I have to brag about my tomatoes ................

[kestrel91316]

I have, after several years of trying, finally managed to harvest about a dozen Brandywine tomatoes. These are huge, light pinkish red Amish heirloom tomatoes, and arguably the best-flavored tomato in the world. They are VERY sun-sensitive and here in Los Angeles in the summer that is a big problem. But I finally did it!

The best way to eat Brandywines is plain, just cut into wedges and lightly salted. But they also do great in BLT sandwiches, and sliced and served with buffalo mozarella and fresh basil and olive oil. NEVER waste a Brandywine by cooking it!

My neighbors and friends swoon over these, and I never have enough to pass around much............maybe next year I will plant two plants.

[demnan]

1. Sounds delicious!

What kind of good hierloom would be small enough to grow in pots? (this year I planted all romas).

[kestrel91316]

3. I think you can grow any tomato in a pot, but ..............

you are never going to do as well as in the ground. If you want eating tomatoes, like for salads, maybe Porter? Very productive, they are smaller than a golf ball. So much depends on your climate. Check the Totally Tomatoes catalog.

[wryter2000]

7. Depends on your climate

I grow Early Girls in earthboxes www.earthbox.com. They're small, but they're full of flavor. They could be a good container plant (although they get rather tall.)

[ernstbass]

2. Good for you!!

I'm watching mine slowly ripen but it will be another 3 weeks.

[kestrel91316]

4. Poor thing...........where are you that you have to wait so long??

[Kolesar]

5. Did you ever try "Long Keeper" tomatoes?

When shopping for tomato starts, I bought two of those. Somehow, the idea of eating a fresh tomato in November just appealed to me. The description said they will keep 6-8 weeks. (I think I have the duration correct).

[wryter2000]

6. Oh, yum!

I'm limited to Early Girls in Oaktown. It gets too cool here in the evenings for a large tomato. Luckily, Early Girls are delicious.

Mine are going crazy right now.

On edit: At the recommendation of several folks here, I got fresh mozarella and basil today. I already have some nice olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

So, why am I sitting here instead of eating tomatoes?

[Gregorian]

8. Sob. Mine all died.

All of my brandywine seeds died in germination this year. And to make things worse, the plants I bought are about three inches taller than they were when I bought them. I have a HUGE garden. 60 by 80 feet with an electic fence to keep the animals out. And nada. Nothing.

And there isn't a thing in the world I love more than brandywines. I am so glad for you. Every time I eat one, it's like cheating. It's like remembering what food was like before the big change. You know, if you are fifty, you know what I mean. Ok, enough ranting.

Can I ask you if you germinated? I haven't seen brandywine plants before. And if you did germinate, were there any tricks? I think mine got too hot and baked to death in the greenhouse. I got sick for a few days and that was the end.

Oh, one more thing- I love this simple way to eat tomatoes- dice them, mince up basil, put a touch of balsamic on, and prepare for a delightful treat.

Also, you must be pretty lucky to have escaped the blight they get. That brown bruisy thing that happens. It might be my somewhat cooler climate that facilitates that.

[kestrel91316]

9. I bought the one seedling I could find at the nursery .....

and it was big! These plants are very heat sensitive, not sure if maybe their open growth habit with those weird sparse leaves is part of the problem. The sun is a killer but this year I got lucky.

We don't get blight. But once it gets fiercely hot we get a lot of Fusarium Wilt. So fall tomatoes are REALLY rare here.