Many will say Brandywine Sudduth. Additional personal favorites: Giant Belgium (aka Giant Belgian) and Arkansas Traveler (not true beefsteak size) and Aunt Ginny's Purple (which is pink). I'd add Brandy Boy to the list but the seeds are only available from Burpee. :-/

Dave

Stump of the World, German Head, and Brandy Boy.

Tennesee Britches
Large Pink Bulgarian
Omar's Lebanese
Lincoln-Adams
Heatherington Pink
Soldacki
Dr. Neal
Lithuanian
Olena Ukrainian
Tidwell German
Sandul Moldovan
Ste. Colombe

....to name a few off the top of my head so I'm no doubt forgetting some other good ones. The above not in any special order.

Carolyn

Brandywine
Brandyboy
Marianna's Peace
Pruden's Purple (isn't purple, really a pink IMO)
Tidwell German
Heatherington Pink

I'll second Brandywine Sudduth and add Caspian Pink. I grow both side by side every year.

I love Rose Heirloom. Very tasty, not a lot of cracks or catfacing. Good production.

1) Mr. Brown's. I grow this every year and have sent it across the nation. However, the "experts" seem to want to deny it exists! I wish I knew how to get them to "discover" it!

2) Pruden's Purple

3) Northrup King's particular strain (or variety) of Ponderosa Pink. This is not the same as the old Gleckler's Ponderosa Pink which was pale pink and flattish.

4) Blue Ridge Mountain

Nuff Sed

Had very poor production with Brandywine Sudduth. In fact, all the Brandwines I've tried were pretty much duds.

Brandy Boy has become a regular in the garden. I even grew extra plants for a neighbor this year.

Larry I don't remember seeing that one mentioned. I looked it up. I already have too many for this year, but thanks for the tip. Next time I need to vacuum or do taxes, I'll probably go on line and order more tomatoes instead.

Boondocks, Stump of the World and Giant Belgium. And all do great in the heat!

Carla in Sac

I am growing Brandywine Sudduth for the first time this year so I can't say yet. But I grew Caspian Pink last year and I'm growing it again this year because it is a great pink beefsteak. It's on the sweet side - I prefer my beefsteaks to be not as sweet but Caspian is just a good flavored tomato so I would recommend it.

I'll second German Head, it's very delicious.

I love both Olena Ukrainian, and Mr. Brown's for big luscious pink tomatoes ...MMmmm MMmmmm!Wish I had one in front of me right now , they make the best 'mater sandwiches !!

Not real big on most pinks as I'm always looking for the strong, sharp, tart f-lavors that suit my taste. But IMO Julia Child is an awesome tasting pink in my garden. Don't hear about it much though on this forum. I also always grow Marion for mid size fruits and production, disease resistance, blah blah. JC can be a shy bearer. Would love to hear more of this so called "Mr. Brown's" Pink, I presume. Sounds like a new 'elusive seed' fishing trip is inchoate on the horizon. Can't find any info. Those in the know, do tell.

Mitch, below I've linked to a Google Search on Mr Brown. Several places call it chocolate or mahogany colored, but not pink. And fruit size and shape varies quite a bit as described by different folks who are selling seeds for it.

I first looked in my 2010 SSE YEarbook and no one was listing it, but one person, seeds from Larry, did list it in the 2009 Yearbook, liked it but gave no fruit description other than size. The lister was growing it in OK and said fruit production was poor and suggested that it might do better in the East, where it was from.

I didn't take the time to look in more previous SSE YEarbooks and if I had I know I've seen it there before but can't remember when.

Larry, you could fill in the blanks here. Did you list it in the YEarbook when you were still an SSE member? And how would you comment on the descriptions given for it by Tomatofest, Mariseeds and others as to color, etc, as noted from the Google links?

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Mr Brown tomato

OK, here's the true history and details on my Mr. Brown's tomato.

First, please notice the name. It is not Mr. Brown, it is Mr. Brown's. Lots of difference in just a couple key board strokes!

It is not brown nor streaked but, rather, a deep purple/pink
in color.

Carolyn, I have been an SSE member since 1998 save for a few years in the first decade of the 21st when I was very busy traveling and was negligent in keeping my membership up to date--that's been well attended to since 2006. I have never listed any seeds through SSE, but instead I have chosen to trade, exchange, give away the better varieties I have at a rate commensurate with available time and seed stock.

Mr. Brown's tomato came to me in the mid 90's through
a trade with a lady in eastern PA. Her name and e-mail address has long ago been lost. She said she was very new to trading seeds, had only a few varieties, but offered her neighbor's favorite tomato in trade for a particular variety I had. She said his name was Mr. Brown and she said it was a wonderful pink tomato. I later hung the name Mr. Brown's on it, not realizing others would LATER co-opt
the name for more recent introductions. And no, I am not
completely sure as to timing on the others-just a trifel
miffed about the whole thing.

Now, I can't retrieve the ladies name from an old fried
computer, and I never met Mr. Brown or saw his garden. All
I know about him is that he damn well must have known his tomatoes pretty good!

Mr. Brown's tomato is a regular leaf indeterminate and I estimate 80 DTM. I would say it has better than average
tolerance to foliage crud, yields far better than Brandywine
has fruits a bit smaller than Pruden's Purple, and to me is as good a tasting pink as I've ever grown. The fruits are nearly globular, just slightly flattened. The vine is not rampant but tends towards orderly growth. I stake and train it to triple or quadruple leaders, and seldom have to
thin away irregular greenies to end up with nicely shaped fruit.

Honestly, I did not mean to stoke up a big firestorm of interest at this time as I only have maybe 50 seeds in inventory. But I will try to send out about 5 seeds each
to SASE's till I am down to what I need for my garden this year. I will save lots of seed for 2011 if the recipients will simply let me know via the Garden Web how it did for them and if they liked the taste/etc. of the fruit. The seeds I have were saved in 2000 (in my freezer) and I would estimate maybe 60% germination. So with 5 seeds one could expect maybe 3 plants.

Larry, you could fill in the blanks here. Did you list it in the YEarbook when you were still an SSE member? And how would you comment on the descriptions given for it by Tomatofest, Mariseeds and others as to color, etc, as noted from the Google links?

Carolyn

****

Larry you answered the question about listing it in the SSE Yearbook, you didn't yourself, no doubt someone who got it from you did.
What I really wanted to know was your impression of the comments/pictures about fruit color and size at Tomatofest, mariseeds, etc in those Google links b'c they don't describe as a pink fruited variety. And the history of this variety was given at several of the links as well as by the person who listed it in the 2009 Yearbook and said seeds from you.

And in that 2009 listing it was correctly listed as Mr. Brown's. It isn't clear when he got the seeds from you b'c it says"seed grown in 2006, from Larry Watson......" So either this person last grew it in 2006 or got the seeds from you in 2006.

So it's really your comments about the descriptions of Mr. Brown's given at several sites where the seed is sold that I thought might be most useful to others since they speak of different sizes as well as saying it's not pink, rather chocolate, mahogany, etc,at least grown by them.

Carolyn

Well, I did manage to find descriptions and photos of what others refer to as Mr. Brown.

At Mariseeds it is described as a 4 oz black, and that is absolutely not Mr. Brown's! But Marianna does list Lil's Favorite under red tomatoes and that one is also one of my babies, and it is a dandy!

Tomatofest lists and shows photos of what could be a Mr. Brown's tomato. Gary Ibson describes it as one of his favorites with a complex mix of earthy flavors, vine is as he describes, I just never thought to call the color chocolate or consider it a bicolor--that seems off type to me as does the cushion shape of the fruit he shows in the photo. But that could be just one fruit of an attractive size used in a sales photo.

Were he to request seeds to compare I'd be happy to send them to him, or anyone else who has his variety and would like to compare.

I could not find it at Tomatofest. Do they have it with the pinks? Thanks for the history. It is briefly mentioned in Amy's book as a large pink from Pennsylvania. Nothing is said about it in her book except that it isn't Mr. Brown.

I am not big on pink tomatoes, but I loved Earl's Faux last year, and plan to grow it every year. It was massively productive, with fruits regularly clocking in at 1.5 pounds. Taste was also really luscious, and it was very early for the size of fruit.

I tried the Giant Belgium that came free from TGS last year, and it was useless. None of the fruits went over about 6 ounces, and they were bland bland bland, so I think I got the wrong seed.

Got three and grew them all for the first time last year.
Cowlick's Pink Brandywine
Hege German Pink
Toedebusch Pink
All three had excellent flavor and production. Cowlicks grown in a 10gal SmartPot, Hege in a 7 gal pot and Toedebusch in the ground.

This year I'm growing Big Ben RL, Sterling Old German and Lillian Maciejewski's Poland Pink so I could have a new favorite this year.Ami

helenh,

As I recall , Tomatofest has it listed under the general term "Heirlooms" in their pull down menu. I also had trouble finding it.

I loved the Brandywine pink I grew last year, but the yield from the plants was pretty weak. Anybody know of a variety that tastes similar but puts out more fruit per plant? That'd be a dream come true!

Lora

Pruden's Purple, Rose, Mr. Brown's, Brandyboy, Cherokee Purple, in decending order on taste similarity (to my taster!)

All the above should about double or more your yield ov.er Brandywine.

Larry

Lora, I plant 2 or 3 Brandywines each year, just for the few they can produce. But, if you want something similar with good production that could be Brandy Boy. One plant will produce about the same as 3 Brandywines. The two together take care of the yearning for pink beefsteaks.

Here ye here ye. Cowlick's Pink Brandywine is a tomato machine that pumps out the beefsteaks. I got 20+ fruit off of one plant grown in a 10 Gal SmartPot. I had to reinforce my supports due to the weight of the fruits. And that ain't bull either. Ami

I have had great success and get a lot of compliments on the taste of Burpee's "Brandy Boy". I believe it is a cross between "Brandywine" and "Better Boy". Available only through Burpee.

Click on the link, a picture of some that I grew last year.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://picasaweb.google.com/doug.synergy/BrandyBoyTomatos#5454533155769181298

Sorry to "revive" this thread for one tomato listed, but there just doesn't seem to be much in the way of sources!!!

Did anyone take "larryw" up on his seed offer? How did it go? Does ANYONE have seeds for Mr. Brown's?

I grew 2 each Rose and Pink Brandywines last year. Rose was larger and more productive, and the fruit was more uniform in size and shape. The tomatoes from both tasted excellent, and were difficult to tell apart. I'll be growing Rose instead of Pink Brandywine this year for the vigor and production.

Dora

Omars Lebanese and I was very impressed with Earls Faux last year and will be growing that one again. :)

bump

I have the seed for Giant Belgium and Omar's but have only grown Estler's Mortgage Lifter and Bearclaw. If any of the above are better than these two I will be surprised. I esp like their uniform smooth round shape and their 20 oz size. My neighbor had a peck basket of the latter on his pick-up last summer with a few dozen Goliath and the Bearclaw tomatoes were all about the same size...softball size or bigger and absolutely beautiful!

Hi,

I had a lot of disease problems last year (I was told by the nursery to treat the soil with cow manure and lime, so that's what I'm doing) but despite it all, my Hungarian Heart--large pink, don't know if it would be considered a Beefsteak--produced beautiful pink heart-shaped tomatoes in abundance and I don't think any were less than a pound, with some much heavier. I'm planting it again this year!

Pruden's Purple - my folks & I love Pruden's Purple

I grew a Julia child last year. Fantastic taste, low production. I also had brandywine that was very productive for me. My other brandywine from a different seed source was not as productive. Go figure. I saved seed form the productive plants but I did not bag blossomos so hopefully they are pure. I will probably know shortly after sprouting because they were grown away from any other potatoe leaf type. I have two garden plots, one in my yard and a community garden. I grew these in the community garden and no one else had potato leaf plants. So if the seedlings are potatoe leaf then they are pure.

As I have posted several times already...Estlers Mortgage Lifter is my favorite big pink. More round than beefsteak shaped but very tasty and I get them up to 37 oz so far weighed on a Paula Deen scales. I sucker my plants to about 4 branches and stake with 6 ft stakes. They are medium producers(not as many per plant as say Cherokee Purple) but the plants are tall, sturdy, thick stemmed and easy to grow.