Only the freshest will do

@GreenMoo (11834)
May 10, 2011 10:05am CST
We've got broad beans galore in our garden just now. Each meal time I head out and grab a few. They're delicious, and taste a million miles removed from the ones that you can buy in the shops. There are lots of veggies which taste so much better when they're really fresh and are so worthwhile to grow at home. Sweetcorn is another. Do you have something which you grow in your garden just because it's so much better that way?
3 people like this
13 responses
@jillhill (37354)
• United States
10 May 11
I do not have a garden and I very much appreciate the friends I have that do and share generously with me! Especially tomatoes...they totally taste different when they are homegrown...
1 person likes this
@GreenMoo (11834)
10 May 11
I love sharing our harvest when we have more than we can make use of. I remember one year driving around with bags and bags of tomatoes in the car to see who we could bump into who might like some!
1 person likes this
@katieh (151)
10 May 11
Tomatoes are one thing which tastes amazing fresh, and peas are another. And I love home grown sweetcorn but we have such a tiny little garden that it's not very productive - you only get one, maybe two cobs per plant and my entire vegetable plot is only about 12 feet square. And I do like being able to walk out and pick a handful of salad leaves for my sandwich :)
1 person likes this
@GreenMoo (11834)
10 May 11
The smell of fresh tomatoes, warmed by the sun, is so amazing.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
10 May 11
I was not going to grow a garden this year but over the past week I've changed my mind. Last year I had wonderful tomatoes, peas and green beans that put the canned stuff to shame. I'm really looking forward to having some again. I also grew corn that was delicious, better than what I could get in the supermarket. I guess I'll have to get busy and weed that darned patch of dirt I use for a garden. It's small, only 8x10, but it can grow a lot. I think I'll also grow some peppers and onions in containers. I've not heard of broad beans. I grew runner beans last year that were all over the place and this year I'll plant bush beans!
1 person likes this
@GreenMoo (11834)
10 May 11
It's amazing how much you can grow in a small space. It's not something I have to worry about as I've lots of land, but I'm fascinated by the idea of square foot gardening.
1 person likes this
@katsmeow1213 (28719)
• United States
10 May 11
Don't have a garden here.. yard is too small and I don't trust the neighbors to leave my stuff alone. I look forward to eventually being in a place where I can try to have a garden again.
1 person likes this
@GreenMoo (11834)
10 May 11
I hope it happens for you soon.
1 person likes this
@petersum (4522)
• United States
10 May 11
You are so right about broad beans. They were my favorite vegetable as a child. Now, you hardly ever see them in the markets, and they just don't taste the same. Perhaps it was my mother's parsley sauce on them that enhanced the flavor. I never did learn to make that! Sweetcorn isn't such a problem but there is a considerable difference between roasted corn cobs and what comes in tins. It like an entirely different vegetable. I don't have a garden at the moment and I really miss it.
1 person likes this
@GreenMoo (11834)
10 May 11
The broad beans we see in the shops and markets are always very large, and it's the small and tender ones that taste so good. I like eating them with their pods when they are very young too.
1 person likes this
@inertia4 (27961)
• United States
10 May 11
Well I used to have a garden years ago and I grew Tomato's, Basil, Egg PLant, Cucumbers. They were awesome. I am thinking about doing it again. I figured with the price of food going up, I would save some money and have great vegetables. I love fresh Vegetable's much more than those frozen things you get in the supermarket.
1 person likes this
@GreenMoo (11834)
10 May 11
If you concentrate on growing the expensive stuff you can save loads of money growing your own veg. The taste and satisfaction make it worthwhile even without a monetary saving though.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157027)
• United States
10 May 11
Everything is so much better that way. I vote for tomatoes and peppers. I am imagining big bowls of all kinds of tomatoes. It will be a few weeks, but they are awesome.
@GardenGerty (157027)
• United States
11 May 11
tomatoes around a cage - I have some half barrel containers. I put tomatoes and peppers in them with a cage in the middle. I put compost in the cages and water through it. It feeds the plants.
We had a much cooler April than usual, then all of the sudden we have had weather in the nineties. I put my little seedlings I grew out yesterday. I bought an assortment of other tomatoes at the store. I am container gardening this year. I am trying something I saw online. Plant tomatoes around a cage, fill the cage with compost, grass clippings etc. If they need staking tie them to the cages.
@GreenMoo (11834)
10 May 11
My tomato seedlings only went into the ground this week, but I think I´ve planted enough to feed the whole village :-) Peppers and chillies grow really well here too. I´ve got my peppers in now, but not the chillies yet.
1 person likes this
@GreenMoo (11834)
11 May 11
We had really bad hailstorms a week or so ago, so we are late with all our plantings. I like the cage idea for the tomatoes.
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
10 May 11
we grow our own herbs and tomatoes (we dont have a terribly big back yard) we also grow sun flowers too because they are expensive to buy.
1 person likes this
@GreenMoo (11834)
10 May 11
Tomatoes are another one of those things i think are definitely worth growing yourself, even if you have only a little space. The taste is so much more intense. And herbs are a good choice as they expensive to buy.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (45221)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
10 May 11
Tomatoes. And raspberries.
@BarBaraPrz (45221)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
10 May 11
Yup!
@GreenMoo (11834)
10 May 11
Every one seems pretty much agreed on tomatoes, including me!
1 person likes this
@mayka123 (16555)
• India
12 May 11
As a kid we did have a garden at home but not anymore. There is hardly any space available now in the congested flats that we live in. I do miss having a garden though.
@mayka123 (16555)
• India
13 May 11
May be I could start something in the window sill. Should think of something to start with.
@GreenMoo (11834)
12 May 11
Could you have a few containers on a balcony, or maybe a window box for some herbs?
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
15 May 11
hi greenmoo oh the freshest is the best and I envy all of you with space for gardens to grow your own wonderful veggies. I am stuck in a retrement center and have no place to garden but love to read and respond to your discussions. I miss shopping in tustin as they had fresh veggies grown in the irvine farms and taken ten minutes later to our Tustin vons store. delicious zucchini and tomatoes and eggplant name it they grew it and it was really fresh too. the prices on it were fair as there was no middleman to raise the cost.but now I am in Garden Grove and all that is in the past.
@GreenMoo (11834)
15 May 11
Maybe you could squeeze in a window box or even some herbs in pots on your sill to grow a few herbs in?
@ddaguno (3107)
• Philippines
11 May 11
i planted some radishes, carrots and lettuce on my dad's garden when i visited them 2 weeks ago. he updates me with pictures of how they look now. Seeing those sprouts gives me a nice feeling of satisfaction.
@GreenMoo (11834)
11 May 11
that's great. You can both benefit from your work! I have never had any luck with carrots, I never seem to be able to get them to germinate.
@SIMPLYD (90727)
• Philippines
11 May 11
Unfortunately, we don't have enough space for a garden where we could plant vegetables . Our house occupied the bulk of the lot that's why. Anyway, luckily we have trees of sour sops and Indian mangoes, that are bearing fruits now. In fact, we have already eaten two big ripe sour sops since last April. As to the mangoes, we are still waiting for them to grow big so we could pick them up. But at my hometown where my parents live, we have a big backyard with lots of fruit bearing trees, like star apple, guavas, sour sop among others. We also have eggplants , lettuce , sweet potato and some other vegetables. I would bring home some with me whenever i visit there on some weekends. It's really nice if you have your own garden of vegetables and fruits.
@GreenMoo (11834)
11 May 11
there is nothing like growing your own food, whatever it might be. I've never heard of a sour sop, but I do love mangos.