Cherie H. Everhart - The complete guide to growing tomatoes: a complete step-by-step guide including heirloom tomatoes

The Complete Guide to Growing Tomatoes:

Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply Including Heirloom Tomatoes

by Cherie H. Everhart

Foreword by Don Rosenberg

www.InstantOrganicGarden.com

The Complete Guide to Growing Tomatoes: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply Including Heirloom Tomatoes

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Everhart, Cherie H.

The complete guide to growing tomatoes : everything you need to know explained simply - including heirloom tomatoes / by Cherie H. Everhart.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60138-350-1 (alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-60138-350-9 (alk. paper)

1. Tomatoes. 2. Tomatoes--Varieties. I. Title.

SB349.E94 2010

635.642--dc22

2010008305

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Table of Contents

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my dad, Harry Hartman, who had a passion for everything outside: hunting, fishing, wildlife, and vegetable gardening. He grew tomatoes (and other vegetables) almost all of his life. I continue to find it easy to conjure up an image of him with a saltshaker in his hand, eating freshly picked tomatoes like apples. I cant say that the love of gardening is always an inherited trait, but in this case, I think it was.

A special appreciation for my editor, Kim Fulscher, who made a rough manuscript much better, and for my youngest daughter, Erin, who encouraged me to attempt writing in the first place. It is a wonderful experience to learn from people who are young enough to be (or are) your children.

Foreword

There is nothing better than the taste of homegrown tomatoes. Tomatoes bought from mega-chain grocery stores do not even deserve the same name, but tomatoes at the organic food store are expensive, and the farmers market is a long drive. Therefore, the best solution is to grow your own; however, many people dont know how to garden anymore.

Enter Cherie Everhart. If there is anything you ever wanted to know about tomatoes, it is in Everharts The Complete Guide to Growing Tomatoes: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply Including Heirloom Tomatoes . Everything you ever wanted or needed to know about tomatoes is included in this book, from the history of the tomato, the botany behind gardening, how to prepare soil, and starting seeds and planting transplants Everhart covers it all. This book will teach you about tomato care, different growing methods, harvesting, and even preserving. You will learn the stories behind some of the most popular heirloom varieties, from Abe Lincoln to Brandywine and Mr. Stripey.

The best part is that this book is great for beginners, but also full of tips for more experienced gardeners. For the gardening newcomer, you will learn the basics and take the mystery out of gardening because the techniques described here apply to gardening in general, not just tomatoes. Gardening experts will pick up valuable tips on how to grow better tomatoes as well as learn some of the science behind the techniques.

So, here begins your journey to growing the best tomatoes on the block.

Don Rosenberg

North Carolina Master Gardener

Author of No Green Thumb Required! Organic Family Gardening Made Easy

Founder of Instant Organic Garden

www.InstantOrganicGarden.com

Introduction

Home vegetable gardens are sprouting up everywhere. Driven partly by the popularization of the local food movement, partly by continuing interest in organic gardening, and partly by demands of a tough economy, the popularity of gardens is growing. People who have never gardened before, and also those who gave it up years ago, are spending more of their time in the garden. Some have described this move as reminiscent of the victory gardens, which blossomed in World War I and II as a way for all to contribute to the war effort. Surveys by the National Gardening Association find that 43 million American families planted fruit or vegetable gardens in 2009, an increase of 19 percent from 2008. Even the First Family planted a vegetable garden at the White House in 2009. While family gardens have always been a staple of rural America, families in suburban and even urban areas are finding spots for gardens among the landscape shrubs and on decks, patios, and even apartment rooftops. Overwhelmingly, tomatoes are the most popular vegetable crop planted in the home garden. Tomatoes are grown in 86 percent of American home vegetable gardens, a testament to both the popularity of tomatoes in the American diet and to their abundant productivity in the garden.