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
Review by Lynea Newcomer
The $64 Tomato
by William Alexander
Workman Publishing
$22.95
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Author William Alexander sets the tone for his true life tale by opening with a quote from Cliff Clark of Cheers: “There’s a fine line between gardening and madness.” As the following vignettes from his personal experience with gardening show, this most demanding, humbling and rewarding of endeavors probes deep into Alexander’s personal reason for existence.
What would you like your ideal garden to be like? Perhaps those of us just starting out would seek advice like Alexander does at the outset. Some nice raised beds, paths etched in thyme, plots for the kids to experiment, electric fence for all the critters eager to snack on the upcoming heirloom tomatoes . . . but, as with most creative projects wherein advice is sought from someone residing elsewhere, many surprises lurk. Yes, lurk. In the mud, many feet deep, impenetrable to backhoe. Lurk beyond that electric fence, which by the way does not deter Superchuck the groundhog. Lurk in the soil - once it gets going -in the form of innumerable pests and blights to varying crops.
Alexander faces each trial with wit and determination, winding the reader into his world of triumph over webworms, pride and thrill in fresh herbs in the dead of winter, and finally his complex psychological state of being due to walking his fine line between hobby and madness. For you see, the author expects delight in his gardening endeavors, and rewards in his kitchen. This presents a moral quandary for him; it has not always been the case that gardening could be a hobby and supposedly a pleasureful pursuit. Can one have it all? As our ‘gentleman’ gardener rambles pleasantly along with his tale, it becomes apparent that his next meal, accented by produce of his own upbringing, is the more pressing of existential issues to dive into. Settling eternal questions . . . well that can jostle for mind space with that tenacious Superchuck and other such pests.
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