Epic Tomatoes: How to Select and Grow the Best Varieties of All Time

by Craig Lehoullier

Savor your best tomato harvest ever! Craig LeHoullier, tomato adviser for Seed Savers Exchange, offers everything a tomato enthusiast needs to know about growing more than 200 varieties of tomatoes — from sowing seeds and planting to cultivating and collecting seeds at the end of the season. He also offers a comprehensive guide to the various pests and diseases of tomatoes and explains how best to avoid them. No other book offers such a detailed look at the specifics of growing tomatoes, with beautiful photographs and helpful tomato profiles throughout.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Cookbooks, Food, Reference, Cooking, Food and Drink

255 pages, Paperback

First published December 30, 2014

Reviews

[Quirkyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is just the tip of the iceberg of all the different varieties of tomatoes past and present.

So make sure you save your seeds, they could lead to something wonderful.

[Amy (Other Amy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Misti · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a beginner tomato gardener this book is a great guide for understanding how to grow tomatoes as well as the basics to diseases. I gave it 5 stars based on that but for me it was a little 'old news'. While the information on the heirlooms was great, I was hoping it was going to be more detailed with more interesting stories on more heirloom varieties.

Worth checking out for tomato enthusiasts.

[Teri-K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book. I left my library copy on the coffee table and everyone in the house picked it up and browsed through it, including the 4 year old and the older girl who "doesn't like books". I know because the kids asked me later if I was growing some of the tomatoes from the book in our garden, and they were thrilled when I said yes and showed them the pictures. (Matt's Wild, Brandywine and Cherokee Purple.) Then we had a lively discussion about where tomatoes came from and why the grocery store ones aren't very good.

There are tons of pictures in Epic Tomatoes that will leave you drooling and a lot of interesting information about heirloom tomatoes - what they are, where they come from and why people saved them. There's also some practical advice about knowing when to pick them - especially useful if you're growing white, yellow or green ones. Also, this is the only source I know that attempts to describe the variations in tomato flavors and give you an idea of which ones you might like best based on your own tastes. I've heard the author on numerous gardening podcasts and he's as knowledgeable and personable speaking as he is in this delightful book which conveys plenty of information but still reflects the personality of the writer.

I took off one star, however, because there isn't a lot of advice on how to grow tomatoes. Staking, pruning, etc., yes. But I really wanted the author's slant on fertilizers and watering, care when the weather gets really hot, protecting from early frost, etc. And that isn't here. So it's not really a book that will tell you everything you want to know about growing heirloom tomatoes. But it will certainly make you want to try.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome. The end.

Really, though. It exactly the right amount of info for a book focused on a single vegetable, and will be my standard for any other books of the sort in the future. Plus... freaking gorgeous.

[Brian Langford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a great combo of practical information, great pictures and interesting history. Cherokee Purple are one of my favorites and this guy helped put it back into circulation! I now have a few more varieties I want to try.

[Cara Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly loved the book (so help me, god, when it comes to my backyard tomatoes).

[Reese · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this beginning to end in an evening. A must for any home gardener with an interest in tomatoes.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent resource on growing tomatoes. Sometimes, the historical and personal details he included felt like overkill, but still had a ton of very useful information in an easy format. The index is excellent for later referencing as well.

[Union County Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tomato guide will soon become an "heirloom" for tomato growers everywhere! Loaded full of helpful information and descriptions of heirloom tomato varieties, readers will delight in this guide to delicious varieties and their outstanding characteristics.

- Reviewed by Chris M.

[Joelle McNulty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely, large pictures and the design is nice inside. It’s interesting too; everything from tomato history to growing tips to troubleshooting to recipes. I’ll definitely be hanging onto this practical and pretty book!

[Caolan McMahon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good level of detail, beautiful photos, and an infectious enthusiasm for heirloom tomatoes. After I bought four small plants from a garden centre last summer, this book has me excited enough to try growing a few varieties from seed this year.

I have one unusual criticism, which is, if anything, this book is *too* nice. It's a large hardback with lots of glossy photos and generous white space around large type, and I would have appreciated a more compact, cheaper, and easier to store format.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is both extremely useful, interesting, and beautifully laid out. what more could an aspiring tomato gardener like me want? 😁

[Syl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about all things tomatoes - history, varieties, tips for growing, enjoying.

Just when I thought I'd start cutting back on the number of varieties I grow, here comes Craig Lehoullier with some irresistible suggestions!

[Scott Head · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional book that dives deep into this garden classic without getting out of reach of the average gardener. I think two thirds of this book's wisdom was already in-practice in my own garden, but the additional knowledge of a plant-breeding expert really adds to my gardening arsenal of knowledge. The photos and illustrations are inspiring, among the best gardening images I have ever seen. This is a great book, especially a good gift, for gardeners who love tomatoes.

[Pamela Huxtable · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories about tomatoes as well as extensive information on growing, selecting, and caring for tomato plants.

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wealth of information. My new all-time favorite book on tomatoes.

[Grace Tenkay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very helpful, informative book. You can tell the Tomato Man loves tomatoes, and if you love tomatoes, you will probably like this book.

[suzanne wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

We've been growing garden vegetables for over 15 years in Petersburg, Alaska, including tomatoes. Our short season, unpredictable marine climate with late springs, cool, cloudy and wet summers, also experiences hurricane force winds. We've grown determinate cherry tomatoes in our geodesic dome since 2005 in raised beds and Lechuza self-watering containers in our house attic year-round. Our harvest have been successful but bland in taste.
In a recent online search for 'best' tasting tomatoes, Craig Lehoullier's book "Epic Tomatoes" appeared. I had previously explored the vast Dwarf Tomato Project listings on Victory Seeds website which coincidentally included Mr. Lehoullier and the DTP but I wasn't sure these non-hybrid tomatoes would work in our short growing season.
Curious, I downloaded the Kindle version of Mr. Lehoullier's book and read it--and subsequently ordered it in book form for the color photos and ability to highlight and tab.
We ordered a sampling of Dwarf Tomato Project seeds from Victory Seeds and sowed six in soil blocks, now sprouting--they will be transplanted into food-grade 5-gallon black buckets and relocated to the greenhouse.
Mr. Lehoullier's "Epic Tomatoes" is well-written, easy to comprehend and and includes real-life tomato growing experiences by an avid tomato grower--he appreciates the power of the tomato seed and its life journey. His enthusiasm following decades of tomato growing, experimenting, sharing his knowledge gained from his experiences is remarkably detailed in his book.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw the author give a talk at the Hartford Flower Show and I was hoping to learn a few tricks to help improve my tomato yields. He was an engaging and informative speaker, but I wasn't sure I wanted to buy his book afterwards when it was solely focused on just one vegetable. Leafing through it later, I decided to take the plunge.

I am truly glad I did, because it really was an enjoyable read. I learned lots of additional tips about growing tomatoes, and enjoyed seeing the journey Craig LeHoullier had as an amateur as he developed such a deep love of finding and developing the best tomatoes. He covered all the essentials, like growing seedlings, different ways of growing, staking, diseases and other problems, but also the taste attributes of different varieties, some recipes and a few delightful histories of various varieties. Chris was responsible for helping Cherokee Purple to be made commercially available (not that he benefited financially, but he promoted others to try it and to sell it), and for that gem, I am eternally grateful! I can't wait to try some of the other varieties he highlights as the years unfold. On top of it all, he has excellent photography in the book, which greatly enhances the whole journey. You might think "How many tomato pictures of tomatoes can you appreciate?" but they are each and every one beautiful (except for the ones illustrating disease!). If you enjoy a vegetable garden, you will probably enjoy this book.

[Harold R. Snider · Rating 5 out of 5]

TOMATO KNOWLEDGE A TO Z

I did not know that tomatoes have such an interesting history, until I read this book. I also thought heirloom varieties were a thing of the past and that hybrids are the best variety. Not so as Craig brings to life the many great varieties he has personally worked with throughout his 35 years of growing experience. This book is complete with history of each heirloom variety he discusses. I really enjoyed the charts and graphs which depict tomato shapes, sizes, yeilds, time to harvest, and flavor. Instructions on how to harvest seeds for future planting, plant diseases and their identification and treatment, as well as tips on preserving your crop are all included. Because of all of this fine information and a great bibliography, I must rate it at a 5. I shall further explain. I bought the Kindle edition. It is tremendous value for the price. The charts, graphs, pictures, and print performed flawlessly. If you desire to to become an heirloom tomato Aficionado this book is a must read. I could not find anything to comment negatively about. Thanks Craig for sharing this information. Mainly out of curiosity I decided to incorporate some heirloom tomato varieties in my garden this year and after reading this book I know I have made the right decision. Looking forward to harvest.

[Stephanie Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a hard book to read because the beautifully photographed tomatoes made me yearn for the juicy, flavorful tomatoes of summer! I am a fairly experienced gardener, but I still learned so much about getting my seedlings off to a great start. I'm actually trying the dense planting method right now and so far, so good! And even though it's not why I bought the book, I found the history of different tomato varieties interesting. This book broadened my knowledge of various colors, shapes, and sizes of tomatoes, so much so that I'm expanding my garden to include 18 different varieties this year--and that's scaling back from what I wanted to do. I like how he shared his personal experiences as well as including growing information from other parts of North America. I'm sure the problem solving section will be quite useful; I only wish it included more pictures (rather than a description) of the disease or insect so I knew what I was dealing with. Honestly, this is the only reason why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. I loved the several pages of tomato variety comparison in the back. Those are worth the price of the book alone in selecting our family's favorite varieties to grow.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best book for growing tomatoes or even just wanting to drool over tomatoes! The first time I borrowed it from the library, I perused for the photos (which are magnificent) and dreamt of which tomatoes I should grow. This latest time, I actually read it. And this year my tomato-growing from seed will be much more successful! Craig LeHouillier gives wonderful tips, practical advice, and it's simple and not overwhelming. I now have a great plan in place for growing my tomatoes this year and I will probably have to get this book again from the library for any problems -- the back has a great section of Q&A as well as a section for pest/diseases. Then, come harvest season, I will probably have to finally just buy this book. The author's section on canning makes it seem so much more doable than I've ever seen. And this year I hope to preserve lots of tomatoes! Of course, he also gives great advice on seed-saving and details the wonderful histories of many heirloom tomatoes. And there are recipes!

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. A good guide to everything related to growing tomatoes, interspersed with anecdotes and tomato profiles and history from a true tomato enthusiast. Haven't read other guides for caring for tomatoes so I can't compare this to them, but this one is very satisfactory to me. Caveat: For many tasks (staking, watering, etc.) the author would cover multiple methods to approach them, but not always. For example, the section on fertilizing is quite light. So you might want to supplement that sort of information from other sources. Also, while the tomato tables in the back were helpful, they lacked disease-resistance information that otherwise would've been very helpful. Still, I borrowed this from the library and I am definitely going to be purchasing it; it's not just a lovely book, but it's full of good information and reference sections.

[Andrew Welleford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is really an excellent book for any gardener, and must for tomato-lovers (like myself). Full of beautiful photographs, practical advice, and personal stories about LeHoullier's connection to tomatoes; this book is clearly a product of passion and expertise. I learned many things about tomatoes from this book, such as a tart<->sweet + mild<->intense framework for describing tomato flavor, the history of tomato breeding in North America, and the anatomy and taxonomy of tomato plants. I love handing this book to guests for them to flip through, admiring the riot of tomato colors and featured varieties. This book was one of my favorite reads of 2017, and I look forward to a new season of gardening with this information in mind.

[L. Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

The essential volume for the dedicated tomato grower. Contains a thorough guide to selecting tomato varieties to grow in regions across the US and Canada, with detailed instructions on best practices for germination, transplantation, maintenance, harvesting, along with a handful of recipes. I nteresting insights on the origins of many popular varieties and some less well known; a very useful guide to all the things that can go wrong, and recommended remedies; listings and rankings of numerous varieties with data on performance. Highly recommended.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a garden enthusiast and love vine ripe tomatoes this is the book for you. Gives lots of information and practical advice for having a successful tomato garden. This book inspired me to seek out more detailed information about all the other vegetables I like to plant as well. I am so excited for gardening season! My only complaint is he talks so highly about so many different varieties of tomatoes that I want to grow and eat and I just don't have the garden space for it all.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yep, all about just tomatoes! Great history of tomato varieties. While I liked all the gardening tips and such, the history is what makes this book fun to read! These days, I only grow 9 plants. 2 cherry, 1 determinant and 6 indeterminate. I am fortunate that a local grower just does heirlooms so I don't have to grow from seed. The only disease I ever have is blossom end rot - worse some years. This year, just a couple of tomatoes had it, so I'm getting better!

[Heidi Der · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great information for a beginning/intermediate gardener like myself. I read this on my Kindle, and I am sure the experience would be better with a physical book - there are a lot of photos and illustrations. I loved the history and people described in the development of some of the tomato varieties. The book helped me to decide which varieties of tomatoes to grow this year, and really got me excited to see how they do. I will probably buy a copy as a reference.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been growing tomatoes from seed every year for the past 15 years and this book has taught me things I never knew. My seedlings this year are better than they have ever been and I can't wait to eat the finished product. Excellent book, easy to understand and filled with very specific things for a gardener to do to ensure their tomato plants grown well.