend" (Asheville, NC) - See all my reviews

Americans have a taste for nature writing that stretches back in a proud lineage, but less so in agricultural writing. Books about farming are too often of the "green acres" school-- as glossy and unreal as the seed catalog's miracle-grown wheelbarrow size tomatoes. What Keith Stewart, and his gifted illustrator-wife Flavia Bacaralla, have given us is not this; it's a rare, genuine memoir of a life bound up, even unexpectedly captured by the rocky and recalcitrant soil of a slatey upstate New York farm. A Long Way to a Tomato is part and equal to John Hersey, carefully grounded with details in sometimes painfully sharp focus, and part Wendell Berry, suddenly breaking from the mundane into the open sky. It is a brave, open and moving account of a place, man, a marriage, and community-- an American farm and farmer at a cross-roads. It could stand for the story of thousands of farms and farmers across the country who do the hard work, make a living, and keep the soul of our land alive.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars food for thought, September 16, 2006

By	Brenda Halkias (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A truly delightful read. Written with great care and concern for the world in which we live, Mr. Stewart has given all of us, and not only New Yorkers, a real taste for a different way of life and not necessarily a simpler one.

There is alot of information here about issues that affect us all; our food, the small farmer, the importance of eating local, genetic engineering, but most importantly, you have a real taste for the hard work and dedication that it takes to be a farmer and the long, arduous road that they travel to bring food to market. You will never look at a tomato in the same way again.

His stories are touching and heartfelt. I found myself crying for his dear friend, Kuri, a story that will stay with me for a long time. The messages are honest and thought-provoking. A primer for a more compassionate planet, this book is a must-read for people who ever wonder if they can make a difference.