Red Brandywine & Arkansas Traveler

This weekend I was given some seeds for the Red Brandywine Heirloom tomato. What a great blessing to help start our garden. The Red Brandywine tomato is an Old Amish potato-leaf heirloom dating back to 1885, named after Brandywine Creek in Chester County, PA. it has large, vigorous vines that produce 8-12 ounce, deep-red fruits in clusters of 4 to 6. The flavor is very robust.

In order to get my seeds prepared for the soil I am going to try and get seedlings in is to soak them for at least 6-8 hours or overnight. I accomplish this by using a small, clear plastic party cup.

Once the seeds have soaked and re-hydrated, I will then plant them in a starter seedling pot. Once the garden is tilled and prepared and the transplant is at least 12-inches high I will plant it in the ground. I can't wait to start planting and getting my hands dirty.

This is what a mature Red Brandywine looks like in case your interested...

Isn't it a beauty! It usually takes about 75-85 days from the time the transplant is placed into the ground to see production, but boy is it worth the wait.

Here is a seedling that I was also given. It's the Arkansas Traveler Heirloom tomato...

This tomato produce abundant crops of 8-ounce, round rose-pink tomatoes. Considered to be one of the best tasting tomato varieties with well balanced sweet/tart flavors, the Arkansas Traveler is much esteemed for its ability to produce flavorful tomatoes under normally adverse conditions high heat, humidity or drought. They are resistant to cracking and disease. This is great since our summers are v-e-r-y hot! Here is an example of the type of tomato it produces...