Best picked fresh versus bought

[veggiechicken]

There are some veg/fruit that are at their best for eating within minutes of picking, maybe hours whilst others will happily store. Shop bought produce that's been in transit and storage for days loses that little spark of life that still flickers on in a fresh picked summat.

The classic is sweetcorn, meant to be eaten within minutes of picking.

Crisp beans that snap compared with the rubbery green things for sale
Sun warmed tomatoes or pale watery tasteless things
Small crisp courgettes or thick-skinned wannabe marrows
and so on.

Compare this to, say, Swede, that don't seem to change much from month to month, in or out of the ground and I find difficult to grow to a decent size!

What other crops are best eaten fresh, as I'm going to concentrate on growing those next year and leave the store crops to the farmers.

[Chestnut]

For me,

Definitely better fresh
Gooseberries ripened on plant and eaten straight off bush
White/pink/red/black currants
Raspberries (much more flavour than shop bought)
Forced rhubarb - never seen it in a shop
PSB - goes limp v quickly
Corn
Tomatoes

Then, there’s a whole lot of other stuff that just tastes more flavoursome when homegrown
Spuds, beetroot, turnip (and better picked smaller than shops sell them), sprouts, kale, cabbage, leaf beet, onions (eaten fresh rather than stored), leeks, peppers, herbs

Stuff I prefer to buy - either cannot grow/store as well as commercial growers, or prefer shop bought
Swedes, carrots, parsnips, exotic spices, aubergine, sweet potato, out of season onions and fruit (I suspect our apples would store longer in commercial facility, but in cool garage are past their best already!), cauliflower

[SarrissUK]

Carrots pulled out of the bed, earth rubbed off and eaten straight away must be a delicacy that cannot be matched by any other carrot.

And I agree, any type of raspberry so fresh it's barely in your hand for two seconds.... yum!

[Bren In Pots]

I'll add Chard and spinach to the list.

[Small pumpkin]

I’ll add Peas, broccoli & asparagus

[lolie]

Gosh. I want to say all of them.

Potatoes are definitely better if they haven't been subjected to long periods of supply chain storage.

I don't think it makes much of a difference with whole pumpkins, though.

[chillithyme]

Young broadbeans, peas out of the pod and blackcurrants for making cordial.
Potatoes, Tomatoes, chillies, Peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, squash, Marrows, Pumpkins, Onions and Garlic. These are must grows for me

I haven't succeeded at growing cauliflowers, cabbages, broccoli or sprouts yet, so I have to let the farmers grow them for me for now

[toomanytommytoes]

Apples...supermarket ones are mostly awful with the occasional decent Pink Lady or Jazz.

[burnie]

Were I able to grow all our veg needs I would not buy any from a shop, I like to know where they've been and what's been sprayed/added to them. Reality is we have a small garden so grow things we like to eat fresh, I try and get the rest from farmers markets rather than a supermarket if possible. Taste is very important, but so is the way our food is produced.

[Nicos]

I'd also go with lettuce.
Freshly picked , the flavour is sweeter than shop bought.
You can also grow a vast selection -very difficult to find in shops

Fresh spuds get my vote too!

[Penellype]

I'd be hard pushed to find anything that is not better fresh, but if I had to choose just one it would be fresh peas, which seem to lose some of their sweetness within minutes of being picked. Whatever anyone says, frozen peas are just not the same.

[ameno]

I'd be hard pushed to find anything that is not better fresh

Winter squash. They are usually tastier and have better texture once they have been stored for at least a month, ideally more. Same with sweet potatoes.
And then most autumn and winter root crops for cooking (main crop potatoes, swede, main crop carrots, parsnip, etc.) although not actively better when they have been stored for a while, they are not really any better fresh, either. If stored properly, they stay in more or less the same condition for quite a long time.

[broadway]

I'll add Chard and spinach to the list.

Totally agree re chard, never seen it in a supermarket, may be sold in farm shops??

[Mr Bones]

Totally agree with everything already mentioned. Add borlotti beans eaten as flat young pods, very different to French beans or runners and have never seen them in the shops.

[Penellype]

Winter squash. They are usually tastier and have better texture once they have been stored for at least a month, ideally more. Same with sweet potatoes.
And then most autumn and winter root crops for cooking (main crop potatoes, swede, main crop carrots, parsnip, etc.) although not actively better when they have been stored for a while, they are not really any better fresh, either. If stored properly, they stay in more or less the same condition for quite a long time.

I'm not keen on winter squash so I didn't know they are better kept, and have never successfully grown sweet potatoes. I clearly have no idea how to store winter roots as I find they soon start to dry out and go floppy. Potatoes are ok - I store those in paper bags in the garage, but often they are starting to sprout a little by the time I get to use them.