[juliec]

Hi, to those who know me you will know that this is my first year growing veg in raised beds in my large garden, I had the idea to grow my own veg when my son who has 3 hungry sond lost his job.

However, althought, I didnt  have sucess with salad greens (they tasted too strong) and I left my cauli's in the ground too long so that the frost took them and turned all the lovely heads yellow and froze them.  I did leave some things in the ground for my Christmas Dinner, and heres my problems and I hope you can help:
On Christmas morning we dug up:-

Baby beetroot (baby cos they hadnt grown much) but werre planted in July
Baby carrots (baby cos they hadnt grown much) but were planted in July
Cabbage

The problems were:

This was the first time my family had come across fresh veg dug from the ground, and we did have ready to cook Asdas carrots etc incase we were left without any.


There was far more above the ground with the carrots and beetroot than below and my daughter in law had never seen carrots with mud on them so she didnt want to try them.

My carrots which cost approx £1 a packet (in seed) came to about 8 casrrots the largest the size of my little finger and  believe me the rest were half that size, however they were sweet and my 18 month old grandson ate them along with me.

The beetroots which differed in size from the size of my little finger nail to a little bigger than a silverskin onion wer bioled then roasted in honey.  My son and I were the only two to try them and they were "earthy"

Now to my cabbage... despite the holes in the cabbages, ( pests, pidgeons, caterpillers)  we had enough from 3 plants to provide us whith what an Asda £1 cabbage could have given us... but my family YES THEY ACTUALLY TRIED IT  (sorry I forgot to tell them this was home grown) but they said it tasted funny.. tooo strong.

Now my question to you all  with  much more experience than me  is,
 have we lost the taste of good home grown veg, have we never had the experience of good home grown veg, have our tase buds been tainted by long life, chemical produce so that we dont know what home grown vweg should actually  taste like  AND last but by no means least...

How can I get my family to eat what I grow, whether it be baby sized or (if I get my soil etc right) a size right to feed a family of 7.

On a great note, on New Years Day we had lamb and  they all tried and loved my home made mint sauce  (including my daughter in law)... theres hope there!!

Your thoughts and help are as always appreciated.

Jools

[Christine]

Listen if they are all used to packets of clean veg out of Asda, you can reckon on five years before you get anywhere with them.

Get a nice book with pretty pictures of stuff coming off the allotment and preferably a pretty gardener to get the interest going.

Oh and perhaps if you wash the soil off the crops down the plot so that the family doesn't see the mud for a bit you might do better in the sales department - the eye buys both in the shop and in the garden.

The taste of fresh is always a shock too.   

Mine only eat allotment produce because they grew up with a family of gardeners and know what's what.

[juliec]

Listen if they are all used to packets of clean veg out of Asda, you can reckon on five years before you get anywhere with them.

Get a nice book with pretty pictures of stuff coming off the allotment and preferably a pretty gardener to get the interest going.

Oh and perhaps if you wash the soil off the crops down the plot so that the family doesn't see the mud for a bit you might do better in the sales department - the eye buys both in the shop and in the garden.

The taste of fresh is always a shock too.   

Mine only eat allotment produce because they grew up with a family of gardeners and know what's what.

[juliec]

Thanks Christine,

Your help is appreciated.
Jools

[purplebean]

Children are often easy, I pull carrots give them a bit of a wipe with my fingers and let my son eat them with a few bits of mud still on he loves the fact that th veg goes from ground to mouth in seconds (he's still alive and healthy). Adults are a different matter some have very fixed ideas, not letting on is the best idea with them but homegrown veg does taste different. Beetroot is earthy and IMO it should be I love earthy beetroot.  Maybe try some things that will taste really good like tomatoes, courgettes and a basic loose leaf lettuce such as salad bowl, I would alos go for red salad bowl but by the sound of it that might be a bit much for them.

I think Christine is right only time will make a difference

[binner]

tell them its organic veg from a posh market that cost a bomb, let them tuck in and say its great then shout HAHA TRICKED YOU

[juliec]

I must say my baby carrots were very sweet, is this usual?

[peapod]

I invited quite a few family and friends around for Christmas dinner - all adults.
They were all shocked at the strong 'fresh' taste of my veg - especially the swede, but couldn't believe the difference in the sweetness of the sprouts and parsnips.  My 11 year old son was popping sprouts into his mouth before dinner like cherry toms. Yes, we are all very used to the bland uniform taste from the supermarkets.

For getting them used to the 'strong' taste - why not cook 'half and half'? Half supermarket veg and half home grown until they can take the fresher flavours.

Also, grow veg they can pick and eat raw from the plant that doesn't have mud all over it! I defy anyone to disagree that kids won't love freshly picked peas or toms warm from the sun.

Let them have a patch of their own with sweeter flavoured veg or lettuce..this will give them a sense of ownership and pride and they will be much more willing to try their own produce and then yours too.

[binner]

i had to buy some veg otherday from supermarket and it tasted horrid, or of nothing at all lol, my 6 year old was picky with food too, now he eats the lots and loves to help out on the plot

[Foghorn-Leghorn]

I must say my baby carrots were very sweet, is this usual?

Carrots should be sweet - it's far nicer to have a lovely sweet carrot that some horrible, watery, flavourless thing from the supermarket.  We've been known to eat pony carrots (in the the big string sacks) over the washed ones from the supermarket as the taste is better.

Like others have said, wash and prep your veg before the family see it and they will be none the wiser. 

It's a shame as a society we've been mind washed into wanting clean, evenly shaped but bland/flavourless fruit and veg from a supermarket.   

[binner]

I must say my baby carrots were very sweet, is this usual?

Carrots should be sweet - it's far nicer to have a lovely sweet carrot that some horrible, watery, flavourless thing from the supermarket.  We've been known to eat pony carrots (in the the big string sacks) over the washed ones from the supermarket as the taste is better.

Like others have said, wash and prep your veg before the family see it and they will be none the wiser. 

It's a shame as a society we've been mind washed into wanting clean, evenly shaped but bland/flavourless fruit and veg from a supermarket.   

oooooo a neighbour lol, where abouts you live foghorn-leghorn?

i was in tesco in hemsworth last week and a woman infront of me got a load of bags of washed, peeled and pre cut veg, i was watching the till and this years seed order cost less than them bags of rubbish

[juliec]

The sad thing is that I want to grow my own produce for a number of reasons, but even I am not used to the strong flavour of the end result.

Its okay for top celebrity chefs to go on about taste,  flavour, smell etc, but how does the "man in the street" know what that means, all we know is supermarket produce which could  be weeks even months old by the time we buy it.

At least  when we had "dig for victiory" our grandparents had proper veg and appreciated it.

Maybe our politicians should encourage the same... the way the economy is every one would benefit from a dig for victory campaign.

Especially our children from non  modified, no chemical, no preservative food.

Sorry all, rant over for now.  

Jools
xx

[Foghorn-Leghorn]

I must say my baby carrots were very sweet, is this usual?

Carrots should be sweet - it's far nicer to have a lovely sweet carrot that some horrible, watery, flavourless thing from the supermarket.  We've been known to eat pony carrots (in the the big string sacks) over the washed ones from the supermarket as the taste is better.

Like others have said, wash and prep your veg before the family see it and they will be none the wiser. 

It's a shame as a society we've been mind washed into wanting clean, evenly shaped but bland/flavourless fruit and veg from a supermarket.   

oooooo a neighbour lol, where abouts you live foghorn-leghorn?

i was in tesco in hemsworth last week and a woman infront of me got a load of bags of washed, peeled and pre cut veg, i was watching the till and this years seed order cost less than them bags of rubbish

I'm at Monkhill so not that far really!  Nice to find a neighbour on here  

I can't understand why most people would pay a premium for pre-prepared veg (it just looks very dry and uninspiring to me!).  I do understand why people who struggle to use knives/peelers, etc would choose to buy it but I suspect they would be better with frozen veg instead.

[juliec]

The sad thing is that I want to grow my own produce for a number of reasons, but even I am not used to the strong flavour of the end result.

Its okay for top celebrity chefs to go on about taste,  flavour, smell etc, but how does the "man in the street" know what that means, all we know is supermarket produce which could  be weeks even months old by the time we buy it.

At least  when we had "dig for victiory" our grandparents had proper veg and appreciated it.

Maybe our politicians should encourage the same... the way the economy is every one would benefit from a dig for victory campaign.

Especially our children from non  modified, no chemical, no preservative food.

Sorry all, rant over for now.  

Jools
xx

[binner]

the site on the right just after level crossing?
my ex's parents lived up there