They may not be carrot sized...

[cuffbertt]

But they're carrot shaped!

First vegetable that I've grown that actually came out looking more or less like it's meant to. Pretty pleased

Is the flavour of a smaller carrot different to one that's full sized? I did a highly scientific test to find the difference between my carrots and a shop bought one (i.e. I cut a piece of each and ate them) and there was ten times more flavour in mine. I always read that home grown veg tastes better, but I wasn't expecting this much of a difference!

[Snoop Puss]

Home-grown carrots are fantastic. In fact, home-grown anything is better than shop-bought, especially if you eat it soon after harvesting it.

Do you grow sweetcorn? That really is a flavour revelation. Peas too. Oh, I could go on. We picked an awful looking cauliflower the other day. So bad I almost didn't bother cooking it, but it tasted great.

I think I haven't spotted you round these parts before, Cuffbert. So a belated welcome from me.

[SelkirkAlex]

home grown tastes infinitely better. added to the satisfaction that you did it, you grew them, welcome to the crack cocaine of home grown veg.

as for size, the little ones are often the sweetest, I particularly enjoy a carrot called little finger, which lives up to its name

[cuffbertt]

Home-grown carrots are fantastic. In fact, home-grown anything is better than shop-bought, especially if you eat it soon after harvesting it.

Do you grow sweetcorn? That really is a flavour revelation. Peas too. Oh, I could go on. We picked an awful looking cauliflower the other day. So bad I almost didn't bother cooking it, but it tasted great.

I think I haven't spotted you round these parts before, Cuffbert. So a belated welcome from me.

I don't think many of them will last very long, they're currently on the side in the kitchen and every time I go in there I eat one or two

I've not tried many other things yet, as this is my first year. I've managed to get some chillies, a few french beans and a couple of butternut squashes, but no luck whatsoever with radishes, beetroot or garlic!

Thank you for the welcome

[cuffbertt]

home grown tastes infinitely better. added to the satisfaction that you did it, you grew them, welcome to the crack cocaine of home grown veg.

as for size, the little ones are often the sweetest, I particularly enjoy a carrot called little finger, which lives up to its name

Yes it's incredibly satisfying for sure! When I harvested some french beans a few weeks ago I put the trimmed bits back into the compost bin in the garden. As I did so, I realised how it's just one big circle. I found it really satisfying that I was growing food in the garden, and then the unused bits would be composted down and be used to grow next years food.

[veggiechicken]

Well done Cuffbert Small is beautiful A top class restaurant would serve you "baby veg" and charge double the price of a carrot giant

Yesterday I had some tree men working here and I gave them a bowl of homegrown tomatoes to eat with their pasties. They couldn't get over how much more flavour they had than supermarket toms. Cue - long lecture about under-ripe, thick skinned toms travelling for weeks etc - compared to freshly picked, sun-ripened toms that had travelled a few yards to the end of the garden.

Once you've experienced the joys of home grown, it gets harder to pay out for tasteless shop veg. Next year, try tomatoes and strawberries as well.

[Snoop Puss]

I had terrible luck with garlic the first year. But the second year, I had a decent harvest. They weren't huge but they were usable and they tasted good. Now's the time to be thinking about garlic again...

Good luck!

[SarrissUK]

I absolutely agree with you about the carrots - I think they are definitely THE veg that has the best taste compared to shop bought carrots. In fact, a few years ago, I bought a bunch of carrots at a farm shop nearby that had their tops still on. They'd come straight out of the ground just a few hours earlier. I was so amazed at the flavour, it drew me right back into growing my own veg. Beetroot is also a complete revelation to me, and peas. Not that I don't like frozen peas - I love them, but fresh peas from the garden is good enough to be a meal on its own

[Chestnut]

A belated hello from me too.
I am also in my first proper year of veg growing, and have been discovering a taste for home grown veg too. Carrots definitely had the biggest taste-gap between shop bought and home grown, but a very noticeable difference with swede, potatoes, beans, calabrese, tomatoes and cucumber ( though our cucumbers were tiny!).
I have often wondered if that home-grown vs shop bought taste gap was the reason my late grandparents always said that fruit and veg didn’t taste as good these days....

[Nicos]

Well done!...those look great

New potatoes next year....you'll be amazed at the difference both in texture and flavour

Oh...and welcome to the Vine!

[cuffbertt]

Thanks for the help and welcomes everyone!

Sounds like there are a few more vegetablesI need to try if I want to get maximum flavour then! I think my plan for next year is garlic, carrots, french beans, tomatoes, peppers, beetroot, peas and possibly potatoes!

Are there any vegetables that I can grow and eat over the winter?

Ate all the carrots last night with a nice juicy steak. They were awesome! Just need them to be bigger and more of them now haha.

[Nicos]

Spring cabbage!
The flavour difference when eaten freshly picked then lightly steamed is awesome!....rolled in butter and a sprinkle of pepper.... * drool....
You may well still find plant plugs at your local garden centre unless the Xmas decorations have taken over completely.