Homegrown vs. Store-bought Tomatoes
@DeborahDiane (40324)
Laguna Woods, California
August 12, 2016 11:38pm CST
Once a month, my husband and I serve dinner at the local homeless shelter. I always make two large pans of tossed salad ... enough to feed 70 or 80 people.
Usually, I add a couple of containers of store-bought cherry tomatoes to the salad.
This month, a friend of mine gave me half a dozen tomatoes which she and her husband had grown in their garden. They just picked them yesterday.
As I cut up the tomatoes and sampled a few slices, I realized how much better tasting the homegrown tomatoes were than the store bought ones. They were juicier and had so much more flavor!
Have you discovered the same thing? Are there other fruits or vegetables that you prefer to eat when they are homegrown rather than store bought? 
29 people like this
31 responses
@sallypup (61761)
• Centralia, Washington
14 Aug 16
@DeborahDiane Thanks. I just had a couple of home cherry tomatoes in a salad. They are very sweet and juicy so yes to the veggie candy.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@sallypup - I loved the way you described the difference in homegrown and store-bought tomatoes. "Veggie candy" is a great description!
2 people like this
@Macarrosel (7498)
• Philippines
13 Aug 16
You're right, homegrown plants and fruits are good to eat than store bought. I have plant tomatoes in our backyard before.
3 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@Macarrosel - I'm sure your homegrown tomatoes were delicious!
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
15 Aug 16
@Hatley - I still like to go to the produce stands in Irvine; I also like to go to the local Farmer's Markets here in Orange County. You are right that the fresh produce is the best.
1 person likes this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
20 Oct 17
Discovered it ages ago.
Our tomatoes the best ones are exported and they leave us with not very good tomatoes and at exhorbitant prices.
Home grown stuff is always best like say the artichokes the difference is tremendous.
1 person likes this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
21 Oct 17
@DeborahDiane
I am glad that someone from outside of here called the shop tomatoes rocks which is what they sometimes are here and at exhorbitant prices too.
Nothing like home grown the taste just does not compare.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
21 Oct 17
@lovinangelsinstead21 - I agree that homegrown vegetables taste the best. Next to that, I always enjoy the organic vegetables from the Farmer's Market.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
21 Oct 17
@lovinangelsinstead21 - Ha Ha! Rocks are exactly what store bought tomatoes often feel like!
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (472160)
• Switzerland
14 Aug 16
@DeborahDiane Yes, I try to have everything I need for a summer salad. I also have potatoes and in a couple of weeks I will plant the winter vegetables, cabbage, spinach, kale, broccoli.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@LadyDuck - Your garden sounds wonderful! You grow everything you need for a wonderful salad!
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@LadyDuck - Wow! Your garden sounds fabulous ... salads in the summer and other veggies in the winter!
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
13 Aug 16
yes ma'am, ya jest can't beat home grown, fresh off the vine/plant versus that schtuff they sell'n the grocery store. which's why i do my best to preserve all i can from one season to the next :)
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
14 Aug 16
@DeborahDiane they do quite well'n containers, ya know :) that's the way i grow 'em here. e'en 've some'n the porch so's they're handy. yepperz, one fergets these thingies. kinda like pickin' a ripe apple off the tree. ya jest don't get that sorta taste, crunch 'n juice runnin' down yer chin with those store bought'uns. they pick 'em too green so's they make the long haul to the grocery store :( shame more places don't buy local produce when such's available.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@crazyhorseladycx - I should start a little container garden. That would be nice. Right now, I just wait for my friend to bring me tomatoes!
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@crazyhorseladycx - I used to grow our own tomatoes a long time ago, but it has been years. Guess I forgot how good they taste!
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (182478)
• United States
13 Aug 16
I think there is no real comparison, but tomatoes on the vine that the stores sell are not bad
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@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@snowy22315 - Ahh! I have bought the tomatoes that are on the vine at the store. You are right that they taste better than regular tomatoes.
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@jstory07 - You are so lucky to have grown up eating homegrown tomatoes. I'm sure they are healthier, too!
@sallypup (61761)
• Centralia, Washington
14 Aug 16
@DeborahDiane I know someone who can't stand tomatoes cause of the texture. She apologized but said she did not want one of my home grown maters.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@sallypup - My husband has late-stage kidney disease and he is not supposed to eat tomatoes because they have too much potassium and are hard on the kidneys. However, I love them and enjoy getting them for myself.
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@marlina - It is amazing how we "settle" for flavorless veggies because it is more convenient to buy them at the store rather than grow them!
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@jaboUK - Ahhh! I remember eating fresh green beans when I was a kid. They really were delicious!
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (50591)
• United States
14 Aug 16
My daddy's tomatoes are much better then store bought.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
15 Aug 16
@Tampa_girl7 - I'm sure you are right that your Daddy's tomatoes are better than the ones in the stores. There is nothing like vine ripened tomatoes.
@moffittjc (121738)
• Gainesville, Florida
13 Aug 16
I notice the difference in the quality of the tomatoes from ones I buy at the farmers market compared to ones I buy at the grocery store. Big difference in taste! I even remember when I was little my parents had a garden where they grew all kinds of vegetables, and I always remember how great everything tasted. It seems these, days, store bought fruits and vegetables are a lot more bland.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121738)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Aug 16
@DeborahDiane One of the things I love to do with my kids is drive around to the various farms we have here in Florida, and let them pick and sample fruits and vegetables straight from the tree or plant! Oranges, blueberries, strawberries, corn...you name it, it seems like somebody around here grows it! Much, much better than the stuff in stores.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
16 Aug 16
@moffittjc - What a wonderful idea to take your kids directly to the local farms and let them sample fresh fruits and vegetables. So few kids ever have the chance to learn how good fresh fruit and veggies can be!
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
15 Aug 16
I agree that store bought fruits and vegetables are a lot more bland. Think of the millions of young people who never learn just how good fresh fruit and vegetables really are.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
23 Aug 16
@shshiju - I agree that people have immense pleasure when they cook using their own homegrown vegetables.
1 person likes this
@shshiju (10342)
• Cochin, India
24 Aug 16
@DeborahDiane 
Yes we have some veggies by our own
Yes we have some veggies by our own1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
15 Aug 16
@DianneN - I love to go to the local farmer's markets which are open here in Southern California the year around. However, I noticed that the fresh tomatoes my friend brought me were even better than the ones from the farmer's market. I think they were even fresher.
1 person likes this
@marsha32 (6631)
• United States
13 Aug 16
I am kicking myself for not at least putting out some tomato plants. It's always such a joy to go out and pick them, and we all love tomatoes.
We've had good luck getting good ones at the grocery store though this year....I just hate to pay the price for them!
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@marsha32 - Yes, store-bought veggies can be expensive and they still don't taste as good as homegrown ones!
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@simone10 - You make a good point. The fresh tomatoes did smell wonderful and they made my kitchen smell heavenly!
1 person likes this
@MKAlubs (455)
• United States
13 Aug 16
Thank goodness for the local farmer's market! I wish they were open all year, but of course local farmers and gardeners can't grow all year. Grocery store tomatoes are picked green and then gased to make them turn red before being put on grocery store shelves. They look great but have zero flavor. A home-grown tomato ripened on the vine, however, is downright euphoric.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@MKAlubs - Ahhh! I did not know that they gas tomatoes to make them red. You are so right that ones that are ripened on the vine are "downright euphoric."
@1creekgirl (41785)
• United States
13 Aug 16
Oh my, there's just no comparison between home-grown, fresh from the garden tomatoes and those so-called tomatoettes from the grocery store.
Squash and okra aren't so terrible from the store, but much tastier when just picked from the garden also. It's very admirable that you help feed at a homeless shelter.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@1creekgirl - My husband and I really enjoy feeding people at the homeless shelter. I was happy I was able to share such delicious tomatoes with them yesterday.
1 person likes this
@responsiveme (22926)
• India
13 Aug 16
All homegrown vegetables taste so much better.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@responsiveme - I agree that homegrown vegetable taste much better than ones in the store!
1 person likes this
@teresatrotter (4073)
• Jacksonville, Florida
13 Aug 16
I go to a farmer's market to purchase mine. They are bigger and tastier.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40324)
• Laguna Woods, California
14 Aug 16
@teresatrotter - We have a farmer's market in our area. I should start buying my tomatoes there!
