{Giveaway is Closed}
Growing up, tomatoes have been a HUGE part of my family’s life every single summer for as long as I’ve been around. We were spoiled with home grown tomatoes all my life. I’m so happy that my hubby enjoys growing fruits and veggies too and he has made a huge effort to grow tomatoes for us for the last 3 years or so. It’s a learning process and he hopes to get even better at it.
With this new book that I was given for review, How to Grow Juicy Tasty Tomatoes, I do believe he will get even better at this tomato-growing game.
For more information on the book, check out the website, where you can also purchase your own copy of the book.
Written by Annette Welsford and Lucia Grimmer, two tomato growing enthusiasts from Brisbane, Australia, you will find so much great information for growing your own.
The book evolved one hot summer afternoon over a glass or two of wine accompanied by a selection of delicious tomato based savories, after their friends often lamented that searching the internet provided masses of tomato hits, but the information provided was either too technical or too general.
Thus, this book was born from 2 experts in the field.
It’s a soft cover book, chock full of great information for the home gardener. Everything you need to grow some beautiful, luscious fruit of your own:
- Tomato Varieties
- Site Preparation
- Cultivation
- Watering your Plants
- Nutrition
- Pests and Diseases
- Picking & Storage
- Collecting Seed
- Growing Organically
- Hydroponics
- Greenhouses
All of that and more! If you’re a tomato lover and home gardener, I think you’ll really enjoy having this book as a reference on your shelves. My hubby was really excited to see this come in and I know he’ll be scouring the pages for better tips on how to grow our tomatoes to the fullest next year.
(My dad is a wonderful gardener and these Romas are straight from his garden).
We brought home a huge amount of those Roma tomatoes from my parents’ place in the mountains and I had to do something with them, so I made a huge batch of salsa. We have been using these Concord Food packets, which you can get at most grocery stores in the produce section and they’re a really easy way to get salsa in a hurry, if you don’t feel like chopping everything to go in here. This packet is added to tomatoes and onions and has a really good flavor (not getting paid for this, but wanted to share). 
I made a HUGE bowl of salsa and we’ve been eating on it for a week. I used my blender to chop up all those Romas. I didn’t even peel them for the salsa.
I used the other half of the tomatoes for tomato basil soup. I quickly got the skins off by putting them in boiling water for just a couple of minutes. I learned that trick from my mom. The skins will slip right off. 
It was really delish! Just finished up the last of it.
If you’d like to win a copy of the book ($29.95 value), just leave a comment and tell me if you love tomatoes as much as I do! There is also a bonus CD included with the book which is a Varieties database.
Do you have a favorite variety that you love to grow? I’d love to hear that too.
You can also purchase the book here.
That’s it! I’ll draw a winner on Monday evening.
My hubs loves to garden! We usually plant 14-18 tomato plants just in case a few don’t make it to harvest! Well, this year, we had too much rain and I don’t think we will get more than 3-4 out of the whole garden!! My hubs is just sick and can’t figure out why it went so wrong….soil? too much rain?? not enough heat at the proper time?? anyway this book will help him solve the tomato dilema! thanks for a great blog!
I must love tomatoes; when I think about my meals of the last week (as far back as I could recall) tomatoes figured somehow in every one but breakfast! Thanks for the opportunity to win!
There is nothing better than heading to the garden with your pepper shaker and sitting down under a shade tree near the tomatoes with a lap full of your pickins. You sit there and savor the ripeness and the beautiful deep red color, knowing that eventually when you bite in you will taste the nectar of the God’s! Then you decide to bite and hope that you mostly have meat and not just juices. Then you sprinkle a bit of pepper and take another bite. When you have had your fill, you pick a basket load and take it in the house for your tomato sandwiches later that day. I love summer because of the tomatoes. We grow heirloom varieties and while you eat them you realize that these have been cherished fruit for generations. I can never get enough tomatoes in the summer and love to can and dry them for enjoyment in the winter months. Ummm, Ummm good!
Summer just isn’t summer without home grown tomatoes! We love them! I grew some heirlooms from seed last year. They were very nice. My regular favs are Celebrity and Better Boys. Lot’s of German Johnsons in the Farmer’s Market around here.
Great giveaway! Thanks for the chance.
My DH LOVES tomatoes. When they’re ready, he’ll eat BLTs every night. Learning to grow them in the Alabama clay was a challenge after Iowa black soil, but he does pretty well.
Home grown tomatoes are the best! I hope I win the book.
We bought a house too late in the year to start our garden, but we can’t wait to do one this year! This book would be great to kick start it. Thanks for the chance to win!
We love fresh garden grown tomatoes. We tried a new kind this year: Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes, and so far they’re a hit!
I grew up loving tomatoes. I would just pick my tomato, grab a salt shaker and eat away. Messy for a child, but oh, so good!
We love tomatoes but don’t have much luck growing them!
Love your blog!!
I remember picking tomatoes from our garden so my mom could make us tomato sandwiches for lunch. My entire family still shares tomatoes with each other even though everyone grows their own! I’ve never tried to make salsa. It looks yummy!
There is nothing better than a fresh home grown tomato! My dad always grew them when I was a child but I didn’t like them. He couldn’t understand why I loved ketchup but not a tomato. My honey and I grow them in our back yard and this summer had an excellent, tasty crop. We are now waiting on our “fall” crop to produce. We have had a lot of luck with Big Boy tomatoes.
This book sounds fantastic. I actually picked some grape tomatoes from the garden this morning. They are beautiful and delicious! I wish I could say the same thing about the large tomatoes. For some reason they have cracks in them. Very frustrating!
[email protected]
My parents always used to grow Beefsteak and Big Boy tomatoes. I’ve been interested in trying some of the heirlooms. My favorite way to eat tomatoes is sliced on a sandwich with mayonnaise and bacon or on a plate with cottage cheese. Always a great summertime treat!
If I had to choose just one thing to eat for the rest of my life I think it would be tomatoes!!! My husband doesn’t like them & I say that there is just something fundamentally WRONG with a person who doesn’t like tomatoes, however I finally got him to eat salsa, which he doesn’t consider to be tomatoes. Whatever! More for me!Love your website BTW!
I love tomatoes! I like em in salad green salads, pasta salads, with red onions and vinagrette, bruchetta, hot in sauces, grilled, sundried, and fresh picked from the vine. Nothin beats it!
My husband and I love to garden, and we really love tomatoes!!
My husband and I started our first garden this year. My tomatoes did not turn out well…..so I would love some pointers. I LOVE tomatoes simmered in olive oil and garlic and tossed with fresh basil (our basil did great) and pasta….delish….even better if were made from my own tomatoes!
I LLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEE tomatoes! Home grown, sliced with salt and pepper.
I need some help in growing tomatoes. My Romas are very small, even though I have fertilized them. So, this book would give me some great tips, I am sure. I do love homegrown tomatoes!!!!