Does it really taste better??

[maytreefrannie]

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.

I think the 'picked too soon' option may well be a reason why some people might be disappointed in home grown stuff. I'm inclined to pick too soon sometimes and yet I find that fruit and veg ripened on the plant tastes much better than produce picked before it's quite ready - even those which are brought inside to ripen.

Hold yourself back until it's well ripe, I say, it'll be time well spent.

[kentishgal]

Oh wow, you will all hate me but I just tried the peas and..........
meh, not that impressed TBH!! Tasted very peaish but not as sweet as frozen peas are!

[Feral007]

Ahhh there may be your problem too. If you are used to veg that has had sugar/salt added then you'll be used to a different taste and that's what you'll expect.

[Alison]

It will also depend on what type of pea you're growing / how quickly you eat it and when you harvest. I tend to harvest quite small and eat or freeze within the hour. Cooked they're not that different in taste but raw (had some on a salad last night) there is no comparison.

[Kaiya]

My old apple tree has the only British apples I like - so tart! I love tart apples, but the only British ones I find in the shops are the soft sweet watery apples - bleugh. Sadly my tree always flowered too early and is a sapling, so either managed masses of inedible small apples or in one amazing year seven apples the size of bell peppers. Such an amazing tree I'm going to pay to get a rootstock graft made of her so we can take her with us when we sell.

Re: general allotment crops and taste, so fat I've been unimpressed with broad beans and mangetout - the broad beans taste bitter and the mangetout stringy and bitter. Perhaps it's the variety, perhaps I'm picking them too late, perhaps I just don't like broad beans (I do like supermarket mangetout). Legumes have so unimpressed me I'm wondering whether to bother with any next year. I have some Frenchies on the go this year to see if I like them.

However our onions are smashing. My Dad likes strong onions, and theses ones are vicious. My mum only likes our brussel sprouts, won't eat the supermarket ones, and I love having gluts as it lets me indulge in preserving (feels wasteful to buy fresh food just to preserve it from the supermarket). For example, I wouldn't have tried making courgette cake last year if I hadn't had so many giant courgettes, and it was lovely.

I can't comment on carrots and parsnips as so far I've failed to grow them!

[Gemmalaveen]

For the most part supermarket toms are just plain awful... I have been harvesting my first ripe tumbling toms this week and I am in heaven

I think there is a huge difference in taste. This year my first meal of new potatoes had me raving about it for weeks. Same goes for the broad beans... yum. I also love peas straight out of the pod and courgettes picked before they get too big and their texture changes.

For dinner last night I had trout with round courgettes and chard - something you just cannot buy in the shops.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I have to agree with the majority here. After 50 years of smoking my taste buds are well dull but even I can taste the difference.

To night it will be lamb rump roast, LadyC new potatoes, fresh from the garden calabrese, peas, and curly kale.

My idea of heaven.

Colin

[kentishgal]

Well, even if I havent tasted the difference yet (oooh, I sound like a Sainsburys ad!LOL) I will still keep growing my own. I like being out in the garden, growing stuff and getting my veg for pennies instead of pounds!!
I think maybe Im just a natural doubter!! coz my taste buds are in perfect working order! (I have never smoked and can even tell if there is too much salt or sugar in commercial products).
Still, the broad beans last night were lovely!...although I have no idea if they taste different coz Ive never eaten them before!

[arpoet]

Dont forget that some 'so called' fresh sold in supermarkets can be a week old and kept chilled.... week old cauliflower or peas are bitter. I know which i prefer....
Roger

[smallblueplanet]

Well, even if I havent tasted the difference yet (oooh, I sound like a Sainsburys ad!LOL) I will still keep growing my own. I like being out in the garden, growing stuff and getting my veg for pennies instead of pounds!!
I think maybe Im just a natural doubter!! coz my taste buds are in perfect working order! (I have never smoked and can even tell if there is too much salt or sugar in commercial products).
Still, the broad beans last night were lovely!...although I have no idea if they taste different coz Ive never eaten them before!

I can't believe that your home grown produce isn't AT LEAST crisper, more solid and less floppy than shop bought veg like spuds, beans and lettuce - if it isn't then what are you doing picking it and leaving it in the fridge three weeks before eating it? Lol! Nevermind I'm sure it's that we all like different things.

[Gemmalaveen]

Still, the broad beans last night were lovely!...although I have no idea if they taste different coz Ive never eaten them before!

Do yourself a favour and buy a bag of broad beans from Sainsbury's... fresh or frozen. You will notice a massive difference! I can't grow enough for my needs and for most of the year I have to eat supermarket broad beans

[phil_GT]

i prefer the taste of my own strawberries.

the few tomatoes i had last year that didnt go brown or split were much better.

[taff]

perhaps it's just you haven't quite got the hang of picking when ready, you're either picking before or after they're ready.
Peas can taste mealy if they're left too long, you need ot pick them when they're small, but because the pod doesn't look 'ready' it's easy to leave them too long. Also a wrinkled seed give you a sweeter pea than a non-wrinkly one, and there are loads of varieties, each with their various attributes.
The same ofr any fruit.
Also take into consideration [as already mentioned] it's been a really rubbish year so far, too much water for nearly all things, so that woud also affect the taste.
Bone up on your varieties for their flavour qualities, rather than their cheapness as seeds, ortheir wide availability.

[apologies for spelling mistakes, but this time, I really do have a proper excuse ]