Did you see the price of tomatoes?

[James]

I am happy that my garden is actually paying for itself this year. Too bad I don't love tomatoes.

[OmManiPadmeOmelet]

I do love tomatoes, but they are running around $1.59 per lb. Some nice big ones were on for $.98 per lb. today, but they do not have anywhere _near_ the flavor of home grown......

I did not grow any this year. The price of water is too high. :-( I'm going to convert one of my raised beds for tomatoes since the asparagus is not doing well anyway, or try some container gardening to conserve on water.

[bungalow_steve]

Yes, stores sell something called a tomatoe, but it bears no resemble to the tomatoes grow in my garden

I also notice that so called "roadside stands" are also starting to sell this pale looking baseball like "tomatoe" thingy, and cost more then at the store, what's up with that?

[OmManiPadmeOmelet]

Cheapness... :-(

I really am craving a good garden tomato. I'll have to try to remember to hit the farmers market tomorrow afternoon!

I'll pay their price, no matter what it is. ;-)

[Salmon Egg]

If those pale thingies are momataro tomatoes, then they can be superb.

Bill

-- Ferme le Bush

[John‰]                      ÂÂ]

amazon.com

 "The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent A Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden" by William Alexander

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Alexander had always dreamed of having his own garden, where he could grow healthy, organic fruits and vegetables. When his family moved to the Hudson Valley, he got his wish-there was more than enough land for his vegetable garden, his apple orchard, his wife's flower garden, and a swimming pool. He had done his research and knew which crops to plant and when, what type of fencing he'd need, and how to defend his garden against predators. What he hadn't counted on were the facts that planting sod around the swimming pool killed the corn, and that planting rosebushes killed the sod. There were also landscaping contractors always behind schedule, a groundhog that figured out how to get through a 10,000-electric-volt fence, and feasting deer. After years of fighting pests, Alexander realized that there was no such thing as an organic garden in the Northeast, and that for each tomato he'd taken from his garden he'd spent $64; ultimately, what was once a hobby became a second full-time job. Throughout the telling, the author manages to maintain a sense of humor, riffing on everything from the ugliness of garden ornaments to the politics of giving away vegetables to friends. This hilarious horticultural memoir manages to impart an existential lesson on the interconnectedness of nature and the fine line between nurturing and killing. Teens looking for a biography, a book on biology, or a humorous read can't go wrong with this title.-Erin Dennington, Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[catalpa]

Jersey tomatoes are 99 cents a pound. Normal price for August.

[shazzbat]

I never used to pay any attention to the price of stuff at the shops until we had the allotment, just followed the wife round and did what I was told :-))

When we got the allotment, I started comparing the prices of stuff we were growing. The thing that really staggered me was the price of soft fruit, usually about £1.99 for a punnet, don't know what weight, but not a lot. This year we've had goosegogs, redcurrants and blackcurrants by the bucketful, blackberries doing the same right now, we must have had £300-400 worth of fruit at store prices. Oh, and rhubarb, raspberries and strawberries. Mustn't forget them. Not many tomatoes this year though.

And the allotment? £20.00 per year :-))

See it here -

[Donna Loveless]

They're practically giving them away at the alloments and in the market they were 15p a pound.

[Steve Calvin]

Absolutely. I learned a long time ago to try things. You never know unless you do.

[Ann]

OmManiPadmeOmelet expounded:

I can't imagine having a garden without tomatoes. Hopefully you'll figure out a way to have a few next summer!

[OmManiPadmeOmelet]

I just need to set up the greenhouses properly this fall. I want to turn them so that they get better sunlight on one wall with less wasted space. The doors are turned the wrong way. Then I'm going to put them into 5 gallon pots with water trays!

That should cut back on the expense considerably. :-)