For a few months each year, a tomato extravaganza takes place in Richmond. Backyard gardens, farmers markets and restaurant menus are filled with this tasty fruit, often sought after for its distinctive hues and succulent flavors.
But many also have intriguing backstories, like the Wood’s Famous Brimmer Tomato, which has a unique tie to the city and can be found growing on some local farms, including Village Garden RVA.
For the past three years, the eastern Hanover farm has been growing this heirloom variety, developed in the early 1900s by Richmond seed company T.W. Wood & Sons.
Image courtesy The Valentine
“We practice a sort of radical diversity in growing and encourage experimentation with both newly developed and heirloom plants, though most of our crops are selected either for their heritage or unusual characteristics,” says David Hunsaker, co-owner with wife Barbara of Village Garden RVA. “We select seed from all over the world and are always on the lookout for older and unusual fruits. This easily led us to Wood’s Famous Brimmer.”
Founded by Timothy Ward Wood II in 1879, the company — originally situated near the bygone Sixth Street Farmers Market at Sixth and Marshall streets — first came across the variety at the 1907 Jamestown Exposition. Intrigued by the potential of the plant, thought to be a descendant of the high-yielding beefsteak ponderosa tomato, T.W. Wood & Sons soon got to work developing the seed through numerous trial runs.
“In the days when many smaller farms and large family gardens were the backbone of the American agriculture scene, there were numerous seed houses that supplied them,” Hunsaker says. “Most every large town and city had their versions.”
It wasn’t until around the 1920s that this pink- and purple-tinted tomato was officially offered to the public. The company declared it to be “the greatest tomato in the world,” and the tomato’s catalog entry featured testimonials from growers throughout the South proclaiming the plant’s wonders, including how prolific it was.
T.W. Wood & Sons closed in 1965, and, as with many heirloom varieties, its prized Brimmer tomato soon lost favor as more modern selections gained ground. But thanks to tomato enthusiasts like Hunsaker, the variety is slowly making a return as more gardeners find an appreciation for this historic option.
With a mildly acidic flavor and an almost perfectly round shape, the tomato can ripen in just under 80 days. But what distinguishes it most is its impressive weight. If happy, the fruit can grow to be over a pound, making it quite the garden showstopper and versatile in the kitchen.
“It has a bit thicker skin than many larger heritage fruits and thus can be used as a canner, slicer or just delicious eating,” Hunsaker says. “It does have a typical amount of seed for a slicer, which makes it less appealing as a sauce tomato than Roma or other paste varieties.”
Wood’s Famous Brimmer Tomato isn’t difficult to grow, but as with most heirlooms, the plant isn’t always the most disease-resistant. This indeterminate, midseason tomato also needs to be supported with stakes or in a cage. The heirloom might need some care and attention, but it offers much in return.
For those interested in growing their own or trying the fruit, seeds can often be bought through online vendors or potentially found nestled among the other tomatoes at local farmers markets. In fact, you might already have enjoyed this famous tomato without realizing it. Village Garden RVA provides many of its tomatoes to fine-dining restaurants in the region and hosts the Summer Supper Somm, a multistate experiential and educational tomato dinner series that raises money for the charity Stop Child Abuse Now.
Reviving an heirloom like Wood’s Famous Brimmer Tomato might seem irrelevant, but the fruit is a quirky and obscure part of Richmond’s history that provides a unique glimpse, and taste, of the city’s past worth exploring.
