How about a photo Sey? Your description sounds yummy! You should photo and post your last ripe Brandy Boy too - Sey?

Here is an update on the Green Tomatoes - a couple of the large ones and a couple of the small ones have blushed - so I removed them from the box and placed them on the counter - it appears to be working? I did place a couple of sheets of newspaper over all the ones on top - too.

My prize BB didn't make it as the lite burned out and when the lites go out!!!

The clones from it are still growing great in their walls-o-water. Don't know if it will work butit gives me something to think about in the cold months.

Please let us know how it turns out Lar !

Update: It has worked to wrap the Brandy Boy green tomatoes in newspaper and store them at about 50-60 degrees in a closed box. About 2/3 of them have ripened now since we put them in a box about November 14th. Some of the tomatoes rot - most of them did not ripen uniformly - many shriveled - most were very ugly by the time they were ripe - but a few were worth the effort. Here are some of the ones ripe today that were worth the effort. It is nice having a few GH tomatoes ripen in November/December - but I doubt we will make the effort in coming seasons for the few that turn out great :)

Hudson,

That is great. Home grown tomatoes for Thanksgiving, in Wyoming. Never heard off before.

Sey

Thanks Sey - Wrapping the green ones in newspaper did prolong our season. Here is our last Brandy Boy of 2015 - ripened today November 29th. It did taste better than a store bought tomato but not up to par with the Brandy Boys fresh off the vine. We had our last BLT for the season :( But - lots to look forward to in 2016 !!

pennypond... you didn't tell us your secret...

Hi Pennypond - you certainly don't need any secrets - your plants look awesome!! I think our secret is Wyoming's climate. The climate is so harsh here that all I have to do is create a micro climate with temp and humidity control and Wyoming's harsh climate controls everything else !! That's my guess for our success !!

Just waiting for April

Hudson, your greenhouse always looks awesome and with those colorful lights inside at night should be a showplace.

Merry Christmas to all !

Sey

I think it is time to start announcing the contest winners for 2015 !! I will announce them as I have time over the coming days - starting with category #7

7. Most blossoms/buds on a truss (note: a photo of the truss showing blossoms/buds is fine - we trust your total count).

The Winner is - PupillaCharites (FL 9a)

PC had a Brandy Boy Plant which had 27 blossoms/buds on one single truss !!! Brandy Boy is certainly prolific for most growers as shown in this photo. Congratulations PC !!

Category 3 - Zone 8 and overall winner of the earliest ripe tomato.

3. Earliest ripe tomato for all zones and by each individual zone.

The Winner is - Centexan254

Centexan was not only the winner of zone 8 - but also had the earliest ripe Brandy Boy for all zones !! This Brandy Boy was ripe on May 27 !!

Congratulations Nate !!

Category 3 - Zone 10

3. Earliest ripe tomato for all zones and by each individual zone.

The winner is - Socalgal_gw - This Brandy Boy was ripe on June 6th !!

Congratulations Socalgal_gw !!

"Neither the blotches nor the insect damage on my first BB were very deep. It was extremely tasty." Socalgal_gw

Category 3 - Zone 7

3. Earliest ripe tomato for all zones and by each individual zone.

The winner is - BixbyM zone 7 - Oklahoma - This Brandy Boy was ripe on June 9th !!

Congratulations BixbyM !!

Category 3 - Zone 3

3. Earliest ripe tomato for all zones and by each individual zone.

The winner is - Hudson_WY zone 3 - This Brandy Boy was ripe on June 13th !

Congratulations to me !!

Congratulations to all the winners. And special thanks to you ,Hudson, and all the friends who participated in the contest, making it fun and an enjoyable season.

Sey

Hi Everyone

I was not in the race, but here it is my late Brandy Boy.:)

Merry Christmas to all the tomato lovers!

Silvia

Nice Brandy Boy, Silvia - the contest is still open until December 31st! How much does he weigh? You may also have the latest to ripen BB in 2015.

Thanks Sey!

Category 8

8. Most ripe tomatoes from a truss (note: photo can show the ripe tomatoes that are on the truss at the time of the photo - we trust your total count of ripe tomatoes from that truss).

The winner is - Hudson_Wyoming zone 3

This truss had 27 buds/blossoms and produced 11 ripe good sized Brandy Boys off of this single truss.

Category 3 - Zone 5

3. Earliest ripe tomato for all zones and by each individual zone.

The winner is - Antmary_Omaha_NE - Zone 5b This Brandy Boy was ripe on July 18th.

Congratulations Antmary !!

Category 9

9. Most ripe tomatoes from a single Brandy Boy Plant by 12/31/2015

The winner is - Pennypond - Zone 10 CA

This Brandy Boy Plant produced approximately 80 tomatoes and gets the award because not only were there approx 80 tomatoes on this plant - the tomatoes were also large producing the most total weight on a plant when compared with any other Brandy Boy plant in the contest !!

Congratulations Pennypond !!

Honorable Mentions - The contest is open until December 31st and Pennypond is the current leader for the "Grand Prize" but below are the honorable mentions to date:

1. Largest ripe tomato including fused fruit - the winner of this category receives the $25 gift certificate from Burpee - The Honorable Mentions are!

Yolos - Zone 7a/8b GA. Here is my biggest Brandy Boy to date. 591.5 grams (1 lb 5 oz). This BrandyBoy is not a fused blossom.

Wertach - zone 7b - SC This Brandy Boy weighs 739 grams - 26.07 oz or 1.63 lbs ! This is a big one!!

Caryltoo - zone 7 SE PA My biggest brandy boy at 607 grams or 21.41 oz or 1.34 lbs !

John 11840 - zone 6 CT - I was away over the weekend, and when I returned, the first BB F1 was ready. Looking forward to a side by side taste test with the F11. 548.85 grams or 19.36 oz or 1.21 lbs !

Lartomato - zone 5 Norther AZ - I know this is not big to your standards but I am very proud of it. 725.75 grams or 25.60 oz or 1.6 lbs !

Congratulations to all of you !!! Although you are not the winner - you have all grown some nice big Brandy Boys !!

Good morning Hudson

You are an awesome tomato grower! Congrats to you and all the tomato growers in this contest.

I love your greenhouse lighted for Christmas, what a great idea!

Because my growing season is different here in Florida, I still have ripening tomatoes in the vine and I already ate some big BB and forgot about the contest till now.:)

Here is another one just picked

Silvia

OKAY Hudson--what are we growing this coming year? I want to get a start up and win win win

Everyone loved your professional help in this one

I'm ready

Hi Silvia - thanks for your comments. Are you growing in the garden, GH or containers? That is great that you have ripening Brandy Boys NOW!! We are all envious!! We left the contest open until December 31st for growers like you - you still have time to win the "Grand Prize", the latest ripe tomato, the most odd or the prettiest Brandy Boy!

Soon I will be posting all of the prettiest and oddest Brandy Boys for everyone's vote so if you or anyone else has an entry - please post before December 31 and the sooner the better.

The tomato you just picked appears to be a pretty one and weighs about 1 lb 3oz? Maybe you could show us a photo of your plant(s) - prolific?

Lar - you want me to do another contest?? OK - I will start a new thread this morning asking for interest and varieties - and go from there.

Thanks Lar!

Hudson, in my area every season is different depending on a lot of variables, fall was very warm and we had a lot of rain. I grow a variety of tomatoes and this particular season Noire from France and Red Penna beefsteaks did the best, BB was late to ripen but I had some big and tasty tomatoes. This is the end of the season and soon I will be starting the tomatoes for spring...

I have a very small space to grow so everything is packed in my garden, I always grow tomatoes in containers because of the nematodes in the soil.

My BB plant next to a Meyer lemon and fig tree.

Silvia

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE !!!

AND THE WINNER OF THE 2015 BRANDY BOY CONTEST IS:

************************** PENNYPOND ************************

Congratulations Pennypond !!!! Here are her photos of the biggest Brandy Boys grown in 2015 of those that participated in the contest !! She also wins the $25 certificate (more info to follow) from Burpee !! Great job Pennypond - we all dream of growing Brandy Boy tomatoes like yours !!

Great job penny pound and great job to Hudson for running the contest--hip-hip-hurrah

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!

Congratulations to pennypond and many thanks to Hudson for running this contest and putting fun into our gardening. I enjoyed it a great deal and look forward to participating in the 2016 contests.

Sey

Congrats pennypond! Very nice. Thanks to Hudson as well.

OMG, what a nice surprise for the New Year! Happy dance:):):)

Thank you Hudson for your unparalleled leadership. I also want to thank everyone else for all the kind words and friendship.

I do have the advantage of living in sunny Southern California, and a very handy husband who set up the irrigation and support system, so I shouldn't feel totally deserving...

There might be one more thing about Brandy Boy in this little yard. While I have been busy pampering some potted winter plants, a volunteer quietly grew big and healthy in a neglected okra pot. The volunteer has potato leaf, is located 3 feet from where the BB was, and BB has been the only PL I have ever grown. I bet it's a BB! I'll post a picture tomorrow.

Pennypond - to claim your $25 gift certificate - please email Burpee at DZeidler@Burpee.com and reference the Brandy Boy Contest $25 Gift Certificate and they will get it to you. Please let me know if you have any problems.

Thanks! Hudson

Following is a review of the "Most Unusual" Brandy Boys in this contest. If you would like to make any comments as who you think is the winner - please do so. As it stands - they are all unusual and the winner is in the mind of the reviewer. Thanks to all those that submitted these photos and participated in the contest!

#1

#2

#3

#5

#6

#7

Following is a review of the "Prettiest" Brandy Boys in this contest. If you would like to make any comments as who you think is the winner - please do so. As it stands - they are all pretty and the winner is in the mind of the reviewer. Thanks to all those that submitted these photos and participated in the contest!

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

Hudson--I vote for #7

But then #4 is a nice one--hummm--#7 it is

I am excited. One of the 7 above is mine. Yea. But I will vote for #7 (which is not mine).

I vote for # 4.

Sey

I have one in there also, but agree that the best photo is #7.

John A

I vote for #7.

Linda

Now that I'm in FL for the winter, I got a head start on 2016. Here's the Brandy Boy F-12.

John----are you saying that the seeds are producing from seed saved from year to year

Yes Lartomato - I've kept that strain going with seed saved each year. The F-11's were exactly like the F-1's.

John A

Thanks John---I'm gonna try with seeds I saved from last year

The Brandy Boy looks great - please give us updates on the fruit! I might start saving them too after seeing your success !!

I think #5 in the "unusual" is mine? :)

Is Burpee the only company you can get the Brandy Boy seeds? I'm planning my garden now and thought I might try these along with some of the others I have.

Burpee is offering Free Shipping right now on any size order - you can't go wrong! Others have purchased Brandy Boy from Home Depot. Those are the only two sources that participants have mentioned - to the best of my memory. Good luck bcskye - you have a high chance of loving this variety !!

Thanks, Hudson. I've read so much about them that I'm really anxious to have some. I'm planning to add some new tomatoes (to me) this year and these are a must. And free shipping from Burpees! That's a win, win situation.