Availability info on my book - Epic Tomatoes - request for edits - Page 3

**Lee** · December 16, 2014

I received my copy of the book yesterday directly from the author over a marvelous lunch.
We talked about the journey of the book and what the future holds.
It was a marvelous lunch and time to catch up.

While I've only had a short time to peruse the book, I found myself taken back to numerous conversations and journey's I've had with Craig over the past 12+ years on the path to growing Epic Tomatoes.

That is what you will get from this book. Craig takes you on a journey, one that is uniquely his own while guiding the reader on there own path. After reading this book, you will know more about growing tomatoes, and tomatoes themselves that you could have expected or hoped for. You will also know more about the author and his journey.
The photos are realistic impressions of what you would expect to find in
your own gardens, and there are plenty of them!
One of my favorite sections (besides the Tomatopalooza[tm] section

) is near the end, where we see the letters that were enclosed with some of our favorite varieties as they were first delivered to Craig.

I highly recommend this book as an outstanding addition to any lover and grower of our favorite fruit!

This book is uniquely Craig's, just as Carolyn's book is uniquely her's. There is a place on my shelf for both, as they both serve a need and purpose in my enjoyment of growing tomatoes.

Lee

P.S. I agree with Darryl about the greenhouse idea. Craig, I'll help you put one up so you can get started on that book as well!

greenthumbomaha · December 17, 2014

It looks like a staggered roll out as many already are receiving a copy. A while back I was able to preview a few chapters on Amazon . I skimmed the text (embarrassing to say, but it was difficult for me to read the small print on my old lappy) and it was very well organized, creative graphics too. The photos were brilliant and I"m already turning over some ideas for my list for next year. I went for Amazon as they typically give a small discount for pre-order. Their release date is 12/30.

Craig, I've learned so much from your posts here on Tmvl, and very grateful that you shared your methods with us. The dense planting video series was totally new and just fascinated me. I've watching those what seems like a hundred times and still sneak back for a review each January. Now I can wave around a book that speaks "our" language, and maybe I won't be as "weird" or just an old (tomato) lady to everyone. Its now cool to grow blue tomatoes, and even my son's friends want to try a grow out.

Best of luck!
- Lisa

Fusion_power · December 17, 2014

I'm going to post a few thoughts that came up when reading through Craig's book.

Reading page 34 about differences in color reminded me that pink tomatoes result from a gene that disrupts a major flavonoid biopath. While the phenotype is clear skin and pink color, this particular variation also affects flavor. Some people consider red tomatoes to be too strong flavored where pink tomatoes are more muted. I appreciate the flavor of both red and pink varieties, but for fresh slicing have a slight preference for pinks. For sauce, I like to mix red and pink varieties to get a combination of intense flavor with sweetness.

I noted one possible error on page 23. I show that Phillip Miller placed tomatoes in Lycopersicon Esculentum in 1768, not 1754. I need to dig into this and verify which is correct. If it is 1754, the wiki on tomato needs to be corrected.

Looking at the flavor categories on page 41 reminded me that really good crosses tend to be between varieties in different categories. For example, crossing Little Lucky X Sungold is between a rich intense variety and a sweet variety. For similar reasons, a cross of KBX X Jaune Flamme should yield an especially good cross. Eva Purple Ball crossed with just about any balanced or intense variety tends to produce really good flavored and disease resistant tomatoes.

The discussion of pruning starting on page 92 should be required reading. Pruning in a greenhouse needs to be part of plant care. If too many suckers are allowed to grow in a greenhouse, the plants begin to shade each other and fruit quality and quantity drop precipitously. Also, you have to balance the need for enough foliage to shade the fruit with keeping the foliage density low enough to help prevent disease spread. Fungal diseases in particular tend to spread rampantly in thick bushy foliage that retains moisture after rain or even from heavy dew.

JLJ_ · December 18, 2014

Just got a shipment notice on my earlier order from Amazon. Their listing says it will be in in stock, available to ship (no longer pre-order) on December 25. So I guess they expect their supply to be delivered to them by, well, you know who. . .

JamesL · December 18, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by JLJ_

Just got a shipment notice on my earlier order from Amazon. Their listing says it will be in in stock, available to ship (no longer pre-order) on December 25. So I guess they expect their supply to be delivered to them by, well, you know who. . .

I got the same notice. Looking forward to reading this in January!

salix · December 18, 2014

Craig, received my copy this afternoon about 4 o'clock and thought I'd "just skim through it". Well, here it is almost 3 hours later and still no supper preparations done. Wonderful job, you should be so proud. Those pictures are great, showing beautiful, realistic fruits complete with occasional cosmetic 'flaws' such as cracks or imperfect shape. Just what experienced gardener's expect and realistic enough to not intimidate beginner or wannabe gardeners. The growing information is presented so clearly that they will want to jump right in and start growing their own.

Love the Contents page, in fact the whole book warmed my heart and satisfied those winter no-garden blues. And thank you very much indeed for taking the time to inscribe such a lovely message, it is very much appreciated.

Is this the time or place to point out a few (probably proof-reading oopsies) items that could be changed in the next edition? (and I'm sure there will/should be...) For example, page 39 "less" instead of "fewer", page 44 Dor(r)is Sudduth, page 220 Maglia Ros(a). Sorry, I don't subscribe to the local newspaper because I spend too much time editing in my head - a character flaw for sure.

**nctomatoman** · December 18, 2014

Thanks so much, Willa. Good catches all - the problem with 90,000 words is ensuring all of them are correct - despite goodness knows how many proofing - by me, my wife, my daughter, a few Storey expert proofers and content experts - but thanks - I am indeed going to collect a list of items that can be remedied if/when the opportunity allows.

gssgarden · December 19, 2014

You guys stink!! I have to wait until Xmas for mine! ! Grrrrrr!!

I guarantee I will be skimming through it as others are still opening their gifts! Lol

Craig, Salix makes a good point, PERFECT time for the release! You're going to get a lot of people extra excited for the up coming season.

Greg

**nctomatoman** · December 19, 2014

What an odd experience - my daughter and I were doing some Christmas shopping - a store in Durham NC named Parker and Otis (specialty foods, etc). We walked in - Sara said "there it is" -

for facebookers - https://www.facebook.com/craiglehoullier

What a weird, disorienting feeling. This was the first sighting! And I even got to sign the three copies on the shelf.

Anyway - Sara just noticed Amazon comments are now open, if anyone chooses to do so. If it wasn't real yesterday, it sure feels very, very real (as in surreal!) today!

It is so nice to have my daughter visiting from Seattle - one of my Christmas gifts is some really good publicity support, esp helping me with blogs, Twitter, FB and Instragram - all so new (and I am not at all good at understanding their various uses yet).

Yikes!

kayrobbins · December 19, 2014

On Thursdays I volunteer at our local extension office demonstration garden. I took my copy of Epic Tomatoes and let some of the other volunteers look at it before they started working. They were so impressed and I am pretty sure some of them went straight to Amazon when they got home.

Salsacharley · December 20, 2014

What a bonanza today! Santa brought my Epic Tomatoes book!...plus a shipment of seeds from J&L Gardens and a Johnny's catalog!

I'm off to dive in!

feldon30 · December 20, 2014

Just got an e-mail that I MIGHT get my book on Christmas Eve! I can't wait!!

ContainerTed · December 20, 2014

It's still Saturday and I received my copy today. I spent a couple of hours skim reading and all I can say is

WOW !!!

Take down all those "Frequently Asked Questions" threads and simply tell folks to get this book. I really like the way it is organized and how it flows. And great photos.

Well done, Craig. This book is "reference material" and will go onto my bookshelf right beside other authors such as Andrew Smith.

geoffrey44 · December 21, 2014

Bought mine today ex Alibris...$12.79 plus postage to Oz...should have early in the New Year...cant wait !

roper2008 · December 21, 2014

I may get mine on Dec 24th. If so, that's a great day to get it. Christmas present
to myself.

December 16, 2014	#31
Lee Tomatopalooza™ Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NC-Zone 7 Posts: 2,186	I received my copy of the book yesterday directly from the author over a marvelous lunch. We talked about the journey of the book and what the future holds. It was a marvelous lunch and time to catch up. While I've only had a short time to peruse the book, I found myself taken back to numerous conversations and journey's I've had with Craig over the past 12+ years on the path to growing Epic Tomatoes. That is what you will get from this book. Craig takes you on a journey, one that is uniquely his own while guiding the reader on there own path. After reading this book, you will know more about growing tomatoes, and tomatoes themselves that you could have expected or hoped for. You will also know more about the author and his journey. The photos are realistic impressions of what you would expect to find in your own gardens, and there are plenty of them! One of my favorite sections (besides the Tomatopalooza[tm] section ) is near the end, where we see the letters that were enclosed with some of our favorite varieties as they were first delivered to Craig. I highly recommend this book as an outstanding addition to any lover and grower of our favorite fruit! This book is uniquely Craig's, just as Carolyn's book is uniquely her's. There is a place on my shelf for both, as they both serve a need and purpose in my enjoyment of growing tomatoes. Lee P.S. I agree with Darryl about the greenhouse idea. Craig, I'll help you put one up so you can get started on that book as well! __________________ Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put one in a fruit salad. Cuostralee - The best thing on sliced bread.

December 18, 2014	#36
salix Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: north central B.C. Posts: 2,310	Craig, received my copy this afternoon about 4 o'clock and thought I'd "just skim through it". Well, here it is almost 3 hours later and still no supper preparations done. Wonderful job, you should be so proud. Those pictures are great, showing beautiful, realistic fruits complete with occasional cosmetic 'flaws' such as cracks or imperfect shape. Just what experienced gardener's expect and realistic enough to not intimidate beginner or wannabe gardeners. The growing information is presented so clearly that they will want to jump right in and start growing their own. Love the Contents page, in fact the whole book warmed my heart and satisfied those winter no-garden blues. And thank you very much indeed for taking the time to inscribe such a lovely message, it is very much appreciated. Is this the time or place to point out a few (probably proof-reading oopsies) items that could be changed in the next edition? (and I'm sure there will/should be...) For example, page 39 "less" instead of "fewer", page 44 Dor(r)is Sudduth, page 220 Maglia Ros(a). Sorry, I don't subscribe to the local newspaper because I spend too much time editing in my head - a character flaw for sure. __________________ "He who has a library and a garden wants for nothing." -Cicero

December 18, 2014	#37
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	Thanks so much, Willa. Good catches all - the problem with 90,000 words is ensuring all of them are correct - despite goodness knows how many proofing - by me, my wife, my daughter, a few Storey expert proofers and content experts - but thanks - I am indeed going to collect a list of items that can be remedied if/when the opportunity allows. __________________ Craig

December 19, 2014	#39
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	What an odd experience - my daughter and I were doing some Christmas shopping - a store in Durham NC named Parker and Otis (specialty foods, etc). We walked in - Sara said "there it is" - for facebookers - https://www.facebook.com/craiglehoullier What a weird, disorienting feeling. This was the first sighting! And I even got to sign the three copies on the shelf. Anyway - Sara just noticed Amazon comments are now open, if anyone chooses to do so. If it wasn't real yesterday, it sure feels very, very real (as in surreal!) today! It is so nice to have my daughter visiting from Seattle - one of my Christmas gifts is some really good publicity support, esp helping me with blogs, Twitter, FB and Instragram - all so new (and I am not at all good at understanding their various uses yet). Yikes! __________________ Craig

December 20, 2014	#42
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	Just got an e-mail that I MIGHT get my book on Christmas Eve! I can't wait!! __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

December 17, 2014	#32
greenthumbomaha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Omaha Zone 5 Posts: 2,514	It looks like a staggered roll out as many already are receiving a copy. A while back I was able to preview a few chapters on Amazon . I skimmed the text (embarrassing to say, but it was difficult for me to read the small print on my old lappy) and it was very well organized, creative graphics too. The photos were brilliant and I"m already turning over some ideas for my list for next year. I went for Amazon as they typically give a small discount for pre-order. Their release date is 12/30. Craig, I've learned so much from your posts here on Tmvl, and very grateful that you shared your methods with us. The dense planting video series was totally new and just fascinated me. I've watching those what seems like a hundred times and still sneak back for a review each January. Now I can wave around a book that speaks "our" language, and maybe I won't be as "weird" or just an old (tomato) lady to everyone. Its now cool to grow blue tomatoes, and even my son's friends want to try a grow out. Best of luck! - Lisa

December 17, 2014	#33
Fusion_power Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,250	I'm going to post a few thoughts that came up when reading through Craig's book. Reading page 34 about differences in color reminded me that pink tomatoes result from a gene that disrupts a major flavonoid biopath. While the phenotype is clear skin and pink color, this particular variation also affects flavor. Some people consider red tomatoes to be too strong flavored where pink tomatoes are more muted. I appreciate the flavor of both red and pink varieties, but for fresh slicing have a slight preference for pinks. For sauce, I like to mix red and pink varieties to get a combination of intense flavor with sweetness. I noted one possible error on page 23. I show that Phillip Miller placed tomatoes in Lycopersicon Esculentum in 1768, not 1754. I need to dig into this and verify which is correct. If it is 1754, the wiki on tomato needs to be corrected. Looking at the flavor categories on page 41 reminded me that really good crosses tend to be between varieties in different categories. For example, crossing Little Lucky X Sungold is between a rich intense variety and a sweet variety. For similar reasons, a cross of KBX X Jaune Flamme should yield an especially good cross. Eva Purple Ball crossed with just about any balanced or intense variety tends to produce really good flavored and disease resistant tomatoes. The discussion of pruning starting on page 92 should be required reading. Pruning in a greenhouse needs to be part of plant care. If too many suckers are allowed to grow in a greenhouse, the plants begin to shade each other and fruit quality and quantity drop precipitously. Also, you have to balance the need for enough foliage to shade the fruit with keeping the foliage density low enough to help prevent disease spread. Fungal diseases in particular tend to spread rampantly in thick bushy foliage that retains moisture after rain or even from heavy dew.

December 18, 2014	#34
JLJ_ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Wyoming Posts: 759	Just got a shipment notice on my earlier order from Amazon. Their listing says it will be in in stock, available to ship (no longer pre-order) on December 25. So I guess they expect their supply to be delivered to them by, well, you know who. . .

December 19, 2014	#38
gssgarden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: N.C. Posts: 1,820	You guys stink!! I have to wait until Xmas for mine! ! Grrrrrr!! I guarantee I will be skimming through it as others are still opening their gifts! Lol Craig, Salix makes a good point, PERFECT time for the release! You're going to get a lot of people extra excited for the up coming season. Greg

December 19, 2014	#40
kayrobbins Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Jacksonville, Fl Posts: 820	On Thursdays I volunteer at our local extension office demonstration garden. I took my copy of Epic Tomatoes and let some of the other volunteers look at it before they started working. They were so impressed and I am pretty sure some of them went straight to Amazon when they got home.

December 20, 2014	#41
Salsacharley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: New Mexico Posts: 2,052	What a bonanza today! Santa brought my Epic Tomatoes book!...plus a shipment of seeds from J&L Gardens and a Johnny's catalog! I'm off to dive in!

December 20, 2014	#43
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	It's still Saturday and I received my copy today. I spent a couple of hours skim reading and all I can say is WOW !!! Take down all those "Frequently Asked Questions" threads and simply tell folks to get this book. I really like the way it is organized and how it flows. And great photos. Well done, Craig. This book is "reference material" and will go onto my bookshelf right beside other authors such as Andrew Smith. __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch

December 21, 2014	#44
geoffrey44 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Victoria, Australa Posts: 75	Bought mine today ex Alibris...$12.79 plus postage to Oz...should have early in the New Year...cant wait !

December 21, 2014	#45
roper2008 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Virginia Bch, VA (7b) Posts: 1,337	I may get mine on Dec 24th. If so, that's a great day to get it. Christmas present to myself.