Diana, space is a limiting factor for a lot of us, and you ask a very good question that I have pondered myself as I continue to create new beds and plant more and more edibles...(who needs grass?) As far as taste my answer would be: tomatoes, green beans, peas of all kinds, fresh beans (shellies that you normally cannot even buy), sweet corn, carrots and lettuces (I include arugula here). I am trying to plant potatoes and have not succeeded yet, so I am glad to read that potatoes are one of those veggies too....(I have some more potatoes growing and I think I will get some this time) However, following up on Grandad's suggestions, there are vegetables that we like a lot so growing them is a good idea. I would never buy the amount of veggies I grow, it would be too expensive or impossible to find! For example, my favorite eggplant, Rosa Bianca, I cannot find at the store. It is white fleshed, tender and so delicious, and yes, maybe if someone grew it commercially it would taste similar, but it is not commercially available where I live. So growing it gives me access to a most delicious eggplant that I would normally not be able to eat. Lots of vegetable varieties fall into this situation, normally you only get the ones that are easy to grow and transport, not necessarily the tastiest. The few places that do offer 'gourmet' vegetables also charge a premium. Also, I would add to Grandad's list: 6) How heavy are the vegetables and what is your mode of transportation? I started trying to grow purple potatoes since I love them and the closest place I can buy them is 11 miles round trip (on a bike) for me. I much rather dig them out of my yard even if I am not really saving any money by growing them, just because potatoes are so heavy. After reading this thread I am happy to learn they are also tastier.

As digdirt said, you need to do a little research on commercial growing. Here's a nickel tour: Commercial growers want tomatoes that produce a large quantity of uniform tomatoes, all at the same time, that are highly resistant to disease, pests, etc. They also want tomatoes that SHIP well. Most tomatoes are EXTREMELY sensitive when ripe, so that means MOST commercial growers pick their tomatoes at maximum SIZE, but before they start to ripen (aka change color). The ripening process is the part that allows the tomato to really develop its characteristic flavor, texture, etc. BUT, since commercial growers only want their fruit to LOOK good, rather than truly TASTE good, they simulate the ripening process (using by placing the tomatoes in an environment rich in ethylene gas (as given off greatly by bananas and apples). This gas turns the tomato red, BUT does not RIPEN the fruit! Therefore, the tomatoes you grow in the store are basically unripe tomatoes that just LOOK ripe. They have a "woody" quality to them and are not full of the array of flavors that tomatoes are truly capable of! Now, home grown tomatoes are grown especially for their TASTE. That means that looks are not as important (some heirlooms are extremely "funky" looking!). They are usually left on the tomato vine until fully ripe, which allows the tomatoes to fully reach their peak of flavor, texture, etc. Different varieties allowed to FULLY develop will actually change their flavor from competing varieties, hence the array of flavors available. There are also tomatoes of a tremendously diverse colors, from almost black to yellow to GREEN (yes, some tomatoes are RIPE and yet remain green!) In my opinion there are two kind of people in the world: tomato lovers (who then start to grow their own, because they understand the true nature and diversity of tomatoes) and the uninitiated! My wife didn't LIKE tomatoes before we were married and had bought a house where I could grow tomatoes. NOW, she LOVES tomatoes. She still picks the tomatoes off her sandwiches when we are out, because that's the "tomato" that she truly doesn't like. A good, home-grown tomato has shown her that all tomatoes are not equal! There is a huge difference, and once you experience a true tomato, you will understand that! Stick with heirloom varieties, if you want to richest diversity of flavors, textures, etc. Not only that, but heirlooms are the ONLY tomatoes that you can trust to produce seeds which will produce the same tomatoes the next year!

MD: Google "Applesource" in Chapin, Illinois. They can supply 100 different apple varieties, antique and modern. I am not sure they can do this out-of-season, but you could ask about that. I think you will pay a bit of a premium price for their special assortments (plus shipping), but it might be worth it if you want to avoid misjudgments. My advice is to plant Goldrush, then proceed from there. What a fine apple. The HOS show must be great, but the society is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Might be a fur piece to go, since you seem to live in upstate NY. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Biggest difference for me is stone fruit esp apricots, nectarines, and peaches. Most of the store bought is not fit to eat. But my own varies a lot in quality. I have some ranging from not good to sensational. Water, soil, sunlight, and many other factors enter the equation. In the last yr I've also grown Gala apples, navel oranges, sweet cherries, and grapes of a quality seldom found in the stores. Sweet cherries can be very good in the store but that is only about 10-20% of the time. Usually they are underripe; the dark ripe ones taste better than the light unripe ones. In my experience, fruit from roadside stands isn't much better than store bought. Often it is unripe. I've bought awful apples from roadside stands in MD, ID, MO, NC, OK, CA, and WA. Stonefruit at stands in CA was 90% a disappointment. But then again 90% of the stonefruit I've grown was poor before my current setup, now maybe 1/3 is less than I want to eat. But I've only had great stonefruit from two places; my greenhouse and Dave Wilson's test block at Reedley CA. The fruit I grew in CA wasn't that good. I now realize it was from poor soil and too much water. Dave Wilson's was only about 25% really good. The Fruitnut