Tomato Book Review:
Tantalizing Tomatoes

Tantalizing Tomatoes: Smart Tips & Tasty Picks for Gardeners Everywhere
Karen Davis Cutler, Guest Editor
Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Inc., 2001

About this book

Tantalizing Tomatoes (guidebook #150 in the 21st Century Gardening Series) is a compilation of articles from experienced gardeners combined together in one handy book for the beginner to almost-intermediate gardener. In fact, it’s perfect for the gardener who knows just a little bit about tomatoes and wants to move into intermediate status.

Buy this book

Tantalizing Tomatoes (Brooklyn Botanic Garden All-Region Guide)

The best parts of this book

An ultra-practical section that outlines four problem-growing climates (the desert Southwest, the South, the Far North, and the Pacific Coast) and how to successfully grow tomatoes in each of them
Snapshot summaries from 20 tomato growers in 20 different regions (across zones 3-10) give their best tips and tomato variety recommendations for their home zone

Strengths of this book

Each chapter is written by an expert gardener and focuses on one aspect of tomato gardening
Excellent general how-tos, including soil preparation, planting, watering, mulching, staking, fertilizing, pruning, harvesting, seed saving, and varieties
A nifty explanation of how to read a tomato seed packet
A good description of tomato terminology, especially hybrid breeding and disease-resistance codes
A “tomato variety” hall of fame list
Clear layout
Easy and fun to read
Beautiful illustrations

Look out for this

This book touches on many aspects of tomato gardening and care but doesn’t go too deep. For example, the tomato pest section names just four of the most common insects that plague tomatoes and tomato growers … when there are dozens. It’s a good, basic book with excellent information, but not by any means encyclopedic.