oh, I could also use some Black Seaman too.. Thanks!!

Is the Red Brandywine from Renee's garden the original Landis Valley "strain" or that yucky fake one (my opinion) from TGS? I ask because my local hardware store has them in stock and I would like to give the real variety a try. I know Renee's Garden has a good reputation and I've had good experiences with that brand in the past. Thanks. &&&&&&&&&&&& THe Landis Valley one is NOT the original one. It (RB)was listed in the SSE Yearbooks for members for many years and it was Tom Hauch at Heirloom Seeds in PA who got it from a yearbook and made it known to others on a commercial basis and he still considers it his signature variety. Those of us who are long time SSE members, I joined in 1989 have had it since the early 90's and have offered in my annual seed offers at several places. It was Tom who sent it to Steve Miller at the Landis Museum in PA and it was Steve who got most of the background info. I could link you to a nice review of all the Brandywines if you want, and they are in two places, at Victory Seeds and also at Craig LeHoulliers blog site. Craig did the heirloom ones and I did the ones that arose via X pollination, directed crosses and the like. Yes, for many years Linda Sapp at TGS has listed those two NOT RB's from Seeds by Design not retail,and I've pleaded with her, I've known her since the early 90's to do something about it but she says that many like them and so she keeps them. I don't know why she went to the Landis Museum to get her seed stock when there are many other places that carry the true RB, and she listed it as a strain but there are No strains of RB. There's been a lot of wrong RB out there, with PL foliage and whatever, and below I'm going to link to Tania's superb tomato data base and indicate all the places that list it and which ones I'd go to for true RB, but I don't have to since I have my own from an SSE member long ago.( smile) When you click on thelink below read that page first, then go to the top of that page and click on Seed availability. From that list I suggest the following sources: Sandhill if Glenn wasn't sold out for 2013 Tania Heirloom Seeds,Tom Hauch's website Victory Seeds, Mike Dunton TGS, for the Landis one Hope that helps. Carolyn Here is a link that might be useful: Red Brandywine

colorado, What I grew in '91 is the same that TOm Hauch got out of the SSE Yearbook and others were growing and listing it as well. I said above that I compared my 91 with Tom Hauch's current stock and they were identical. I'd said above that after Tom sent seeds to Steve Miller at the Landis Museum that it was Steve who got the background info. There are NO seeds that came forward directly from about 1865 in a direct line as far as I know. And Tom can't even remember the name of the SSE person he got the seeds from and clearly others got it from that person as well. I didn't say that as clearly as I should have. RB was listed by an SSE member in an SSE Yearbook. How that SSE member got the seeds is not known. Apparently Steve contacted that SSE lister and found that the variety was knnown to have been grown by the Amish in Chester Co PA. One might assume that the original SSE lister got it from the Amish. You know, I think a lot of these questions would be answered if those of you who still have questions, were to read the article at Victory Seeds on the history of brandywines by Craig LeHoullier. He did the family ones and I provided the info for the ones that were bred or resulted from cross pollinations. Fruit size alone can never ID a variety b'c as I think most of ou know, weather can alter fruit sizes, and so can amendments used. So without doing controlled studies I would not use fruit size as THE determining factor in IDing any variety, Carolyn

Deanna, I can't give a definitive answer on the Epson Salt, I was more thinking too much typical blue stuff fertilizer but maybe one of the PhD's here can answer that. By just looking at those pics I would think it's a mixture of too much fert and water and growing in too compacted soil. But then I see the Arkansas Traveller and that just blows my theory! I save lots of seed. I have the real deal Red Brandywine. The real Brandywine (Sudduth) you can buy from Johnny's. If you save my name here and message me after next fall I can give you a list of seeds I have available at no charge and I know what I have is real or a faux because I either saved them myself or got them from trusted friends who have forgotten more about this hobby than I'll ever know!. The only faux I have this year is Marianna's Peace because I LIKE the faux MP! I just got the real MP in the mail as well so it's comparison time. (Thank You Cindy!) It took me years to get this all right....;-) Garden's Alive is a good company and not too costly if you can use one of their 50% off coupons but they would be far down my list as seed merchants. They sell nice bug predators and a nice Kelp/Seaweed fert and that's what I buy from them. Hope your plants survive...