Hi, I am new here!! I am a Master Gardener in SE Wisconsin & love growing unusual varieties. I grow them for my own garden and friends, as well as giving lots to local food banks. In addition to the pictured tomatoes, I am also growing Sweet Aperitif and Mexican Midgets. I have been growing Marmande tomatoes for years, which were my favorites, but hoping to have new favorites this year.
by VariousProfile5393
5 Comments
Buckle up.
Brandywine Sudduth is easily top 3 in the maybe 200ish tomatoes I’ve grown. It easily clears all the other Brandywine, and imo most other heirlooms I’ve grown. I can never get that diva to give me more than 10 tomatoes per season when grafted (never got more than 3 on its own roots so I’ll the 10 as a win!) but those few I do get, oh lord: creamy, rich, velvety yet meaty, the epitome of peak summer tomato flavor matched only by its refreshing acidity. It’s so damn good that I will literally eat it in thick slices with only the smallest bit of salt. Leftover juices with some bread. But **it IS** that sinfully divine. It gives me headaches year in year out, but it’s just too good. Even if I only got one tomato a year, I’d still grow it every year!!
I too am growing Brandywine (Sudduth’s) in 2026. My seeds are from Victory Seeds. Last couple of years I have grown Brandywine (Cowlick’s). B. Cowlick’s is an outstanding large pink tomato, but I thought I might try the Sudduth’s Strain this season as I hear Sudduth’s is the top of the Brandywine heap. Cowlick’s has been pretty productive, we’ll see how Sudduth’s does. I didn’t like Brandywine OTV, but that’s really only half a Brandywine (the other half must have been a real clunker). True Black Brandywine is okay. The Brandywine label gets attached to a lot of tomatoes, but from what I can determine, The Sudduth’s Strain is supposedly the king.
Big, pink, heirloom beefsteak types like Brandywine are my favorite tomatoes for their exquisite creamy, melting texture and sweet and rich flavors. Seven of my twelve tomato plants currently growing out in the garden are large pink beefsteak tomatoes, heirlooms or the more recent open pollinated crosses of heirlooms. The other five are big reds, brown or black. Some of these old heirlooms stick around for decades just because they are so very good.
I have pantanos this year.👍
i have Alice’s Dream as a free seed, too! germination was great, and i’m excited to try them!