Brandywine, Red - Tomato
Price: $2.95
SKU: 3400041Any tomato with the "Brandywine" moniker has immediate "recognition" and generates interest among gardeners. There is a lot of lore surrounding the Brandywine category of tomatoes. And by lore, I mean confusion, myth, argument, and cliques who follow various garden writers. We simply try to stick to facts that are verifiable using primary source historical documentation and compare that to the firsthand observations we gather during our grow outs.
The information that you find in seed catalogs, gardening books and magazine articles tends to simply be the oft repeated "Amish origin story." We have found no factual basis for this attribution and assume that it began as conjecture based on an association with its name to the creek in Pennsylvania with the same name. This evolved to become legend, and has now achieved the status of commonly accepted "fact."
Here is what we know, in Johnson and Stokes' 1889 Seed Annual, they describe the origin of the name, "Brandywine." They wrote, "The name given it was suggested by our friend, Thos. H. Brinton, of Chadd's Ford, Pa., who has probably grown and tested more varieties of tomatoes than any other person in the United States, who wrote September 25th, 1888: "The more I see of the Tomato No. 45, the more I am pleased with it, It is certainly a magnificent new and distinct variety, and worthy of the name 'Brandywine.' after the most beautiful of all streams, which flows near our Quaker village."
Our parent stock is from author and tomato authority Craig LeHoullier who got the seed from Landis Valley in the early 1990s. Each packet contains approximately 20 seeds.
Special Groups: "Epic" Tomatoes
Harvest Timing: Late Season
Days to Maturity: 80 to 100
Growth Habit: Indeterminate
Lifespan: Annual
- "100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden," Dr. Carolyn Male, Workman Publishing, 1999, pages 70-71.
- "Epic Tomatoes: How To Select and Grow the Best Varieties of All Time," Craig LeHoullier, Storey Publishing, 2015, page 44.
Customer Reviews:
By Mike S (Northern Virginia) on September 1, 2024
Few tomatoes rival a Brandywine for taste. For this reason, I grow a few Brandywine plants each year. In the past, like many heirlooms, my Brandywines would not rival my hybrid tomatoes for production or longevity though. This year, growing Brandywines for the first time from seeds from Victory Seed, my Brandywines have produced and stayed healthy just like my hybrids but with a much more tasty tomato. If you want a superior red tomato, grow Brandywines.
By Peter B. (Phoenix, AZ) on June 2, 2024
I was happy it grew in a hot weather climate. These had the sweetest, most tomato-ey flavor of the 6 varieties that I planted this year. This is the second year that I have planted them and would definitely grow again.
By Jolene Pirrone on March 1, 2014
These are tasty tomatoes, but can be difficult to grow. The first one or two turn out quite huge and if you don't have even water conditions, they can end up pretty cat-faced (cracked near the stem end). This part is easily cut off and you still have a HUGE fruit to use. My husband loves them for sandwiches. The fruits are smaller and nicer looking as the season goes on.
By kim Hanna on September 2, 2012
This plant produces lots of tasty tomatoes that are nice and round with a smooth skin. The tomatoes are a little more than 2 inches in diameter. The only drawback for me (not for everyone) is that the plant grows, and grows, and grows! It is definitely a big vine and you must make lots of room for it so the branches don't smother each other and can let air flow through. If I had a bigger garden I would plant many more of these.
