Does it really taste better??

[arpoet]

Most things do, if picked and cooked fresh. I have just picked about 5lbs of rhubarb for a batch of crumbles for the freezer and will be picking peas for lunch in an couple of hours.
Each afternoon i pop into the greenhouse and nip off a few lettuce leaves for tea. I wash them and pop in the fridge for about 20 mins before using.
I have also just picked a load of white turnips for freezing for winter use.
Next week the runner beans will be ready and they will be wonderful when eaten young and fresh.... need i say more?
Roger

[Nicos]

I suppose over the years you try different varieties and find the ones which grow best for you- and importantly- which flavour/texture you prefer.

[Tripmeup]

In my opinion, most things do taste better and it is a bit of a coincidence as only yesterday, my better half remarked that the taste of the British Queens potatoes could not be got from shop bought spuds!!
"You would get up in the middle of the night to eat them", she remarked!

[kentishgal]

Thats what I love about growing your own veg!! Everyone is so passionate about it!LOL
Its only my first year but I am def a convert. I love being able to wander around the garden just picking things to eat and also the sense of wonder when you pull up a beetroot or carrot that you lovingly sowed as a teeny little seed. I cant wait for the tomatoes to ripen too....usually I just buy a value pack of 'tomatoes' at the supermarket now I have 4 different varieties to test! Plus the range of fruit and veg you can grow is astounding, stuff would would never normally see outside of a posh resturant or cookery show.

I honestly cant wait to taste test everything on the garden!!

[arpoet]

"You would get up in the middle of the night to eat them", she remarked!

Watch the calendar mate... mine used to crave strawberries in the middle of the night ......

[Tripmeup]

watch the calendar mate... Mine used to crave strawberries in the middle of the night ......

made me chuckle

[chefgage]

One thing I have definetly noticed tastes better homegrown are cucumbers. The first year I grew them
I could not believe how good they tasted. The usual ones from the supermarket do not taste of anything
in my opinion. But the ones I grew at home actually had a taste (nice) to them

[tamsin]

I think strawberries (apart from this year), parsnips and tomatoes are probably the best difference in taste. I don't like home grown carrots so much - they taste funny to me.

[Tripmeup]

One thing I have definetly noticed tastes better homegrown are cucumbers. The first year I grew them
I could not believe how good they tasted. The usual ones from the supermarket do not taste of anything
in my opinion. But the ones I grew at home actually had a taste (nice) to them

Plus one to the above...my cucs were way more tasty than the shop ones...

[CaroltheCarrot]

I think everything tastes much better,and as has been said before you can grow the varieties you know you like.
And there is nothing more satisfying than going to the larder (aka the garage) and getting a jar of strawberry jam in the middle of winter rather than picking it off a shelf in Tesco

[taff]

Most things do to me.
I think I'm struggling to find a tatsy lettuce, but then I have proper rocket, not insipid supermarket stuff, and everything else is much firmer, and tastier. Cucumbers espeically, because I grow Italian varieties, tomatoes without question, potatoes too, and fennel, kale, cabbage.
Whatever flavour they have in the supermarket, mine have more.
You don't smoke do you? That messes up your tastebuds a bit. I'm an ex one.....

[BUFFS]

i think that it does taste better because it is all allowed to grow at its own pace,no chemical boosters,nitrate powders etc,last years composted trimmings/mown grass,tattie and other veg peelings etc are buried under the veg patch in the autumn and that fuels next years crops,be it veg or soft fruit,we have been freezing tubs of soft fruits for a few weeks now and the majority is yet to come,left to then grow at their own speed you ,even with all the rain and lack of sun,wont lose out when it comes to flavour,we havent used any artificial fertilisers in the garden for over 10yrs now,our thrushes and other birds have seen off the slug/snail boom,the thrush appears to have fed a second brood on the extra food....

[Andromeda]

The taste of home (or allotment) grown GSB or calabrese or cabbage or tomatoes versus the tasteless stuff from the shop (shudder)...there's no contest!

[Loudbarker1]

For me, mostly much better (with exceptions). The highlights are;

carrots (my children went throught a phase of not eating home grown carrots because they were "too strong"
New potatos (ditto)
Peas
cucumbers (wow)
parsnips
Butterbnut squash ( I converted my mother last year who had refused to eat them before)
lettuce - (crisp when freshly picked)
PSB
Asparagus (has no one else mentioned this yet?!?)
French beans

Then there is the category where you can't really buy what we grow, or it is so disgusting that no one will buy it: broad beans, runner beans, plums, gooseberries, or the weird things like kohl rabi, tayberries and rose currents (never seen those in shops).

And then there are the money savers: rassberries, blackcurrents, cherries, cut and come again salad, courgettes, french beans, asparagus, new potatos, PSB. Actually the knowledge I am saving pounds is probably what makes everything taste better!

[smallblueplanet]

Does home grown fruit and veg really taste better or is that something people tell themselves??
Just asking coz so far I have tried potatoes, peas, french beans, strawberries, courgettes, lettuce, radish, spring onions, spinach, kale,carrots and beetroot from my garden and to me it tastes the same as the supermarket veg!...

Oh dear. If you can't taste the difference between fresh picked/cooked veggies from your garden or those from a supermarket that are either past their best or picked too soon so they don't go off then I guess you may as well give up GYO. Sorry, but there you go.