To our Home Gardeners and Valued Friends and Customers,

Many of you have experienced the bounty of your garden since you have propagated the vegetable seeds of Franchi the major Italian producer of vegetable seeds. This year again we will have available selections of many vegetable and herb seeds except for tomato and green peppers, the reason being that the United States Department of Agriculture abruptly imposed a ban on the import of tomato and pepper seeds until they are tested and found free of a new virus that is afflicting commercial tomato and pepper crops around the world.

A bit of background on the problem:

The disease called Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV) was first found in tomatoes in Jordan in 2015. It has since been found in California, Mexico, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, United Kingdom, China, Saudi Arabia, and Greece. The virus is harmless to humans and animals. It affects only tomatoes and peppers, and it causes fruits to get brown wrinkled spots that make the crop unmarketable. With the Coronavirus now effecting all operations in Italy the testing has been delayed, we hope everything will get back on schedule for 2021.

Remember we will be stocking all of the other herbs and vegetables. Seeds will be arriving in the next two weeks.

NOW IS THE BEST TIME, FOR MANY REASONS, TO START A GARDEN!