Quote:
Originally Posted by the999bbq
hmm, shouldn't we all yell : "all vegetables taste better homegrown" ? and why do we even wonder ... Homegrown veggies are fresh, compare your onions with the ones you can buy in the store, mine are solid as a rock, the ones in the store aren't always so (I've seen a television show the other day where they explained onions are stored by the farmers sometime half a year to sell them off-season since they have to give money to get rid of them at harvest time - where are your fresh onions now ??). Homegrown raddish can make your eyes cry of their strong flavor but eat them instantly or be sure to run to the kitchen or they look 'different' already - the ones from the stores seem to last for days (no difference if you remove the loaf or not). "You say tomato I say potatoe". I have never liked store bought tomatoes and never can get enough from my own. Growing tomatoes also is economically interesting - just look at the price of the "commercially odd varieties (the market wants a black tomato, we'll let them pay more for a black tomato)"... on the other hand people sometimes think that growing potatoes isn't worth doing so since they are that cheap and they can take up quite some space in the garden. But the difference is huge (taste and structure) and they seem to be treated a lot ... Same as the onions : by the end of season my own potatoes still look better than some you find in stores... As average consumers we don't know anything anymore about how our food is grown - don't expect italian olives in all italian olive oils, don't expect meat from a single animal in your slice of protein-glued-meat, don't expect all cheese in your pizza-cheese,... expect the oil maffia, expect meat-binding, expect fake cheese,.... My region grows strawberries, but the seemingly commercially interesting soil grown varieties don't have the same amount of flavor as my own varieties (same soil, same air, same care, different varieties) but again mine don't store as long... When you have the opportunity to buy local what they grow local things might be different, but as long as we buy stuff that is selected to be picked half mature, fly the world (sometimes more than once), get brutalised (handled and added value added ... duh) by a dozen of intermediate companies AND be cheaper than the locally grown food, don't expect better products than the ones we grow ourselves since the biggest qualities for selection are not taste ... so my answer would be potatoes, tomatoes ... and everything else
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After watching the new video FOOD Inc, reviewing several articles about what humans of all nations are doing to out soils on a commercial scale and seeing this bit of doom and gloom re food next year
http://www.marketskeptics.com/2009/1...r-dummies.html I can't help but think that WE are in the forefront of wisdom regarding a return to not only growing our own, but doing so wisely.
With my own ills, I am doing everthing possible to improve my soils and add a considerable range of natural nutrients and minerals to my own garden; a garden that seems to be growing in size every day as I learn more here.
I've even been actively contacting the mega breweries, gins, mills, stables, quarries and more in seeking compost ingredients. My windrow is now 40 feet long and full of life forms, despite slowly unloading each truck with a rake while seated on the tailgate. Already received my favorite Christmas present..a cart that can be pulled like a child's wagon or towed behind a lawn mower that has a dumping feature and large pneumatic tires. For 69.00, IT is a real back saver!
I do wonder whether there is an appreciable difference in the mineral content of our produce grown in such mineral rich and life filled soils, or do they just take in what they need regardless?