There are three Red Brandywines 1)Original variety from Landis County PA (with links to Amish). This is a regular leaf plant and may be the descendant of "Brandywine" sold by seed companies in the late 1800s. Amish bought seeds from the company and then someone got seeds from Amish families later, and even later than that it got to the seed company (from a nonamish source) that originally marketed it so is it an Amish Heirloom?. This variety is in fact somewhat rare because the market was flooded with #2 Red Brandywine for a while while the only one small heirloom seed company sold the original. 2) Red Brandywine, regular leaf. Not Landis strain. hit the market in recent times from parts unknown to me (some commercial seed farm distributed it to several seed venders). 3) Potatoleaf Red Brandywine. Mislabeled variety from Seeds by Design seed farm. Unusual in that it is one of very few varieties (only one on the market now?) having red fruits on a potatoleaf plant. All of the pink potatoleaf varieties originated with Dorris Sudduth as a family heirloom (at least 100 years ago by now). Seedsman Ben Quisenberry in Ohio got seeds from her and distributed them, but it is probable that there was some crossing in Quisenberry's garden and the variety was not stable, so from that point on several strains of the pink have developed. One of the best of these was stabilized by a small seed company on on Long Island and is known as Brandywine Sudduth's strain 9or Quisenberry strain). The modern term "Brandywine" refers to the pink potatoleaf variety. Others are "Red Brandywine". Anything else with Brandywine in the name is a cross with Brandywine or Red Brandywine as a parent. Shah was a sport of Mikado (somatic mutation changing color from pink to yellow). Both are potatoleaf, and neither is red so they could not be parents of Red Brandywine. Mikado was one of the earliest pink potatoleaf commercial varieties, so it could be the origin of the Brandywine grew by the Sudduth family, but since the names are not the same it is only speculation, and there is no way to link it to a specific breeder or seed seller.

Did some research. You're playing with fire if you're using spring crocus as a saffron substitute. Please read the following, & particularly note the warning: "Saffron (Crocus sativus) is also known as Parrot's Corn or Autumn Crocus. It is the only member of the crocus family which has edible parts (but see Warning below) - all other crocuses are poisonous. The bright orange stigmas are removed in autumn, just as the flower opens. The flowering period may last only 15 days. Each blossom yields only 3 stigmas. It takes as many as 4000 flowers to produce 30g (1 oz), making it the most expensive herb in the world. Store your precious saffron away from heat and light. In cooking with saffron, use only a pinch at a time and follow recipe directions exactly, as a little is good, but a lot can be dreadful. Use to colour and flavour rice dishes, cakes and biscuits, sauces and soups, fish dishes, scrambled eggs and mayonnaise. Saffron has a sweetish, aromatic odour and slightly pungent flavour. Commonly used in Asian and Middle Eastern cookery. Crush the threads when needed and infuse in hot liquid before using for best results. Medicinal Uses: Dried stigmas are used as a preventative for heart disease, to stimulate menstruation, relieve abdominal pain, and to prevent the build-up of cholesterol. Used, in small doses only, for coughs, whooping cough, stomach gas, gastrointestinal colic and insomnia Also useful for fevers, melancholia, enlargement of the liver, asthma, anaemia, chlorosis and seminal debility It is considered to be an appetite stimulant. Warning: Be sure to identify the plant correctly before using. Other Crocuses are poisonous. Avoid when pregnant. Large doses are narcotic, and may act on the central nervous system and damage the kidneys. 10-12g is a fatal dose for human beings. You can use Calendula officinalis petals as a substitute for saffron. You won't get the same distinctive flavour, but you'll get the nice yellow colour."

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

Hi I read an old post about this cross and it's success I appear to have found seeds on another site NAR seems to grow very well in my garden, quite productive, healthy, good sized delicious tomatoes still waiting for one to ripen here in Montreal as we are a bit behind but brandy wine has been a challenge and I've stopped growing it Just wondered what the feedback is from this cross thanks, sharon