A friend started growing vegetables, and I got some as a gift at the end of the season.

Just regular stuff like potatoes, carrots, celery root, parsnip and such.

Now when I got them I was very busy, so they sat in a cool and dark place for a couple of weeks before I had time to use them.

First thing I did was make a simple vegetable soup using only the vegetables I got from her, and it completely blew me away with the flavors.

I enjoy food and making food, and that soup was one of the best dishes I've ever tasted. Each spoonful was a feast.

I told my friend this, and she replied that she had noticed it right away herself, and like me was taken aback by how stark the difference was to what was in the grocercy stores.

I've made soups and stews with fresh and frozen vegetables, but nothing has come close to those homegrown ones.

Yeah well, my parents have a garden of some 1000 square meters (a quarter acre) and lemme tell ya, there's a lot of stuff you can grow on that area. Obviously as a kid I couldn't escape being sent to attend the garden and saying I wasn't a fan of that is an understatement. Unless you do it as a hobby it's not a pleasant activity.

In fact nowadays I use it to form a mental image on the enthusiasm that today's kids have for reading (and unfortunately mine is no exception). I read a ton as a kid and still read now but my kid wouldn't touch it with a barge pole unless forced to. Never saw him pick up a book on his own volition, that is.

But I imagine it's the same situation as me with tending the garden. Never, not once, did I go to my father and say "dad, gimme the hoe coze I wanna start hoeing the weeds between the tomatoes".

Bottom line, I'd take supermarket vegetables anytime to growing myself. It's just not for me :)

Yep, the difference in taste is remarkable.

I'm vegetarian and I've noticed there's an assumption made by many people that vegetarian or vegan food comes with sacrifice and is somehow lacking in pleasure. I can only assume this is because they have only tasted cheap supermarket vegetables or maybe just don't know how to prepare and cook them. I became vegetarian for ethical reasons but I stay for the flavour. I could never go back.

It's no surprise to me that the top vegetarian countries in the world (by percentage of population) have historically been countries like India, Mexico, Italy. All countries with long growing seasons. In India (again, historically, things are changing everywhere), they basically didn't even store food. Vegetables were harvested and eaten right away. Can't get fresher than that.

As with everything, though, you have to choose what to do with your life. Growing vegetables takes time (and money). Given the choice I think most people would opt to buy their vegetables from someone else so they have time to do other things. The problem comes when the quality of those veggies is slowly eroded over time in pursuit of profits. This problem isn't exclusive to vegetables, though.

Yep. Even something simple like bay leaves. I have some from a community garden. Dropped in a couple as normal and you can immediately taste something different compared to store bought leaves.

Too bad local farming is not scalable.

We garden a lot, and buy shares and volunteer for local farming co-ops.

We don’t save any money this way but we eat better and feel more self sufficient.

This year will be my first crop of sweet corn :)