The $64 Tomato

[Hermitian]

Some of the questions and experiences people talk about in Tomatoville remind me of William Alexander's book "The $64 Tomato". So I was wondering, how many people have read this hilarious and insightful book? ... and how many of you have found yourself in one of those situations??

[claherron]

I have read to book, very funny. And the rabbits got me last year. This year we go to war.


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[natural]

Wow. Thanks for starting this post. This brings back memories. I will now ramble for a bit.
I have read that book. There are several hilarious stories that I can personally relate to when I reflect on my first years of gardening, which at one time turned into full-time farming. Unfortunately, the one that I relate to the most is when William is told by a doctor that he has a permanent issue with his neck and spine. I had a similar prognosis in a doctor's office just a few months before I read the book (this was several years ago).
I'll never forget my conversation with the orthopedic doctor:
Doctor: "So Bill, what do you do for a living?"
Me: " I'm a farmer."
Doctor: "You had better find a new profession."
Unfortunately, he was correct.

The other "Tomato" book that I really enjoy is "Heirloom" by Tim Stark. This is a great book and Tim is a great writer. I can REALLY relate to that book. Like Tim, I also quit my unsatisfying professional career and started farming (mostly heirloom tomatoes). I had no land, so I rented land 30 minutes from my house. There was no electric, no road to get to close to the fields, no building. Just a 4 acre pasture. I made the 30 minute trip 5 days a week. Each day I would load equipment in a truck and haul it 30 minutes to the field, perform my farming duties, load up the harvest and equipment, bring it all back to my house, and wash and store the crops. The6th and 7th days of the week would be market day and delivery day. On delivery day, I would spend ALL day driving around the city delivering to restaurants.


I spent most of the 2-year farming experience replacing my temp workers. What a renegade group of folks that appeared in my fields. My paid workforce consisted of ex-cons, hippies, transients, religious zealots, and drug addicts (on more than one occasion I caught my help hiding between tomato rows smoking joints). One guy actually told me that he fired up a joint because I had told everyone not to use tobacco in the fields.

Also, like Tim, I had troublesome neighbors adjacent to the fields. The neighbors of my rented field were suspected moonshiners. They lived upon a hill that overlooked my field. Many times, our arrival to the field was met with (not) celebratory gunfire from somewhere on the hill. I never worried too much until one day I was erecting temporary deer fencing around the field (on the side closest to the neighbors) when two of the neighbors drove up in a pickup. The older man got out of the truck and I instantly knew this was bad. He had bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol. He was cursing and yelling that I was on his property and he had had enough of this farming activity. I quickly called the landowner of the field and he arrived within minutes. I walked away to consult with my crew when things spiraled out of control. The drunk dude pulled out his gun and was waving it around. His son was trying to calm him down. I had my 2 small children with me that day. I was a bit nervous. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed. My landowner convinced the neighbors that we were not on (or even near) his property border. Aside from that encounter, it was mostly an enjoyable experience spending time around folks that were different than the folks that I had spent the previous 20 years working with in my other profession.


One other similarity between my experience and Tim’s (I think this is true from my recollection of reading Tim’s book) is that we sold every last tomato that we harvested. I could have grown 10 times the amount and still sold out. Farming is an adventure. I miss it.

[carolyn137]

Yes, I read the $64 Tomato book when it first came out, but don't remember any of the specific situations.

And yes, I know Tim Stark and have ever since Craig and I were co publishing Off the Vine, an international newsletter about tomatoes. We had asked Jim Weaver, a Mennonite who lives in Kutztown, PA to write an article for us and it was Tim who helped him with the article. Tim was quite a different person when he was driving produce to the Green Market in NYC and before he wrote that book IMO.

When I was asked to do a dog and pony show for Organic gardening in PA I was just about to start my first talk when there came a man furiously peddling a bicycle, trying to get there on time.

It was Jim Weaver and I was able to visit his home, meet his wife, and admire his tomato and pepper patches. Each year he holds a tomato and pepper day and lots of folks flock to that.

He bicycles if the distance is less than 10 miles but takes the horse and buggy if over that distance.


Carolyn

[Elliot]

I most certainly have been in that situation. Last year I must have spent over 50 dollars on some of my outdoor potted tomato plants which were heirlooms and I only got two tomatos off of the plants.

Yes, I spent a lot of money on my tomato plants but the taste of a homegrown tomato cannot be rivaled in any store

[Hermitian]

Originally Posted by Elliot

I most certainly have been in that situation. Last year I must have spent over 50 dollars on some of my outdoor potted tomato plants which were heirlooms and I only got two tomatos off of the plants.

Yes, I spent a lot of money on my tomato plants but the taste of a homegrown tomato cannot be rivaled in any store

Here's why: the savory flavor in fruits comes from fruit glutens (these are not the same glutens as found in wheat). All fruits contain glutens, and the more a particular variety or cultivar has the more savory the perceived flavor. But wait a minute, the more glutens in a fruit means the quicker it will spoil. And so as breeders have been selecting plants that produce fruit that has a long shelf life, they have bred the flavor right out of them. Not only is this evident in tomatoes, but many other fruits -- and in my mind, especially peaches.

[meadowyck]

Elliot

I can most certainly relate to your experience as when we moved to our current place I promptly went out and purchased 86.00 worth of heirloom tomato plants. Finally in a rental where there wasn't grass chemical spraying going on, so now finally in my home state with great warm weather I'm gonna have me some maters, well if it hadn't been for the attack of so many bugs (which I've never had before, even up north) I would have had a ton of maters. As it was I believe we did end up getting about 10 tomatoes, mainly small ones off to eat.

And I like all of us here, there is no store purchased tomato that will ever rival a homegrown tomato, at least in my book of experience.

I'll have to check out this book, sounds like it is right up my alley

[NarnianGarden]

Originally Posted by meadowyck

Elliot

I can most certainly relate to your experience as when we moved to our current place I promptly went out and purchased 86.00 worth of heirloom tomato plants. Finally in a rental where there wasn't grass chemical spraying going on, so now finally in my home state with great warm weather I'm gonna have me some maters, well if it hadn't been for the attack of so many bugs (which I've never had before, even up north) I would have had a ton of maters. As it was I believe we did end up getting about 10 tomatoes, mainly small ones off to eat.

Nooo! I am so sorry for your experience Hopefully you'll never again invest in tomato plants which won't produce. growing from seed at least is way cheaper - unless one goes and pays 86.00 for tomato seeds
That would not surprise me though, everything being so darn expensive here in the EU... 86 won't get you very far if you buy packets from the large companies ... As they say, nothing is as expensive as homegrown veggies.

[meadowyck]

I have seeds but I didn't have time to plant seeds, I wanted some maters....LOL

I love growing from seeds, the most rewarding of gardening chores.

[tlintx]

Originally Posted by Hermitian

Not only is this evident in tomatoes, but many other fruits -- and in my mind, especially peaches.

Huh! I definitely noticed a difference between the peaches grown at a local orchard and the ones from the store -- the ones from the store are flavorless. But I had no idea it was a similar case to tomatoes!

I think the problem most of you with "expensive" tomatoes have is that you're growing them for the wrong reasons. If you'd just grow them for the foliage like I do, you'd see they're really quite inexpensive for landscape plants!

[Fusion_power]

Gluten - the tough, viscid, nitrogenous substance remaining when the flour of wheat or other grain is washed to remove the starch.

Technically, gluten is the wrong term to use for flavor compounds. You could use "flavonoids" more accurately. Plants produce chemicals for a variety of reasons. Some chemicals are for self-defense. They repel or otherwise discourage pests or diseases. Other chemicals are attractants such as sugar in an apple which attracts an animal to eat the apple and disperse the apple seed. Interestingly enough, flavonoids and attractants tend to be produced by the same bio-pathways that produce defensive chemicals such as carotenoids. Consider the pink tomato which is caused by interruption of a bio-path that produces yellow color in the epidermis. The interruption also reduces production of flavonoids resulting in a less intense tomato flavor. This is not a bad thing if the flavonoid pathway is highly active, it results in a more balanced flavor with nice tomato tones hopefully with adequate sweetness.

[meadowyck]

Tlintx, that is my problem landscape plants......LOL

[meadowyck]

Fusion power all I'm trying to replicate is the flavor of tomatoes that I remember from my childhood, where I would go with my grandmother out to the tomato patch and pull off what we wanted for dinner and some extra's as those were for enjoying on the way back into the house.

To me a nice afternoon sun warmed tomato, plucked from the vine and quick swipe to clean the area before that all juicy bite. OMGoodness, nothing compares to that taste.

[Hermitian]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Technically, gluten is the wrong term to use for flavor compounds.

When we talk specifically about the flavor savory in fruits, glutens are exactly the compounds of concern. The peer-reviewed research in this area goes back decades.