Stargazer Perennials Garden Journal: BRANDYWINE HEIRLOOM TOMATO PLANT

Stargazer Perennials Garden Journal

BRANDYWINE HEIRLOOM TOMATO PLANT

Brandywine tomato is one of the most popular heirloom tomatoes that we sell at our farm and nursery, and one of the best tasting heirloom tomatoes available. A large, robust heirloom tomato plant, Brandywine produces extremely large tomatoes, sometimes exceeding 1 1/2 pounds each, on indeterminate vines that have distinctive potato-like leaves. The large pink fruit is bright red inside, and is most often used for fresh eating or as a slicing tomato, but works great for canning or cooking applications as well.

The exact history of the Brandywine tomato is somewhat nebulous but the general consensus is that a large fruited pink variety of tomato with distinctive foliage was passed on from the Sudduth family to an Ohio tomato enthusiast named Ben Quisenberry sometime in the 1800's. Through a variety of seed savers and farmers trading with Ben, two identical varieties soon became available to gardeners; Mikado tomato from the Henderson Seed Company and Turner's Hybrid offered for sale by Burpee Seed Company. Today both of these varieties have been traced back to the original Amish Brandywine tomato.

SHOP for Brandywine tomato plants

For tips on growing great tomatoes , browse our Gardening Articles on our main website Stargazer Perennials