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This information is from Matt Windt in Virginia.  Like most of us on the East Coast, growing conditions were difficult.

Purple Beans. Fagiolo Rampicante  Trionfo Violetto

Wonderfully producing pole bean. Eat fresh when their small or cook when their large. Good for casseroles when larger.  Keep picking and they will keep coming. Replant half way through the season for a second fresh crop. Deep purple turn green when cooked. These are a lot of fun to grow.

Melons

Retato Degli Ortolani

&

Giallo Da Inverno 3

Didn’t do well this year – melons got flooded out.

Pantano Tomatoe

I often laugh at this plant. It grows like mad.

Reap tons of medium size tomatoes.  I planted a second crop at the end on July (zone 7) and I have many tomatoes on the vine mid-September.

Basil I

Verde a Piccole Fogile

This basil will grow into a small-to-medium bush.  It is great just to look at, very ornamental.  It will naturally look nice and pruned – give it space to grow.

Basil II

Genovese

Thick and hearty basil with darker green leaves. Good fresh or dried.  I fill several brown grocery bags with this one and dry for winter.

Basil II

Fine Nano Compatto A Palla

Mini leaves and skinny plant.  It will grow taller if you let it. This is a good one for a planted pot with sandy soil on the back porch

Red Bell Pepper

Quadrato D’ Asti Rosso

As always, this can take time to grow. It’s wise to start early in the season indoors – and move outside end of May. Produces pretty well. My peppers didn’t get so big because I started them too late in the season.

Brocolli

Ramoso Calabrese

Not much luck. Grew big but no real significant heads. Got eaten up by bugs more than anything.

Dill

Aneto

This is more hardy than the cheap stuff at the local store. Produces more fresh leaf for a longer period of time. Good potency. Dries well. Store airtight.

Cucumber I

F1 Hybrid

Starts from seed super strong. I was quite impressed how quick it was growing. Then got flooded out.

Cucumber II

Tortarello Abruzzese

Had a hard time starting off w/ little luck. Then it flooded.

Lettuce I  Regina Di Maggio

Didn’t care for the taste – was bitter but maybe it was the soil. Bolted easily.

LETTUCE II  Riccia Lollo Rossa

Larry Cipolla from Wisconsin reports:

I have some information for you regarding your seeds. First, I need to tell you that our summer was great for potatoes, peas, radishes, and lettuces. It was lousy for tomatoes (up until about three weeks ago). Typically in the Minneapolis area I am cleaning up the last of my tomatoes and pepper about this time. Our summer was fairly wet and cool. Right now (third week in September) my paste tomatoes (Redorta, San Marzano) are full of green and red tomatoes. I usually start picking them around the third week of August and o/a the end of September they are pretty much done (on the assumption we do not get an early frost). So tomatoes were about three weeks late in our garden. My peppers were some of the best this year (Asti Rosso). My eggplant were great (Vittorio). Not sure why tomatoes were so slow when the peppers and eggplant were okay. All three like the heat, but it seems the tomatoes were the slowest.

Trial: Your Red Rib Chicory did very well. It looks nice when mixed with the green chicory I plant. Flavor wise I am not sure I see any difference between it and the Spadona, which is very easy to clean with its smooth leaves, and one of my favorities, Catalogna. I will probably plant the Red Rib, but will plant more of the Spadona and Catalogna.

Trial: I grew your Napletano Basil, which did okay, but not as well as Genovese, which I prefer. I think Genovese has a slightly "stronger" flavor; it is a more vigorous grower (again, in my garden) and the plant did as well in the garden as it did in a pot.

I had zero luck with beans this year. Perhaps I was the only one. I had to plant the Cannellini twice, with the same results: about a 10% germination at best. I planted them the first week in June (thinking the soil was sufficiently warm). Not sure but I had to plow them under.  [My comment-it must have been the rain.  They did very well here in Massachusetts]

San Marzano Redorta. This is our second year with this variety and we like it the best of any other paste tomato on the market. Large fruit (though this year they were three weeks late as I mentioned). Good yield. Meaty. We will do this one again in 2005.

Red Pear. Good yield. Uglier tomato, but good flavor. This year we noticed a small, hard "white-green" area inside the tomato that we cut out before we used the fruit. I do not recall this last year. I do not recall this last year. [  My comment.  These are a really amazing tomato, but seem to develop the 'white-green area' when they are weather stressed.  It does not effect taste.]