I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?
And don't get me started about apples......

On 12/05/2017 15:41, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Fri, 12 May 2017 15:05:00 +0100, Stuart Noble wrote:

I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?

"Free market", innit ?

1) Driving incentive for farmer is to grow as *much*, as *cheaply* (cf
easily) as possible. Presumably the easiest to grow are the cheapest. And
when you consider trade is by *weight* then the temptation to grow and
sell varieties which hold a lot of water must immense.

2) Thick consumers with zero experience of real taste.

Many years ago, I discovered a gorgeous tomato variety called "SunGold".
It retailed briefly and disappeared from trace. (You can still buy seeds
for it). In it's place we have SunBurst, SunBlush,SunDream all of which
may as well be called "Sun****". I really can't remember the last time I
bought tomatoes *anywhere* in the UK. Even (especially) from "farm
shops". They are universally bland.

I now know why so many European ex-pats in the UK grow their own veg.

And don't get me started about apples......

See above.

Have you noticed that the vast majority of supermarket tomatoes have
*very* thick and tough skins?

In message , Stuart Noble
writes
I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?
And don't get me started about apples......

Ping Chris H..

You may be remembering back to the time they were shipped packed in
soil. At the risk of alerting TNP, this might have something to do with
the EU and disease control.

--
Tim Lamb

In article ,
Stuart Noble wrote:
I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?
And don't get me started about apples......

Last seasons Jersey Royals were just as tasty as ever, here. But so called
new anything like that if forced is often tasteless. Thinking of out of
season stawberries. Look great but taste of nothing.

--
*War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 12/05/2017 15:05, Stuart Noble wrote:
I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?
And don't get me started about apples......


+1

Its down to the public "demanding" class one fruit and veg necessitating
farmers to only plant varieties where taste has been sacrificed in
favour of the perfect colour and shape.

I've found recently that fruit from South Africa has had a far superior
taste to that grown by our partners in the EU. Most tasteless stuff
seems to be grown in France, Spain and Italy with perhaps the
Netherlands leading the way with tasteless salad crops.

And then there is the green fruit on sale that starts going rotten long
before it can ripen!

--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 12/05/2017 15:41, Jethro_uk wrote:

I really can't remember the last time I
bought tomatoes *anywhere* in the UK. Even (especially) from "farm
shops". They are universally bland.

Lidl or Aldi sell packs of cherry size tomatoes usually with 3 varieties
(black, red and yellow) and these can often have some real tomato taste.
However the varieties in these packs can change throughout the year
and some varieties are bland. Be aware that you may need to eat them
fairly quickly after purchase as once they start going soft they are
only suitable for cooking.


--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 12/05/2017 15:05, Stuart Noble wrote:
I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?
And don't get me started about apples......

Lidl Jersey royals taste fine.

On 12/05/2017 16:22, dennis@home wrote:

Lidl Jersey royals taste fine.



I hope so as I purchased some from Lidl two hours ago

--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 12/05/2017 15:05, Stuart Noble wrote:
I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?

They may well have been stored in a chilled nitrogen atmosphere for
heaven knows how long before being offered for sale.

Early new spuds are usually better than stored maincrop and locally
grown ones of any sort fresh from your own garden taste much better.

And don't get me started about apples......

Likewise. The apples sold in supermarkets at this time of year taste
like mushy cardboard and have been sat in nitrogen since harvest. A
major grower was done for H&S offences relating to their storage system:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33200388

It isn't surprising that supermarket varieties largely chosen for
maximum yield, uniform size, robust handling thick skins and incredibly
long shelf life don't taste particularly good.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Friday, 12 May 2017 16:44:30 UTC+1, Martin Brown wrote:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33200388

It isn't surprising that supermarket varieties largely chosen for
maximum yield, uniform size, robust handling thick skins and incredibly
long shelf life don't taste particularly good.

I don;t eat many apples but I'm pretty sure my mum that did used to say the goldern delicious had no taste and they came from France.

If there's anyone that knows about apples maybe they can give their top 5 and where they are grown.

On 12/05/2017 15:54, Bod wrote:
On 12/05/2017 15:41, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Fri, 12 May 2017 15:05:00 +0100, Stuart Noble wrote:

I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?

"Free market", innit ?

1) Driving incentive for farmer is to grow as *much*, as *cheaply* (cf
easily) as possible. Presumably the easiest to grow are the cheapest. And
when you consider trade is by *weight* then the temptation to grow and
sell varieties which hold a lot of water must immense.

2) Thick consumers with zero experience of real taste.

Many years ago, I discovered a gorgeous tomato variety called "SunGold".
It retailed briefly and disappeared from trace. (You can still buy seeds
for it). In it's place we have SunBurst, SunBlush,SunDream all of which
may as well be called "Sun****". I really can't remember the last time I
bought tomatoes *anywhere* in the UK. Even (especially) from "farm
shops". They are universally bland.

I now know why so many European ex-pats in the UK grow their own veg.

And don't get me started about apples......

See above.

Have you noticed that the vast majority of supermarket tomatoes have
*very* thick and tough skins?

Yes, but I think you do better if you buy the not very big, on the vine
ones. The cheap ones might be OK for frying but not much else.

--
Michael Chare

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On Fri, 12 May 2017 15:05:00 +0100
Stuart Noble wrote:

I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds
are frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the
most delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so
what's so bloody difficult?
And don't get me started about apples......

The one that I can never find tasting any good now is the radish. When
I were little, they had a lovely 'bite', now they taste of nothing.
We find McCain's chips to be very good, certainly much better than the
local chippy's.

--
Davey.

Perhaps the sources of the raw materials are crap, or maybe I need to
rephrase that, the wrong sort of crap.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Stuart Noble" wrote in message
...
I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals, Cyprus
new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's from
Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are frozen
mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most delicious crop
in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so bloody difficult?
And don't get me started about apples......

On 12/05/2017 15:54, Bod wrote:
On 12/05/2017 15:41, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Fri, 12 May 2017 15:05:00 +0100, Stuart Noble wrote:

I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?

"Free market", innit ?

1) Driving incentive for farmer is to grow as *much*, as *cheaply* (cf
easily) as possible. Presumably the easiest to grow are the cheapest. And
when you consider trade is by *weight* then the temptation to grow and
sell varieties which hold a lot of water must immense.

2) Thick consumers with zero experience of real taste.

Many years ago, I discovered a gorgeous tomato variety called "SunGold".
It retailed briefly and disappeared from trace. (You can still buy seeds
for it). In it's place we have SunBurst, SunBlush,SunDream all of which
may as well be called "Sun****". I really can't remember the last time I
bought tomatoes *anywhere* in the UK. Even (especially) from "farm
shops". They are universally bland.

I now know why so many European ex-pats in the UK grow their own veg.

And don't get me started about apples......

See above.

Have you noticed that the vast majority of supermarket tomatoes have
*very* thick and tough skins?

Appearance and long shelf life - that's all the supermarkets care about.
Taste and smell don't enter the equation.

....and don't start me on strawberries...

On 12/05/2017 17:10, Davey wrote:
On Fri, 12 May 2017 15:05:00 +0100
Stuart Noble wrote:

I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds
are frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the
most delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so
what's so bloody difficult?
And don't get me started about apples......

The one that I can never find tasting any good now is the radish. When

They are dead easy to grow. Clear a bit of ground and put the seed in.

Water in and wait a while. More appropriate to urg but sort of DIY.

I were little, they had a lovely 'bite', now they taste of nothing.
We find McCain's chips to be very good, certainly much better than the
local chippy's.

Find a better less local chippy then!

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 12/05/17 16:00, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Stuart Noble wrote:
I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?
And don't get me started about apples......

Last seasons Jersey Royals were just as tasty as ever, here. But so called
new anything like that if forced is often tasteless. Thinking of out of
season stawberries. Look great but taste of nothing.

"Just as tasty as ever"? Then you've never tasted real Jersey Royals.

They lost their flavour at least 5 years ago - maybe 10 - when seaweed
stopped being used as a fertiliser. There may be some farmers who still
use it, and if so it might be worth looking for these.

Just Google "Jersey Royals" and "seaweed". You'll find numerous pages
and comments from those who miss the flavour that Jersey Royals used to
have.

--

Jeff

On Fri, 12 May 2017 17:41:50 +0100
Martin Brown wrote:

I were little, they had a lovely 'bite', now they taste of nothing.
We find McCain's chips to be very good, certainly much better than
the local chippy's.

Find a better less local chippy then!

No point. They are all in different towns, and with McCain's at home,
why bother?

--
Davey.

Stuart Noble wrote

I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals, Cyprus
new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's from
Waitrose or the farmers' market.

The Desirees I use dont.

The only decent tasting spuds are frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous
chips.

I've grown the most delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back
door,

Interesting idea. I have a pile of pickers buckets, might try that.

so what's so bloody difficult?

They have to move the potatoes from where they are
grown to where they are sold and consumed, you dont.

And don't get me started about apples......

Mine are fine too. Usually eat granny smiths, but not exclusively.

"Jethro_uk" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 12 May 2017 15:05:00 +0100, Stuart Noble wrote:

I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?

"Free market", innit ?

1) Driving incentive for farmer is to grow as *much*, as *cheaply* (cf
easily) as possible. Presumably the easiest to grow are the cheapest.

Its not about the growing, its about the varietys
that do the best in the considerable time between
being in the dirt and ending up on your plate.

And when you consider trade is by *weight* then the temptation
to grow and sell varieties which hold a lot of water must immense.

Its not about that either.

2) Thick consumers with zero experience of real taste.

Or those who cant even get the stuff they like the taste of more.

Many years ago, I discovered a gorgeous tomato variety called "SunGold".
It retailed briefly and disappeared from trace. (You can still buy seeds
for it). In it's place we have SunBurst, SunBlush,SunDream all of which
may as well be called "Sun****". I really can't remember the last time I
bought tomatoes *anywhere* in the UK. Even (especially) from "farm
shops". They are universally bland.

I now know why so many European ex-pats in the UK grow their own veg.

And don't get me started about apples......

See above.

On 12/05/2017 16:50, whisky-dave wrote:
On Friday, 12 May 2017 16:44:30 UTC+1, Martin Brown wrote:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33200388

It isn't surprising that supermarket varieties largely chosen for
maximum yield, uniform size, robust handling thick skins and incredibly
long shelf life don't taste particularly good.

I don;t eat many apples but I'm pretty sure my mum that did used to say the goldern delicious had no taste and they came from France.

I haven't seen them for ages.

If there's anyone that knows about apples maybe they can give their top 5 and where they are grown.

Coxes are still available in season (just finished). Mostly English, but
sometimes New Zealand ones are available for a bit at the end of the season.

Gala is OK, but I'm not all that fussy.

--
Max Demian

"Bod" wrote in message
...
On 12/05/2017 15:41, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Fri, 12 May 2017 15:05:00 +0100, Stuart Noble wrote:

I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?

"Free market", innit ?

1) Driving incentive for farmer is to grow as *much*, as *cheaply* (cf
easily) as possible. Presumably the easiest to grow are the cheapest. And
when you consider trade is by *weight* then the temptation to grow and
sell varieties which hold a lot of water must immense.

2) Thick consumers with zero experience of real taste.

Many years ago, I discovered a gorgeous tomato variety called "SunGold".
It retailed briefly and disappeared from trace. (You can still buy seeds
for it). In it's place we have SunBurst, SunBlush,SunDream all of which
may as well be called "Sun****". I really can't remember the last time I
bought tomatoes *anywhere* in the UK. Even (especially) from "farm
shops". They are universally bland.

I now know why so many European ex-pats in the UK grow their own veg.

And don't get me started about apples......

See above.

Have you noticed that the vast majority of supermarket tomatoes have
*very* thick and tough skins?

Ours dont.

On Friday, May 12, 2017 at 7:33:03 PM UTC+1, Rod Speed wrote:
"Jethro_uk" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 12 May 2017 15:05:00 +0100, Stuart Noble wrote:

I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?

"Free market", innit ?

1) Driving incentive for farmer is to grow as *much*, as *cheaply* (cf
easily) as possible. Presumably the easiest to grow are the cheapest.

Its not about the growing, its about the varietys
that do the best in the considerable time between
being in the dirt and ending up on your plate.

And when you consider trade is by *weight* then the temptation
to grow and sell varieties which hold a lot of water must immense.

Its not about that either.

2) Thick consumers with zero experience of real taste.

Or those who cant even get the stuff they like the taste of more.

Many years ago, I discovered a gorgeous tomato variety called "SunGold"..
It retailed briefly and disappeared from trace. (You can still buy seeds
for it). In it's place we have SunBurst, SunBlush,SunDream all of which
may as well be called "Sun****". I really can't remember the last time I
bought tomatoes *anywhere* in the UK. Even (especially) from "farm
shops". They are universally bland.

I now know why so many European ex-pats in the UK grow their own veg.

And don't get me started about apples......

See above.

Somewhere allof you there is a wholesaler who will sell you a paper bag of potatoes. The problem is supermarkets sell washed polythene bagged potatoes, they can only be ****. As for Jersey potatoes, they are only OK at best, filling a gap where the uk cant compete. Today I bought a paper bag of rooster potatoes which will do until the Duke of Yorks that I have planted grow.. Through the winter I have been eating Kerrs Pinks bought at £12 for a 25 kg bag. Find a local wholesaler. Find a farm that sells by the bag.

On Fri, 12 May 2017 15:54:36 +0100, Bod wrote:

On 12/05/2017 15:41, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Fri, 12 May 2017 15:05:00 +0100, Stuart Noble wrote:

I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?

"Free market", innit ?

1) Driving incentive for farmer is to grow as *much*, as *cheaply* (cf
easily) as possible. Presumably the easiest to grow are the cheapest. And
when you consider trade is by *weight* then the temptation to grow and
sell varieties which hold a lot of water must immense.

2) Thick consumers with zero experience of real taste.

Many years ago, I discovered a gorgeous tomato variety called "SunGold".
It retailed briefly and disappeared from trace. (You can still buy seeds
for it). In it's place we have SunBurst, SunBlush,SunDream all of which
may as well be called "Sun****". I really can't remember the last time I
bought tomatoes *anywhere* in the UK. Even (especially) from "farm
shops". They are universally bland.

I now know why so many European ex-pats in the UK grow their own veg.

And don't get me started about apples......

See above.

Have you noticed that the vast majority of supermarket tomatoes have
*very* thick and tough skins?

I don't see what all the fuss is about, all potatoes and tomatoes taste fine to me.

--
New Zealand Rugby Commentator - "Andrew Mehrtens loves it when Daryl Gibson comes inside of him."

On 12/05/2017 16:43, alan_m wrote:
On 12/05/2017 16:22, dennis@home wrote:

Lidl Jersey royals taste fine.



I hope so as I purchased some from Lidl two hours ago



Having just eaten some - just a hint of the taste I remember.

--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Many years ago, I discovered a gorgeous tomato variety called "SunGold".
It retailed briefly and disappeared from trace. (You can still buy seeds
for it). In it's place we have SunBurst, SunBlush,SunDream all of which
may as well be called "Sun****". I really can't remember the last time I
bought tomatoes *anywhere* in the UK. Even (especially) from "farm
shops". They are universally bland.

I now know why so many European ex-pats in the UK grow their own veg.

And don't get me started about apples......

See above.

Have you noticed that the vast majority of supermarket tomatoes have
*very* thick and tough skins?

I don't see what all the fuss is about, all potatoes and tomatoes taste
fine to me.

Fine, but the rest of us can tell the difference in taste.

On Fri, 12 May 2017 20:05:24 +0100, Bod wrote:


Many years ago, I discovered a gorgeous tomato variety called "SunGold".
It retailed briefly and disappeared from trace. (You can still buy seeds
for it). In it's place we have SunBurst, SunBlush,SunDream all of which
may as well be called "Sun****". I really can't remember the last time I
bought tomatoes *anywhere* in the UK. Even (especially) from "farm
shops". They are universally bland.

I now know why so many European ex-pats in the UK grow their own veg.

And don't get me started about apples......

See above.

Have you noticed that the vast majority of supermarket tomatoes have
*very* thick and tough skins?

I don't see what all the fuss is about, all potatoes and tomatoes taste
fine to me.

Fine, but the rest of us can tell the difference in taste.

Never heard anyone say that before. Especially with potatoes which have almost no flavour anyway, they're always mixed with other foods which have a taste to them.

--
Suicidal twin kills sister by mistake!

"James Wilkinson Sword" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 12 May 2017 20:05:24 +0100, Bod wrote:


Many years ago, I discovered a gorgeous tomato variety called
"SunGold".
It retailed briefly and disappeared from trace. (You can still buy
seeds
for it). In it's place we have SunBurst, SunBlush,SunDream all of
which
may as well be called "Sun****". I really can't remember the last time
I
bought tomatoes *anywhere* in the UK. Even (especially) from "farm
shops". They are universally bland.

I now know why so many European ex-pats in the UK grow their own veg.

And don't get me started about apples......

See above.

Have you noticed that the vast majority of supermarket tomatoes have
*very* thick and tough skins?

I don't see what all the fuss is about, all potatoes and tomatoes taste
fine to me.

Fine, but the rest of us can tell the difference in taste.

Never heard anyone say that before.

Then you need a hearing aid, bad.

Especially with potatoes which have almost no flavour anyway,

Even sillier than you usually manage. Your taste buds are ****ed.

they're always mixed with other foods which have a taste to them.

Not always.

I am the same as you James. I have been intrigued by this thread because to me a potato is a potato, some are flowery and some are wet, but a difference in taste? I don't get it. But I must accept that I just don't have a palette, it's the same with wine, they all taste the same to me, unless they are really bad.
A good palette? an interest in sport? an appreciation of poetry? all sadly lost on me.

On 12/05/2017 16:50, whisky-dave wrote:
On Friday, 12 May 2017 16:44:30 UTC+1, Martin Brown wrote:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33200388

It isn't surprising that supermarket varieties largely chosen for
maximum yield, uniform size, robust handling thick skins and incredibly
long shelf life don't taste particularly good.

I don;t eat many apples but I'm pretty sure my mum that did used to say the goldern delicious had no taste and they came from France.

If there's anyone that knows about apples maybe they can give their top 5 and where they are grown.



Dunns seedlings, UK, but hard to find and very short season.
Cox
Empire
Jazz
Braeburn
Comice pears

On 12/05/2017 20:03, alan_m wrote:
On 12/05/2017 16:43, alan_m wrote:
On 12/05/2017 16:22, dennis@home wrote:

Lidl Jersey royals taste fine.



I hope so as I purchased some from Lidl two hours ago



Having just eaten some - just a hint of the taste I remember.


What you really want are Jersey mids but I haven't seen any this year.

On 12/05/2017 17:41, Martin Brown wrote:

I were little, they had a lovely 'bite', now they taste of nothing.
We find McCain's chips to be very good, certainly much better than the
local chippy's.

Find a better less local chippy then!


I don't like chip shop chips any more, there is one chippy near here
that does nice oven chips.

On Fri, 12 May 2017 20:49:45 +0100, Rod Speed wrote:



"James Wilkinson Sword" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 12 May 2017 20:05:24 +0100, Bod wrote:


Many years ago, I discovered a gorgeous tomato variety called
"SunGold".
It retailed briefly and disappeared from trace. (You can still buy
seeds
for it). In it's place we have SunBurst, SunBlush,SunDream all of
which
may as well be called "Sun****". I really can't remember the last time
I
bought tomatoes *anywhere* in the UK. Even (especially) from "farm
shops". They are universally bland.

I now know why so many European ex-pats in the UK grow their own veg.

And don't get me started about apples......

See above.

Have you noticed that the vast majority of supermarket tomatoes have
*very* thick and tough skins?

I don't see what all the fuss is about, all potatoes and tomatoes taste
fine to me.

Fine, but the rest of us can tell the difference in taste.

Never heard anyone say that before.

Then you need a hearing aid, bad.

Especially with potatoes which have almost no flavour anyway,

Even sillier than you usually manage. Your taste buds are ****ed.

they're always mixed with other foods which have a taste to them.

Not always.

Apples, oranges, they're tasty. Eating a potato on it's own is like eating bread.

--
Two cowboys are riding along a trail in the mountains when they suddenly hear tom toms beating very close to them.
"Oh! That doesn't sound good," one says to the other.
As soon as the words were spoken, an Indian jumps out from behind a tree and said, "Yeah, our regular drummer is out sick."

In message , Martin Brown
writes
On 12/05/2017 17:10, Davey wrote:
On Fri, 12 May 2017 15:05:00 +0100
Stuart Noble wrote:

I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds
are frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the
most delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so
what's so bloody difficult?
And don't get me started about apples......

The one that I can never find tasting any good now is the radish. When

They are dead easy to grow. Clear a bit of ground and put the seed in.

Water in and wait a while. More appropriate to urg but sort of DIY.

Hmm.. excellent slug/snail food. Not sure which group that fits.

I were little, they had a lovely 'bite', now they taste of nothing.
We find McCain's chips to be very good, certainly much better than the
local chippy's.

Find a better less local chippy then!


--
Tim Lamb

On Friday, 12 May 2017 19:39:12 UTC+1, Max Demian wrote:
On 12/05/2017 16:50, whisky-dave wrote:
On Friday, 12 May 2017 16:44:30 UTC+1, Martin Brown wrote:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33200388

I don;t eat many apples but I'm pretty sure my mum that did used to say the goldern delicious had no taste and they came from France.

I haven't seen them for ages.

If there's anyone that knows about apples maybe they can give their top 5 and where they are grown.

Coxes are still available in season (just finished). Mostly English, but
sometimes New Zealand ones are available for a bit at the end of the season.

Gala is OK, but I'm not all that fussy.

Goldens are a bit bland, especially if French, but ok to eat. Discovery and red delicious are not. Cox, worcester pearmain, yum.


NT

"James Wilkinson Sword" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 12 May 2017 20:49:45 +0100, Rod Speed
wrote:



"James Wilkinson Sword" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 12 May 2017 20:05:24 +0100, Bod wrote:


Many years ago, I discovered a gorgeous tomato variety called
"SunGold".
It retailed briefly and disappeared from trace. (You can still buy
seeds
for it). In it's place we have SunBurst, SunBlush,SunDream all of
which
may as well be called "Sun****". I really can't remember the last
time
I
bought tomatoes *anywhere* in the UK. Even (especially) from "farm
shops". They are universally bland.

I now know why so many European ex-pats in the UK grow their own
veg.

And don't get me started about apples......

See above.

Have you noticed that the vast majority of supermarket tomatoes have
*very* thick and tough skins?

I don't see what all the fuss is about, all potatoes and tomatoes
taste
fine to me.

Fine, but the rest of us can tell the difference in taste.

Never heard anyone say that before.

Then you need a hearing aid, bad.

Especially with potatoes which have almost no flavour anyway,

Even sillier than you usually manage. Your taste buds are ****ed.

they're always mixed with other foods which have a taste to them.

Not always.

Apples, oranges, they're tasty.

Yes.

Eating a potato on it's own is like eating bread.

Depends on what you do with it. Lovely roasted in a fire.

Rednadnerb wrote

I am the same as you James. I have been intrigued by
this thread because to me a potato is a potato, some
are flowery and some are wet, but a difference in taste?

Fraid so.

I don't get it.

Yes, you dont.

But I must accept that I just don't have a palette,

Yes, you dont.

it's the same with wine, they all taste the
same to me, unless they are really bad.

Yes, you have a problem.

A good palette? an interest in sport? an
appreciation of poetry? all sadly lost on me.

Yes. Do the decent thing and hang yourself or something.

On 12/05/2017 16:44, Martin Brown wrote:
On 12/05/2017 15:05, Stuart Noble wrote:
I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?

They may well have been stored in a chilled nitrogen atmosphere for
heaven knows how long before being offered for sale.


I reckon a lot of supermarket, and especially Lidl/Aldi, fruit and veg
arrives for sale from cold storage. It's not that good to start with,
and goes off very quickly.

Apart from things like carrots, onions and potato, most of the veg I buy
is frozen.

--
Cheers, Rob

But what senses i lack sharpens the others. For instance, on the radio I can tell if someone is a ukip supporter before they air their views.

In message , RJH writes
On 12/05/2017 16:44, Martin Brown wrote:
On 12/05/2017 15:05, Stuart Noble wrote:
I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?

They may well have been stored in a chilled nitrogen atmosphere for
heaven knows how long before being offered for sale.


I reckon a lot of supermarket, and especially Lidl/Aldi, fruit and veg
arrives for sale from cold storage. It's not that good to start with,
and goes off very quickly.

Umm. My sister grew horticultural stuff for sale on a market stall.
There was a noticeable difference in the keeping performance of washed
and unwashed veg.

Apart from things like carrots, onions and potato, most of the veg I
buy is frozen.


--
Tim Lamb

On 13/05/2017 10:02, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , RJH writes
On 12/05/2017 16:44, Martin Brown wrote:
On 12/05/2017 15:05, Stuart Noble wrote:
I'm old enough to remember the joy of new potatoes, Jersey Royals,
Cyprus new, or whatever. Now everything tastes of ****, whether it's
from Waitrose or the farmers' market. The only decent tasting spuds are
frozen mash or McCain's Simply Gorgeous chips. I've grown the most
delicious crop in builders buckets outside my back door, so what's so
bloody difficult?

They may well have been stored in a chilled nitrogen atmosphere for
heaven knows how long before being offered for sale.


I reckon a lot of supermarket, and especially Lidl/Aldi, fruit and veg
arrives for sale from cold storage. It's not that good to start with,
and goes off very quickly.

Umm. My sister grew horticultural stuff for sale on a market stall.
There was a noticeable difference in the keeping performance of washed
and unwashed veg.


Ah OK, have to say I hadn't thought of that.


--
Cheers, Rob