Is homegrown better? A massive thanks to ASUS for sponsoring today’s video! Find out more about the ASUS #Zenbook S 13 OLED here: https://asus.click/thincredible_huw | This video is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time; compare homegrown produce to supermarket produce in a simple citizen science style way. My goal with this video is to start a discussion amongst us homegrowers with what is flavour, how can we get a good sense of plant health without expensive lab reports, and also find out which varieties and growing methods make the greatest difference
#ASUS #Zencreator #Thincredible #ASUSLaunchEvent #sustainability #militarygrade
48 Comments
I use a refractometer to measure water content in honey. It should be 17% before being harvested and bottled, so it doesn't ferment. As for testing veg, I would suggest for a more accurate reading, buzz (haha) the produce with a hand blender in a jar to get a more homogeneous mixture of a sample. But I see this as a down and dirty tool for testing as you have said. One Youtuber did this in the supermarket AND a farmer's market. You can bet the vendors were not amused!
That was so interesting, I actually put a brix refractometer in my amazon cart. Thanks as always, Huw! I've been watching for years, but rarely comment. Just the blindfold was worth it! (Hilarious ❤)
Interesting video, regarding the carrots and spinach could the starches turn to sugar the longer they’re out of the ground making them sweeter possibly. Big plus over supermarket your fruit and vegetables aren’t sprayed with glyphosate and other harmful chemicals hopefully either and they’re not sitting around looking sad losing their vitamins and minerals content waiting for transportation and purchase at supermarkets Also I feel the benefits to growing your own fruits and vegetables are a rewarding healthy lifestyle I love watching them grow, from seed to plate it’s very convenient to pick them from the garden too Whilst not everything is a huge success it’s a learning curve
A spinach with less water content would logically have a lower sugar content as the juicy spinach is watered down.
Really interesting to watch and brix seems to be a good guide.
Though the spinach could have been bagged with carbon dioxide as the inert gas which could increase the brix value.
Only now that because I've just looked it up.
I like homegrown food because of its very low carbon footprint – it hasn't had to be shipped in from abroad or hundreds of miles away such as Chile, Spain or Turkey. Straight from garden to kitchen with little cost too – its a total win no matter how little you produce.
It's not clear how or whether you cleaned the garlic press and device after every single specimen. That would definitely affect and negate the results. For me, taste is the proof, and homegrown beats trucked to the supermarket every time! Thank you for sharing these tests with us.
I have a tiny backyard and grow everything in pots (2.5m x 5m), one half of the yard is always in shade. I have lots of vertical trellises/pallets, obilisks and garden arches too. In addition to flowers and evergreen bushes I manage to grow lettuce, beetroot, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes and runner beans. I have 2 compost tubs, 2 water butts, a cold frame and mini greenhouse, a mini shed, a 2 seater bench and 2 tables all squeezed in – so no matter how small a space you have you can do it!!! Save money, the airmiles and lorry loads grow your own!
Folks should check out landrace gardening’s channel. They have a video discussing recent research on nutrient density that had intended to look for a link between nutrient density in crops and soil health/nutrient load but found little to no correlation there. What the research found instead was a substantial correlation between nutrient density and varietal selection. The running theory being that modern breeding’s focus on shelf life, uniformity and disease resistance and the ability to thrive on synthetic fertilizers has resulted in the creation of cultivars that have lost the genetic code necessary for the synthesis of the complex biochemistry that their more genetically diverse cousins produce resulting in a reduced nutrient profile among the less genetically diverse cultivars.
I think some of the things that won for the supermarket were just because they were different varieties. Like carrots there are so many kinds so if the supermarket just had a sweeter variety that would affect your results.
It's something i've been investigating for a while so thanks for doing this. One thing you didn't consider though is what varieties they were as some are sweeter than others, so the test wasn't like for like. I often do blind taste tests on people who come to visit us and so far carrots and toms have been in 100% favour of mine. I'm going to do different ones this year such as courgettes etc.
Interesting stuff, a general consensus I get from the RegenAg scene is that it can take up to 7yrs to bring soil up to full potential, so your results in such a short 4 month timeframe is a big win! Laverstoke parks lab in Hampshire do nutrient density tests if you're up for the next level (they're Elaine Ingham soil food web acredited) they may let you film there, I had a tour back in 2011 as part of a compost tea seminar.
This was really fun and interesting test! Thank you and greetings from Finland!😊 I've been following your channel now for few months and really enjoy it. Not all things work similarly here in my climate, but I've still got plenty of good tips and it's lovely to watch you enthusiasm! I'm trying to get as self-sufficient as possible and I guess now I'm about 50% 😃
My daughters don't eat at all vegetables from supermarket, while they grab tomatoes, strawberries, carrots, etc. directly from my garden and eat them raw. I don't need any other proof! 😀
Loved this video. So much fun 😂
They said all our spices from supermarket has heavy metals in them. FATHER GOD BLESS YOU Huw and your family in JESUS NAME 🙏 ❤ 🙌
It is easily known what is starchy and dry vegs and sugary and fresh vegs. Corn – harvest in the morning when the corn has had all night to suck up water and make sugars. When looking for fresh and sugary corn – vs starchy and dry corn – prick a corn kernel and if it is dry and starchy – that corn was harvested in the afternoon and heat of the day when sugars are not made. The same happens with all roots, leafy, and fruit vegs. Harvest in the morning – and have sugary and fresh vegs – unless you are going to pre-plan them for pantry or root cellaring – then harvest in the afternoon – early night when they are drier. Sugar in the morning – starch in the afternoon.
That was a super fun video to watch. Your approach to gardening as a fun and worthwhile experiment/hobby really draws people in to want to try it, I think! I don't recall if you grow your tomatoes in a greenhouse or in an open bed. I'm in the midwestern United States, and here, where I can grow them in an open bed, there is no doubt upon tasting which is store bought and which is home grown. Cherry tomatoes are out of this world when eaten straight after picking.
Home growns can be grown to their mature flavors and tastes – without chemicals – although your labor costs are never included in the total calculation of homegrown vs grocery store produce. Grocery store produce is harvested young or green to overcome washing, storing in a cold chamber, then palletized, and shipped via trucks to stores. So green or potentially over-mature potatoes (and green tomatoes will be sold by grocery stores – and hope they finish up ripening on the grocery shelf (without proper sunlight maturation). As one who has driven vegs across the continent – there are massive problems with shipping vegetables – as they are harvested in the afternoon (hot vegs) that are then washing and packaged and pallet wrapped keeping in the heat (including melons !) and when travelling via trucking – they will overheat, steam up … and you get (actual examples – cooked potatoes, bananas, onions, melons, etc.). In those 24 hours even in a refrigerated truck, this internal heat from inside the pallet will destroy the vegs. If you smell grocery potatoes on the shelves and they smell cooked (or burnt) – they were. If you barely put the potato bag in the pantry and they immediately start growing tendrils – they were cooked. These potatoes will also quickly rot in the pantry – or just taste nasty and post-mature. Make sure when buying grocery vegs that they are truly fresh and healthy. Having one's own garden – one can grow them to proper maturity – and successional picking each day for proper freshness (and proper picking time in the morning) – you can have excellent foods.
That's because they literally inject and soak veggies in sugar nutrient mixes. Nirmal untreated veggies aren't supposed to have high sugar content. And a few years of replanting better tasting or sweeter grown produce will adjust those numbers over time.
Growing your own is still better and infinitely safer
what a brilliant video. Thank you!
I can't grow carrots that taste as good as the ones from the store either. Maybe chilling them in storage sweetens them some?
Loved this video! So much fun! One thing you might want to take into consideration (in favor of your very fresh produce), some vegetables are actually more nutritious after cooking. Carrots and spinach are two of those. The store bought spinach had less moisture.
You made me snort when you dabbed.
This video was adorable and so much fun! Absolutely loved it!! And i learned a lot of new things
I suspect that the lower brix levels in your garden produce is due to inadequacy in calcium. If you have an inadequacy in calcium, it does not allow for the assimilation of other nutrients. This is true in both humans and plants. It has to do with cation exchange capacity. Dr Carey Reams is the one who made the Brix levels chart.
Interesting video but for a simple gardener like me, no matter what the science says, I’m thoroughly enjoying working my plot on the best no dig principles I can manage, I get out in the fresh air; I make sure I sit and enjoy my plot which is now buzzing with bees and insects; the satisfaction I get from put some food on the family plates is immense; fork to plate is five minutes. To my mind it’s win win! I could go on!
One of your most fun videos to watch:)
Juicy means more water = more diluted. The store bought spinach is probably dehydrated from sitting on the shelf. Always a silver lining!
This is a cool video! Interesting the correlation btw'n sugar content and nutrient density. I have thoughts, though no real answers/conclusions…
Others have brought up travel time and location of planting. I think those are valid points, as is the addition of nutrients to a lot of supermarket food (not necessarily a bad thing, but obviously done because big agra leaches a lot of nutrients from soil with their planting methods, especially here in the US). Regarding taste, it seems companion plants can play a role in that, too. They can influence the sweetness, color, tartness, etc of many veggies. I wonder if that also has an impact on nutrient profile. There's also the issue of temperature, as I noted in someone's comment–certain produce (ie, spinach) gains nutrient density when frozen. Lastly, water–rainwater vs treated water. That might impact BRIX results, too.
This topic reminds me of a book I started to read a few months back, called The Intelligent Gardener. It came out just over a decade ago. It's controversial in that the author challenged the growing methods many organic gardeners had been using, which he also used. He began to question the methods when his teeth started falling out. In speaking with other organic farmers, he learned they also were having dental issues. That got him started on investigating nutrient density in organics and how to bolster the nutritional value of home-grown organic food.
Since I'm a gardening newb, I have no idea if his ideas spurred the pivot to nutrient-dense organics, but I did find it interesting that nutrition is such a focal point of organic gardening now, vs 20 years ago when folks were focused on flavor, freshness, and the idea of local/organic being a good thing and GMO being bad.
I'd be interested in seeing the nutrient profiles for many of the large markets in the US that are in poor areas/food deserts. We have such a huge problem with food insecurity here, and when you go to stores or discount food stores in those areas, some of the produce looks tragic. It pains me to see, because children in particular need nutritionally dense foods to grow and function well, and they aren't getting it in so many areas. All the more reason to create organic food gardens in every school.
Interesting experiment
Nice you garden
Thanks for an entertaining and informative video! I have used BRIX testing for years to continually improve my gardens as well as my techniques. For example, I found that after starting to add mycorrhizae at planting time the BRIX score of the vegetables started going up just because of better nutrient availability to the plants. Plant leaves themselves can be BRIX tested. I have learned over the years that if the line in the meter reading is clean and bright it indicates that plant is deficient in calcium.
It would be interesting to see the differences in nutrients between home grown, with all the nutrients and bacteria in the soil, compared with supermarket food that may be grown hydroponically with a restricted level of nutrients. Food grown in soil always seems ro have more flavour.
Wondering if blending a serving size for the sample, rather than a single berry/stalk/root/shoot would change results. Strawberries at the market, for example, have varying ripening stages within the carton purchased. Love this video and the path you're taking on this – and your sense of humor😛
For me there are 2 big advantages to home grown food. 1) you have control over what goes into your food, and 2) it’s on hand. This was a fun video! Thank you. 🌱
As a retired dietitan, i would just like to see people eating more fruits and veggies in general (except fried).
For sure, the homegrown would have a better taste as heirloom varieties were developed for taste not like the commercial hybrids developed more for ease of harvesting etc.
It would be difficult, not impossible, for measuring the nutrient content. Some nutrients, especially vitamins, degrade with post harvesting factors like oxygen, heat and sunlight exposure. Nutrient loss is typically higher when highly chopped produce is cooked with copious amounts of water for long periods on time.
Flash freezing is a great way to store surplus with minimal nutrient losses. Blanche when recommended to retain flavour.
I could rant on and on however to keep it simple…. eat more fruit and veg!
Thanks Huw for your lab personna. 😊😊😊😊
Your homegrown has won by million miles in my books for few simple reasons – no plastic, so no microplastics shedding on my food; freshly picked when you need it which is superior purely because most fruits and veg lose lots of their goodness once they're picked, the longer you leave it the less goodness; and last, gardening is simply AMAZING for mental health and health overall, so yay for homegrown!
Excellent video! 🙏🏼Supermarket carrots can have a taste that is all over the place. Sometimes better than homegrown. Sometimes completely and utterly tasteless. Homegrown can sometimes have that bitter taste. Have no idea where that comes from…
"please grow vegetables 🫠" hahah
Not homegrown but the veg I buy at my local farmer’s market last at least two weeks longer than the same from the supermarket, and much less expensive.
This was such an interesting video, great that you were really honest about the results. I wonder whether the variety of carrots and spinach will also have skewed the results. The supermarkets tend to sell varieties that are less complicated in terms of flavour because modern varieties have had a lot of the natural plant chemicals bred out of them which means they end up very sweet. However plants need those chemicals to withstand pest attacks so then supermarkets have to use pesticides. Another plus for your homegrown. It would be so interesting compare like with like in a lab. At the end of the day though there are so many reasons why homegrown is best it would be an unfair contest 😄
Wouldn't the moisture level (less dehydration in fresh picked) change the ratio of sugar to water, thereby changing the brix?
Yay! Brix. 🙂 Really great video Huw!
Worth bearing in mind that some of the veg you're comparing will almost certainly be different varieties (with different flavours) and quite a bit of the supermarket veg may have been grown in sunnier climates…
Love seeing your personality come out Huw. Your channel has truly been a blessing to me. May Jesus Christ bless you sir
Your mascara 😂😂😂
Loved this video: great idea, so funny and so interesting