What real food tastes like.

[catjac1975]

Reason produce in store keeps is varieties are bred and used that allow shipping and stay "fresh" longer. Plus kept in cool from time picked.

I agree that is plant breeding that improves shelf life. I think apples, however, are treated with a preservative to promote this unnatural effect.

 

[catjac1975]

I took a break from daylilys to pick 5 lbs of raspberries.

 

[catjac1975]

On it's way to raspberry sauce

 

[baymule]

I love raspberries and no one grows them around here, dunno why. I am going to have to plant some!

 

[Nyboy]

I love raspberries and no one grows them around here, dunno why. I am going to have to plant some!

Note to self raspberry might make great housewarming gift.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I agree that a lot of store food does not have flavor. My rabbits do not really even like store bought carrots. Tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, cucumbers are some things I have noticed that are different. We drink raw milk and eat raw honey, the milk from a dairy where my daughter works and honey from a coop.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Adding to my other post that I agree about the taste of food. I just wish more people would grow gardens. I have a quarter acre city lot and on this lot I grow a lot of food. The front is grass and flowers. There are cherry bushes, a cherry tree, raspberries, and gold raspberries, a couple of plum trees, a couple of apple trees, a couple of mulberry trees, and a couple of walnut trees. There is asparagus, rhubarb and blackberries, elderberries and strawberries. An herb garden with all kinds of mint and parsley, thyme, sage, chives, and more. The garden is full of beans, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, cabbage, beets, celery, basil, lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, garlic, carrots, and more. I could grow more if I was not working. I am worried how i am going to get the beans picked and into the freezer each day. The potatoes are about read, 3 different kinds, and we already harvested the blue ones. The garlic is about ready. We have been eating some of it and testing to see when ready to harvest. I try to encourage friends and others to grow food in their yard, but most people just think I am nuts. If they could taste all of this, but still it is a lot of work. Pictures of dehydrated blue potatoes, dehydrated parsley, dehydrated apple mint, frozen cherries and frozen peas. There is all kinds of food

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Adding more, lol, this topic is really interesting to me. In the store you will have the same 1 kind of cucumber and same cabbage, same everything. I grow yellow beans sometimes. This year it is a yellow bush bean and you usually do not see fresh yellow beans. They are also a pretty plant with purple flowers. I will also have white cucumbers and lemon cucumbers, I HOPE. I am not sure what survived the attack from the birds. I just picked half a pound of yellow beans and I am thinking that next year I am going to only grow pole beans. The cobra pole beans are tender like bush. I still have some Jade beans to pick later this evening, but I am thinking of trying these yellow pole beans next year.

http://www.gourmetseed.com/product/PB31/Pole-Bean-Seeds-Neckargold.html

I planted Rocdor this year and they are very tender. I am not sure if the Neckargold would be as good.

 

[baymule]

@Gardening with Rabbits you listed names and varieties and made a very good point-there is ONE variety in the store. The ordinary person is blissfully unaware that vegetables have names other than tomato, carrot, bean, etc. They just don't know what they are missing. Like you, I talk up gardening all the time to other people and I get that "look". You know the one-eyes glazed over, teeth clenched, polite fixed smile, ears with stoppers in them..... while they silently wish I would shut up and go away..... Then the excuses start.

I love to grow lots of different varieties. Not only are all the different colors and shapes fun to grow, but they taste good too. This year I grew Anasazi sweet corn, ate 3 and let the rest go to seed for a bigger patch next year. I grew Painted Mountain corn for meal and it is drying now. I will probably only make one batch of cornbread so I will have more for seed.

My food has names, Tromboncino squash, German Johnson tomatoes, Thai #3 green beans, Violet's Multicolored Butterbeans, All Purple sweet potatoes, Jimmy Nardello sweet peppers, and these are not at the grocery store!

@Gardening with Rabbits have you tried dehydrating hash brown potatoes? We like them better than fresh!

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

The food is different like you said. I asked a friend if she had ever eaten a lemon cucumber and she had never heard of them. Some people are almost angry about gardening. I get a lot of questions like why do you grow THAT? What are you going to do with all THAT? My brother was over for supper. He did not mention the green beans that they were good or bad. He did not even eat the yellow squash because I used flour to coat them to fry. He used to love fried squash, but now he says flour, corn, potatoes, sugar and I don't know what all are bad. We sit at the table later to play cards and there is a bowl on the table with some purple striped garlic. I said did you see this and he said I have seen garlic before and I said like this and he said it has some purple on it and I said, well then you have never seen purple striped garlic before. Great big fancy garlic bulb and not one nice word. Friends and family seem to be almost out to prove me wrong and that I am wasting my time. IF I say anything about being busy or tired, then they are eager to talk about gardening and how I should grow less or just use containers and not have so much work. I am just going to grow a bigger garden next year.