Comments on: Home Grown Vegetables Taste Better

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:53:48 +0000

Interesting to see many who container garden with moderate success. I really love the taste of vine ripened tomatoes that I couldn’t get from store bought. I tried growing my own, but due to lack of good soil conditions and an area of my property lacking adequate sunshine, I tried container gardening with poor results. Then I stumbled on (now here comes the commercial) the Earthbox, http://www.earthbox.com/. Wow what a difference. This year I had a bumper crop of the tastiest tomatoes. The best part is I could position them where they got the best sunshine, and they were easy to grow. All I had to do was use the recommended foolproof watering system. Other vegetables can also be grown in these boxes. The drawback is that these boxes are pricey, but the good news is they will probably last forever.

By: RetiredAt47

RetiredAt47 — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:58:30 +0000

Homegrown veggies are the absolute best! I’ve been gardening for years, but still get a little thrill out of harvesting my own salad for dinner. There’s this feeling of “I grew this” that can’t be matched.

I think one of the reasons that homegrown is better (aside from the whole freshness issue) is that we can grow varieties specifically for taste, without regard to the whole storage and transportation issue that the big farms have. And did you know that many large-scale tomato producers pick tomatoes before they are ripe so that they can later be chemically ripened at the right time? No wonder ours taste better!

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:20:20 +0000

The best ever tasting peas, leeks, cabbages and onions I’ve ever eaten have been the ones I’ve grown myself. The natural sugars in vegetables start to deteriorate after harvesting. Hence the flavour decreases over time. Also the vast majority of commercial vegetable crops are hybrids designed to crop “all at once” as opposed to heirloom varieties that have a longer cropping season. I’m not an expert, only someone who has been dabbling in vegetable growing as a hobby.

I’m in the process of setting up a fairly large vegetable in my backyard and I’m going to document the effects on my household food budget. I do know that last year I bought a punnet of leek seedlings for $3.50 – the prices quoted are in Australian dollars, and they have been a fairly low maintenance plant that has yielded a harvest of just over 20 leeks during the past 14 months. Buying the same leeks at retail prices would have been in the area of $35.00 (ave price $1.75). Two weekends ago I saw giant leeks at $5.95 each in one of my local supermarkets.

IMHO I believe that growing vegetables and herbs at home is a developing trend. “Victory Gardens” for a modern era.

Cheers

By: Funny about Money

Funny about Money — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:55:28 +0000

What a great outcome for the Great Deck/Patio Garden Project!

We may not be able to tell the difference between grocery-store regular & organic tomatoes, but ya sure can tell the difference between grocery-store and vine-ripened in your own backyard!

By: grover

grover — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:26:50 +0000

We live in an apartment with a small balcony. For two years now, we have grown our own herbs, things like basil, cilantro and mint. This year we added baby salad greens (so easy, just water properly and you can grow a salad each week) and small peppers.

Tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers had less success. With pots & planters, the soil did not hold enough water.

But our mojitos have the freshest mint around and our pastas and sandwiches are topped with delicious basil, so we’re happy!

By: shawna

shawna — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:38:31 +0000

I’m in California and have a big patio/deck in my apartment and had been considering trying to grow a few things on it. Glad I came across this – it convinced me!

By: jim

jim — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:17:07 +0000

It probably does, that and the fact that we grew it so we have a vested interest… but i’ll give you one of my tomatoes and you can judge for yourself.

(our aren’t necessarily “organic” as much as they are just home grown)

By: perry

perry — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:23:08 +0000

I partially agree with this statement, but I honestly believe this has also a little to do with the placebo effect. If I handed you two tomatoes you would have absolutely no idea which was organic and which wasn’t…

By: JB

JB — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:44:58 +0000

We started doing home gardening for veggies and fruits too and they are indeed more flavorful. We waited until we moved out of the city before we started, taking to heed the study that showed an increase in the level of toxins found in veggies grown in the city due to the pollutants they absorb.