Brandywine Tomato

Solanum lycopersicum 'Brandywine'

vegetable

Brandywine is a famous Amish heirloom beefsteak tomato dating to the 1880s, producing very large, pink-red fruit with a rich, sweet, old-fashioned flavor that many gardeners consider the best of any tomato. The vigorous indeterminate plants have distinctive potato-leaf foliage and are among the slowest tomatoes to ripen, needing roughly 80 to 100 days from transplant. They yield fewer fruit than modern hybrids but reward the wait with exceptional taste.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Basil — Repels thrips and whiteflies
• Borage — Draws pollinators and hornworm-hunting wasps
• French Marigold — Suppresses root-knot nematodes
• Carrots — Shares space without competing

❌ Keep away from

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Tomato hornworm →

  Attract parasitic wasps with dill and borage; handpick at dusk

• Early blight and septoria →

  Mulch, prune for airflow, rotate beds, and avoid overhead watering

• Cracking →

  Keep moisture even with deep watering and mulch

🌾 Harvest & storage

Pick when the fruit has turned a dusky pink-red and gives slightly to gentle pressure, since these thin-skinned heirlooms crack if left too long. Handle the soft, heavy fruit carefully and use it soon after picking, as heirloom slicers do not store or ship well.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Tomatoes are low in calories and a good source of vitamin C, potassium, and vitamin A, and they are the leading source of lycopene, the red antioxidant linked to heart and prostate health that the body absorbs better from cooked tomatoes.

⚠️ Toxicity & safety

Eat the ripe fruit only. Tomato leaves and stems (and large amounts of very unripe green fruit) contain solanine-type compounds and are not for eating.