Quote:
Originally Posted by nctomatoman
I illuminates us on a few things I certainly was not aware of - that Ben had Persimmon in his collection, and that Brandywine appeared in a packet with two other varieties - Big Ben and Mortgage Lifter. Ken mentions Big Ben (aka Stump of the World) as Regular Leaf, but I've always found it Potato Leaf. One wonders therefore if Brandywine = Big Ben = Stump of the World - Ken also mentions that Ben was possibly observing crossing and doing some selecting - so one could draw all sorts of conclusions that just reinforce that we will never really know the true story of Brandywine..or many other heirlooms!
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Ben Quisenberry is my Grandfather. His Big Ben tomato (Stump of the World...and it was regular leaf) is a different tomato than the Mortgage Lifter and Brandywine. He lost his Mortgage Lifter plants during a hospital stay when he was in his 90s. Brandywine (Suddeth Strain) was his all time favorite tomato. He got the seeds from Dorothy Suddeth. Her family grew those tomatoes for generations in Tennessee.