Brandywine Tomato

Enormous pink beefsteaks, often a full pound apiece, on distinctive potato-leaf vines. Brandywine is not a heavy producer and it takes its time, but a single perfect fruit on a slice of bread in August is the whole argument for growing your own. Give it rich soil, steady water, and patience. Fruits can crown and crack in a wet spell — pick a touch early and finish them on the counter.

Where it comes from. In circulation since the 1880s, long associated with Pennsylvania Amish gardens.