Look to ‘Black Krim,’ one of the earliest “black” tomato varieties, for an heirloom tomato rich in color and flavor. This strong performer yields hefty slicing tomatoes in rich rose and deep purple tones. Explore the heirloom qualities and how-to’s of ‘Black Krim’ with garden expert Katherine Rowe. ‘Black Krim’ tomatoes bring bold heirloom color, flavor, and performance to the slicing tomato. Depending on weather conditions, hefty fruits ripen to deep purple or dusky rose. The unique color, form, and flavor of this “black” tomato make the heirloom noteworthy in the garden. These beautiful, beefsteak-sized fruits have dark flesh with deep, juicy interiors and a balanced, rich, sweet, and salty flavor. Let’s explore the heirloom traits and growing qualities of ‘Black Krim’ for an exciting twist on the summer slicer. What are ‘Black Krim’Tomatoes? This is an heirloom tomato variety with large, flavorful, beefsteak-type fruits. Its origin is as interesting as its color and form. ‘Black Krim’ is a selection in Krymsk, Russia, on the Black Sea across from the Crimean Peninsula. Synonyms include ‘Black Crimea.’ The first commercially available “black” tomato, Seed Savers Exchange introduced it in 1990 after receiving seeds initially from Crimea from Lars Olov Rosenstrom of Sweden. A few years later, the popular heirloom black tomato ‘Cherokee Purple’ came into cultivation. Heirloom varieties span generations because of their flavor, growth, unique fruits, and performance qualities. This variety is notable for hefty, colorful fruits with a rich, slightly salty flavor. Characteristics This indeterminate tomato grows and produces fruits throughout the season until frost. It fruits reliably and productively, with meaty tomatoes that weigh 10 to 12 ounces each. The long, leafy vines that reach six feet or more. In cool climates, the large fruits ripen to dusky rose and chocolate with green shoulders. They’ll turn deep purple-black in more sun and heat, but the sweet, salty flavor remains. The round fruits have squatty, flat tops. ‘Black Krim’ fruits late in the season, yielding mature tomatoes 70 to 90 days after transplanting into the garden. With its tall, continually growing vines, it needs a large tomato cage, stake, or trellis for support. Native Area Before ‘Black Krim’ grew near Russia and Ukraine, its wild ancestors hailed from faraway Central and South American coasts. Their original growing range is the narrow coastline below the Andes Mountains from Ecuador to Chile. Tomato cultivation spread regionally through indigenous cultures and then through Spanish colonists returning to Europe with the fruits. A few centuries later, it became significant in culinary uses. These are tender perennials in regions where they are hardy (USDA zones 10 and 11) and grow as warm-season annuals elsewhere. They belong to the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, along with peppers, eggplants, and potatoes, among numerous other plants. Planting These plants are frost-sensitive and require warm air and soil temperatures for best growth. They grow easily from seed, with seedlings ready to move outdoors a week or two after the last frost and as nighttime temperatures are above 55°F (13°C). Growth takes off with warming summer temperatures. When deciding where to plant, if possible, opt for a spot where you haven’t grown nightshades in the past year. Nightshades like tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, tomatillos, and eggplants transmit diseases among the group. Crop rotation helps prevent the spread of any lingering fungus or bacteria in the soil. Plant seedlings two to three feet apart to provide ample air circulation between plants. If growing in rows, space the rows three to four feet apart. Plant tomato seedlings deep, leaving a third of the stem exposed (or two sets of leaves) with the rest buried. The covered leaf nodes and hairs grow roots to aid plant stability and nutrient uptake. At planting, install the upright support structure like a large tomato cage. How to Grow This large tomato grows best with certain cultural needs fulfilled. However, it’s also an adaptable variety that withstands less-than-ideal conditions. ‘Black Krim’ is a productive and reliable fruiter. Maintenance In addition to meeting basic cultural requirements, an important step is mulching, which helps with moisture retention, weed suppression, and soil temperature regulation. Clean, weed-free straw, compost, leaf mold, or aged woodchips do the job. Pruning is unnecessary, but as large, indeterminate plants, they benefit from pinching off low-growing, suckering offshoots to direct nutrients and growth to the upper parts of the plant. To increase air circulation at the base of plants, some gardeners find it helpful to pinch off the lower six to ten inches of growth along stems. Do this when plants reach two feet tall.

The most popular cherry grown by commercial farmers is also available for growing in home gardens. In this article, gardening expert Wendy Moulton shares how to care for fantastic ‘Bing’ cherry trees! The sweet fragrance of white cherry blossoms in spring will burst into rich, large fruits in summer with their tasty, sweet flesh. In autumn, the green serrated leaves turn golden – truly a tree for all seasons. It is, however, the cherries that they are known for. ‘Bing’ cherry trees produce deep red heart-shaped fruits with a sweet, delicious taste and small seeds, giving you more cherry for your pie. These vigorous growers are perfect for temperate climates and will produce up to 50 pounds of fruit per year for many years to come. The prolific fruit on this tree, the large size of the cherries, and the deep red color all make this the variety to plant. It requires a pollinator tree planted nearby, which adds to the variation in cherries you can grow in a home garden. Here, I’ll share the requirements ‘Bing’ cherries need to perform at their best. What Is It? Prunus avium ‘Bing’ is America’s most produced variety of cherry in the commercial market. Its origins have a colorful history, starting in the mid-1800s when the Lewelling family traveled west across the country from Iowa to Oregon, bringing with them 700 fruit trees. They started the first nursery on the West Coast and planted orchards of prunes, apples, and cherries, which is believed was the beginning of Oregon’s fruit-growing industry. The ‘Bing’ cherry tree was named for Chinese horticulturalist and foreman at the Lewelling orchards, Ah Bing. His legacy lives on in this award-winning cherry cultivar. For the nearly 150 years that the ‘Bing’ cherry has been in production, it has set the standard by which other cultivars are judged. Native Area Originally from Germany, these trees are descendants of the ‘Napoleon Bigarreau’ variety. The ‘Bing’ cherry was bred in Milwaukie, Oregon, from original trees brought from Iowa by the Henderson Luelling. Characteristics ‘Bing’ is a tall tree with a rounded canopy that can grow up to 35 feet and 25 feet wide. Dwarf varieties are more compact, with a mature height of around 15 feet and 12 feet wide. The leaves are long, serrated, dark green for most of the year, and turn golden yellow in the fall. The tree will be full of pretty, fragrant spring blossoms that form the sought-after large fruits, a deep red when ripe in the summer. This tree is a vigorous grower and a prolific producer of quality, firm cherries. ‘Bing’ requires another pollinator cherry close by to set fruit; it is not self-pollinating. The best-recommended varieties to plant as pollinators are ‘Sam’, ‘Van’, ‘Rainier’, and ‘Stella’. Planting Find a position in full sun and with enough space for the mature size of a ‘Bing’ cherry—at least 25 feet—and a pollinator cherry. Locate it away from other plants and buildings in a spot with plenty of sunlight. Dig a hole at least twice the width and height of the root ball so that the roots have a chance to expand and sit in the ground well to hold the weight of the tree. A stake is necessary, particularly in windy areas. Add the tree and backfill the soil, pressing it down as you go to remove any air pockets in the soil and prevent any bacterial infections from getting to the roots. Create a basin around the tree’s base to help direct water toward the roots. After planting, water the plant well and add a layer of mulch, making sure that the mulch does not touch the tree’s bark.

If you’re ready to slice into heirloom goodness this summer, look to the ‘Brandywine’ tomato for a huge slicing tomato with a long garden history. The unbeatable flavor keeps ‘Brandywine’ at the top of heirloom tomato varieties. Join gardening expert Katherine Rowe in exploring how to grow ‘Brandywine’ tomatoes in your garden. Brandywine tomatoes are the quintessential summer-slicing heirloom tomato. These are the big beauties we envision when it comes to classic, old-fashioned tomato varieties beloved in the garden and the kitchen, from tomato sandwiches to Caprese salads and topping burgers right off the grill. These are the best-known heirloom vegetable for good reason. The hefty fruits are large and meaty in red, pink, yellow, and orange shades. They feature exceptional, flavor-rich, sweet, and slightly spicy fruits – characteristic of the variety and a gold standard for other tomatoes. Here, we’ll explore how (and why) to grow heirloom ‘Brandywine’ in our own gardens. By summer’s end, we can slice into some of the most flavorful tomatoes grown today. What are Brandywine Tomatoes? A garden favorite for over 100 years, this heirloom tomato variety is prized for its large, flavorful fruits. ‘Brandywine’ generates lore and a bit of mystery surrounding its history, from Amish origins to multiple strains by the same name. That’s the fun of heirlooms – tracing tales and generational gardening knowledge. Heirloom vegetables represent our heritage crops, cultural foodways, and selections preserved for exceptional flavor and growing qualities. The term “heirloom” varies when it comes to vegetables. Heirloom can mean plants grown before 1951, when the first hybrids became commercially available, or antique varieties passed down from generation to generation for preservation. Heirloom vegetables are open-pollinated (not hybrids) and come true from seed. Seeds are saved from season to season for the next planting. The seed company Johnson and Stokes introduced the original ‘Brandywine’ tomato (also known as ‘Red Brandywine’) in their 1889 catalog after receiving seeds from a customer in Ohio. The old-fashioned tomato gets its name from Brandywine Creek in Chester County, Pennsylvania. In 1982, this variety surged in popularity among heirloom varieties when Seed Savers Exchange obtained seeds from an Ohio family. Since its introduction, several strains have become available for the contemporary garden. ‘Pink Brandywine’ is a historic grower originally from the garden of Dorris Sudduth Hill, whose family grew it for over 100 years. There’s something special about growing longstanding varieties passed along from generation to generation for their flavor, growth, and performance qualities. While these tender beefsteak-types may not be in the grocery store, they are farmer’s market favorites. Growing them in our own gardens invites a little food way history and culture into every juicy bite and preserves the integrity of the heirloom’s traits. Characteristics ‘Brandywine’ produces 10 to 30 ounce fruits on productive plants. The fruits are dense and “meaty.” Some yield fruits up to two pounds—that’s a lot of tomato! As an indeterminate plant, The vines reach six feet long or more. Indeterminate tomato plants grow and produce fruit all season until frost. ‘Brandywine’ produces fruit late in the season, about 76 to 100 days after plants go into the ground. This is nearly 30 days later than many other tomato varieties. It takes time to grow such large, luscious fruits. Grow it with different tomato varieties like cherry and roma for fruits throughout the season. ‘Brandywine’ plants have an upright growth habit that benefits from staking, caging, or trellising. Their stems and leaves are hairy, and their scent is easily recognizable as that of a tomato plant. The deeply lobed, coarse leaves resemble those of a potato plant. Clusters of yellow flowers lead to fruits after pollination, and ‘Brandywine’ produces one to two fruits per cluster. Tomatoes are in the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, which includes eggplant, tomatillos, potatoes, and peppers. Native Area All tomatoes originate from wild ancestors in Central and South America, and their growing range follows the coastlines below the Andes Mountains. Indigenous cultures utilized and grew them for thousands of years, spreading the crop from Ecuador to Chile. Spanish colonists returned with tomatoes to Europe. In the 16th century, they became incorporated into European cuisine but were feared as toxic as nightshades. It was in the 18th century that tomatoes became more widely cultivated and used for culinary purposes. They are tender perennials in regions where they are hardy (USDA zones 10 and 11) and grow as warm-season annuals everywhere else. Planting You can grow ‘Brandywine’ easily from seed or purchase them in cell packs and nursery pots ready for planting right in the ground. They are frost-sensitive plants, requiring warm air and soil temperature for best growth. Whether seedlings or sturdy nursery-grown plants, they are ready to move outdoors after the last expected frost has passed and as nighttime temperatures are above 55°F (13°C), with plants taking off in the heat of summer. In-ground tomatoes benefit from annual crop rotations. Avoiding planting where other nightshades grew in the same year helps stave off transmittable diseases. So, don’t plant your new plants in a plot where you’ve grown tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, or eggplants in the last year. Space plants three to four feet apart. If planting in rows, space rows three to four feet apart to give the vining stems plenty of growing room and circulation. Plant them deep—burying stems up to the first leaf node (or even pinching those leaves and burying the node) encourages more roots to grow. Plants with robust root systems are more stable and have greater nutrient uptake. Indeterminate tomatoes need support structures for best growth. These include stakes, cages, or trellises. Long-vining plants like ‘Brandywine’ can grow on a fence, around a pole, or on an arch if given support and air circulation and tied off as stems grow throughout the season. ‘Brandywine’ also grows in containers as long the pot is large enough to accommodate mature plants with plenty of soil volume for a robust root system. A 20-gallon pot gives large, indeterminate varieties ample room to grow. If starting from seed, direct sow seeds in their growing container one to two weeks after the last frost. Thin seedlings as they sprout. How to Grow As an annual crop, tomatoes grow in a single cycle. They benefit from specific cultural conditions for the best growth and vigor. Large varieties like ‘Brandywine’ are susceptible to uneven ripening, cracking, catface deformations, and sometimes low yields. Meeting their cultural requirements gives plants a head start for healthy, carefree growth. Maintenance The tall, rambling stems get leggy as the end of summer approaches. After the season of growing and producing, it’s understandable that the long stems get a bit rangy; it’s part of the nature of large, indeterminate varieties. Pruning isn’t necessary with caged ‘Brandywine’ plants, nor is it essential for staked or trellised plants, though pinching off suckering offshoots to direct nutrients and growth benefits non-caged growers. When plants are 18-24 inches tall, pinching off the lower six to ten inches of growth at the base of the tomato increases air circulation to plants. This pinching isn’t essential to growth, but some gardeners find it helpful. Lastly, mulching at planting and as needed during the growing season helps with moisture retention, weed suppression, and soil temperature regulation. A clean, weed-free straw or cover of leaf litter or aged woodchips does the job.