{"product_id":"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-paperback","title":"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 - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eWilliam Alexander\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBill Alexander had no idea that his simple dream of having a vegetable garden and small orchard in his backyard would lead him into life-and-death battles with groundhogs, webworms, weeds, and weather; midnight expeditions in the dead of winter to dig up fresh thyme; and skirmishes with neighbors who feed the vermin (i.e., deer). Not to mention the vacations that had to be planned around the harvest, the near electrocution of the tree man, the limitations of his own middle-aged body, and the pity of his wife and kids. When Alexander runs (just for fun!) a costbenefit analysis, adding up everything from the live animal trap to the Velcro tomato wraps and then amortizing it over the life of his garden, it comes as quite a shock to learn that it cost him a staggering $64 to grow each one of his beloved Brandywine tomatoes. But as any gardener will tell you, you can't put a price on the unparalleled pleasures of providing fresh food for your family.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWho knew that Bill Alexander's simple dream of having a vegetable garden and small orchard would lead him into life-and-death battles with webworms, weeds, and a groundhog named Superchuck? Over the course of his hilarious adventures, Alexander puzzles over why a six-thousand-volt wire doesn't deter deer but nearly kills his tree surgeon; encounters a gardener who bears an eerie resemblance to Christopher Walken; and stumbles across the aphrodisiac effects of pollen when he plays bumble bee to his apple blossoms. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e When he decides (just for fun) to calculate how much it cost to grow one of his beloved Brandywine tomatoes, he comes up with a staggering $64. But as any gardener knows, you can't put a price tag on the rewards of homegrown produce, or on the lessons learned along the way.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWilliam Alexander, the author of two critically acclaimed books, lives in New York's Hudson Valley. By day the IT director at a research institute, he made his professional writing debut at the age of fifty-three with a national bestseller about gardening, \u003ci\u003eThe $64 Tomato.\u003c\/i\u003e His second book, \u003ci\u003e52 Loaves, \u003c\/i\u003e chronicled his quest to bake the perfect loaf of bread, a journey that took him to such far-flung places as a communal oven in Morocco and an abbey in France, as well as into his own backyard to grow, thresh, and winnow wheat. The \u003ci\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e called Alexander \"wildly entertaining,\" the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e raved that \"his timing and his delivery are flawless,\" and the \u003ci\u003eMinneapolis Star Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e observed that \"the world would be a less interesting place without the William Alexanders who walk among us.\" A 2006 Quill Book Awards finalist, Alexander won a Bert Greene Award from the IACP for his article on bread, published in \u003ci\u003eSaveur\u003c\/i\u003e magazine. A passion bordering on obsession unifies all his writing. He has appeared on NPR's \u003ci\u003eMorning Edition\u003c\/i\u003e and at the National Book Festival in Washington DC and is a frequent contributor to the\u003ci\u003e New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e op-ed pages, where he has opined on such issues as the Christmas tree threatening to ignite his living room and the difficulties of being organic. Now, in \u003ci\u003eFlirting with French, \u003c\/i\u003e he turns his considerable writing talents to his perhaps less considerable skills: becoming fluent in the beautiful but maddeningly illogical French language. \u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 304\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.82 x 8.24 x 5.48 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 02, 2007\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAccelerated Reader:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eQuiz Name:\u003c\/strong\u003e $64 Tomato\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eInterest Level:\u003c\/strong\u003e Upper Grades, 9-12\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReading Level:\u003c\/strong\u003e 7.5\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePoint Value:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47652258611453,"sku":"9781565125575","price":31.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/3414\/0157\/files\/QWFKeDFZWE9GeU5GVlJzUWxTV2puZz09.webp?v=1780836884","url":"https:\/\/booktolia.com\/products\/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-paperback","provider":"booktolia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}