Is Growing Your Own Food Actually Better? Comparing Homegrown to Supermarket Produce

[@mariannehay4209]

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. 🌱

[@Saba15-t9d]

​@@chrisf2952also, you don't get poisonous pesticides into your system.

[@jeroenverbeeck7925]

and if done correctly, it can save your household A LOT of money. Especially with today's prices. The biggest advantage imho is the independency. No dependency on supermarkets etc means no risk of inflated prices, opening hours and transportation, no risk of pesticides and other harmfull chemicals, no possible strikes or food shortages,.. Being self reliant in food is one of the biggest things you can achieve in this modern world. Another one is the mental improvement of having a garden... the peace and quiet, the relationship with nature and all it's wonders... It's where we grew up, where we feel at home. It takes effort but in return you get a lot more than some veggies. A garden keeps you sane and happy to be here, in the now. Plus, you get the give that back; your garden is a wonderful place for a lot of animals that also enjoy the place you created. It's such an important symbiotic relationship with nature, it's actually crazy we gave that up and outsourced it to industrialized global agriculture... And now it's making us sick, fysically an mentally, poor and dependent on government... Want to be happy? Grow your own food! A garden will give you so much more than produce.

[@janvondrak8417]

Hypothesis: Supermarket spinach and carrots loses amount of water and keeps amount of sugar. Which makes its BRIX higher although it contains same or less sugar than homegrown.

[@oldtavernfarm]

I had the same thought 😁

[@roo-dog3484]

Yes! And to add on to that.. I'd love to see a calorimeter test, which measures the amount of calories.

[@Boterhammetpindakaas]

seems valid to me

[@louiseswart1315]

I agree. I could actually hear the better crunch of the homegrown carrot, so it was more recently watered than the store bought.

[@morganflack7542]

Farmers purposefully try get high brix ratings because it increases shelf life. High brix is generally considered a good indication of nutrients but I feel like the brix test doesn't measure things/take into account lycopene content and other phytochemicals , I could be wrong but it feels that way.

[@differentgenx]

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!

[@themilkmaiden]

that sounds the same size of my yard, I'd love to see some pictures or videos for inspiration! I have a mini greenhouse and planter too :)

[@d.-beck7205]

Wow, I would really like to see this. Sounds great! ❤

[@YKKY]

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!

[@nizethpretorius2400]

If you pick homegrown and store it correctly according to the variety's needs, it lasts much longer than store bought. It tastes much nicer too

[@glassbackdiy3949]

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.

[@one_field]

Up-voting this!!

[@poppyrogers9364]

So glad someone’s finally done this, I’ve always wondered what the results would be. Appreciate your full honesty in the name of science haha!

[@TinMan445]

It would be amazing if you were willing to take the next step and send some off for lab testing nutrient density. I think you would pull WAY ahead in that race

[@PeterSedesse]

The transport time would ruin the results. In fact one of the reasons homegrown food is higher in nutritional value (especially vitamins) is because vitamins break down rather quickly at room temperature. In the USA this is a huge problem because the majority of our vegetables are grown in California, and then shipped to the east coast, which takes days. Minerals are stable obviously, so their nutritional value doesn't decrease.

[@HuwRichards]

I'm 100% down for that.

[@one_field]

If you find a local lab, perhaps at a nearby university, and coordinate with them so you can drive your samples over to them on the same day, you can bypass any transportation loss. The vitamins aren't so volatile that they break down in minutes (or if some are, those ones really don't matter anyway because they won't last long enough to make it onto the plate for a typical family meal). It would be lovely to see a comparison of nutrients and your soil tests at your two gardens!! That would be such a fascinating video. Literature on no-till soil is so mixed (some claim the nutrients increase with the years of bed use, others that they're strongest in the first couple years) so getting some real sample data to discuss would make a really great topic for you to help us understand.

[@one_field]

​@@HuwRichardsoh and you could do the video partially at the lab! I bet the staff would get a big kick out of being included in the video and doing explanations for you on camera of what their tests are measuring, etc.

[@strawman3059]

I think you'd be very surprised what they are injecting into our food these days 🤔

[@williammaxwell1919]

Doing comparision planting of a selected veriety in different beds with different cultivation methods would be interesting as there doesn’t seem to be much info on how to improve brix levels

[@debbiehenri345]

A lot of water would have evaporated from supermarket produce, which would have skewed the results somewhat. Also, though the homegrown ones may have lost out occasionally on sweetness - I'm sure they make up for it in terms of nutrient content.

[@HuwRichards]

You're possibly right with the water content, but the whole point of brix testing is that sugar content = health plant. And a healthy plant = more nutrients. So it's the easiest way to get a snapshot of how nutrient dense your crops are.

[@justbynature]

This is the sweetest most wholesome video, love how you share your passion for growing food with us!

[@carolturner3850]

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

[@michaelcatherwood4088]

Glyphosate is a non selective herbicide, if fruit and veg are sprayed with Glyphosate they die. Your lack of understanding of when and why Glyphosate is used undermines your objection to its use. There are many more harmful products used in the production of food around the world. It is disappointing when people listen to and believe the popular narrative but have no real understanding of the real challenges to food safety or security. You should read peer reviewed studies from the scientific community not the opinions of the malicious and misinformed.

[@Lisajen-h5u]

Homegrown tastes sooooo much better, that’s enough for me. Greetings from Tasmania, Australia.

[@teresaamsler5083]

Thank you so much for your content! Whether or not my homegrown produce has more nutrition than the supermarket's produce does not measure the extreme enjoyment ❤of growing and preserving your own food. The aspect of minimized ecological impacts of homegrown produce FAR outweigh any small differences in nutritional value. Thank you, again, for your approach to this topic.🌻

[@patriciahill1101]

Fascinating! I agree with the remarks below. As supermarket produce sits and travels and sits again, the juices evaporate and sugars are concentrated in whatever liquid remains. And I agree a nutritional test would be very revealing.

[@turuanu]

I know you had to start somewhere, but sugar content may not indicate much after all. There are minerals, vitamins, etc. I remember a chart provided by Sergey Boutenko, where it showed the difference between his edible weeds (lambs quarter, etc.) and supermarket greens. Sometimes it was a difference of 600% or 2000% in favor of organic, wild greens.

[@cltinturkey]

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.

[@genegroover3721]

I hadn't seen your humor before. It's subtle. Good job. Thumbs up for the humor!

[@jader669]

This video was adorable and so much fun! Absolutely loved it!! And i learned a lot of new things

[@alessandroborelli]

Very interesting video! I think something to consider it’s that veggies in the supermarket come from different places. For instance if you have a spinach coming from Kenya or from the UK I think it make the difference considering the travel that those veggies do. So the fact that they had to be harvest before to survive the trip then the veggies will have less nutrients.

[@HuwRichards]

Exactly that! The supermarket veggies I tested were a general selection but you're absolutely right, depending on where they've come from, the term 'supermarket veggies' is incredibly broad, which is why it's always best to stick to seasonal food, as it's usually more locally produced.

[@michaelcatherwood4088]

Yes grow your own if you can, but buy in season local produce if you need to buy your fruit and veg.

[@lksf9820]

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.

[@ohio_gardener]

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.

[@judifarrington9461]

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.

[@FromTraumatoTarot]

I'm wondering if the grocery store stuff is more dehydrated so it's coming up as more concentrated in some instances

[@TinMan445]

100%, the fresh picked stuff is still photosynthetic and had just been pulling water from the ground.

[@ZigusBlast]

That's 100% what's happening!

[@billpeck1189]

Thanks for your hard work! I’ve never seen a gardening video that’s so scientific.

[@RickandFarah-iz9sk]

There’s a ventilation system I use in my house in Norway called flexit. Has quite a good air exchange and the out going air heats the incoming air. I think you can get some of the systems too also heat and cool if you want👍

[@iltapuhde]

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% 😃

[@adysveggarden]

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.

[@Soc1986]

Great video Huw! Going to try this myself! Also loved the Dab! 😅🎉

[@janjohnson3437]

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 😄

[@cbjones2212]

Wondering if water content affects the readings. Homegrown freshly harvested is going to have a higher moisture content than anything from the supermarket, yes?

[@TinMan445]

100%. I think we need some lab testing to get some real results

[@HuwRichards]

My homegrown produce was FAR juicier so that's a valid point.

[@MsRoadtoRiches]

It's better to grow your own food. It tastes better. It gives energy immediately. Also, there is such unique pleasure and spiritual experience just watching it grow from seed to harvest. It makes me appreciate life (all forms of life) so much.

[@mattwalker8230]

This is a brilliant video. Great message but also great to see you having fun, made me laugh a couple of time! Love your scientific approach to garden methods Huw 😁

[@HuwRichards]

Thanks so much! :)

[@ninemoonplanet]

What may startle some people is taking a BRIX measurement on the plants themselves, corn for example is often 2-4 grown with chemicals, fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, and sometimes fungicides. Organic corn plants test higher, meaning the plants are moving nutrients higher, the cobs are often fuller. Try finding the BRIX among the growing plants, it may take some ingenuity, but farms do it every year, so there is obviously a way.

[@effieffie]

This makes me want a sugar measure-y thingie and I don't even grow veg yet (I will next year, totally inspired by you and what you're doing!!)

[@BattlingApathy]

Very interesting comparison Huw! An apples-to-apples comparison of supermarket-available crops isn't something that I've taken into consideration before. From the beginning I've prioritised growing crops that I can't buy at the supermarket here or that are particularly expensive. Then there are garden-ripened crops that are - without question or need to blind taste-test - much more flavourful than the transport-optimised supermarket versions. There's the massive diversity of varieties that also aren't available. And finally, the health and environmental benefits of growing without industrial inputs. Never mind that gardening itself is good for mind and body.

[@lyndaturner6686]

Well ! That was interesting, some things I’ve bought recently from the supermarket didn’t have the flavour my own home grown had once I harvested some in particular carrots my freshly dug home grown carrots were much sweeter and flavourful than the previously bought ones. But I think at the end of the day , no plastic wrappers and no transport costs wins for me every day, plus I go out of my back door and pick what I like to eat. But I will be interested to see future results.

[@debvalle7466]

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.

[@katarinahagberg5491]

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...

[@cassieoz1702]

The supermarket veg is old and somewhat dehydrated so the (minimal) juice is more concentrated. Your fresh stuff is 'juicy' so it's sugars are diluted. Homegrown fruit is picked ripe, not resistant-to-transport/storage (under ripe)

[@HadassahHaman]

Yes... it was a FUN video. Thank you Huw!

[@LearnPermaculture]

Yay! Brix. :) Really great video Huw!

[@cynjader1914]

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😛

[@jeffbee6090]

One of your most fun videos to watch:)

[@imogenveneear1935]

Hypothesis cell walls break down under refrigeration hence fiery after taste of spring onions. I would be interested to see lab results on fibre and micro nutrient content.

[@saltytree729]

This is why I made the switch to hydroponics years ago. As the Belgians and the Dutch are producing veg in a range of 10-12% brix using bioponics Since my time as a vegetable agronomist I’ve been producing lettuce is a league of its own premium quality in a range of brix not seen in supermarkets, hydroponically. Using less water, less washing down techniques more nutritious healthy produce for less cos and labour.

[@ArtFlowersBeeze8815]

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 KZbinr did this in the supermarket AND a farmer's market. You can bet the vendors were not amused!

[@ashmash1934]

Fresh produce contains a LOT of water. As it dries out it concentrates, even though total mineral and nutrient content is DECREASING over time. Your fresh produce is crisp and diluted by water, but probably far higher in total content, just proportionately much higher in water! If you dehydrated them to the same level your results would be completely different.

[@PlantObsessed]

Holding my breath as you test your beloved peas. Wheww win!!🎉🎉

[@haphazardgardener8651]

This video was super fun 😂 dab and all...I was excited too like I was watching a game show lol

[@tammybyrd1054]

What a great video! Thank you for this! How cool and interesting.

[@HuwRichards]

Glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@biniboo7242]

I loved that experiment. ❤ home grown food is many ways better than buying it in the shop. 😊

[@homegrownorganicvegetables17]

Hi Huw, I am not sure if the scientist role suits you very well Haha, apologies couldn't help myself. Brix (Bx) is like you say, solution of sucrose(sugar) and it doesn't measure the level of nutrients. For juices you need a correction factor because they will also have acid in, which will affect the Bx reading. But as a whole, Bx gives an indication of how much sugar is in, rather than how much nutrients.

[@EctoMorpheus]

Big applause for the dab joke. At this point it's so old that I didn't even remember it was ever a thing, making it actually quite funny

[@patriciamoore3166]

OMG , I did a double take when I saw you 'dab' - too funny, Huw!!go on with your bad self!

[@Pixieworksstudio]

what a brilliant video. Thank you!

[@oldtavernfarm]

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 ❤)

[@justindavis9137]

Love seeing your personality come out Huw. Your channel has truly been a blessing to me. May Jesus Christ bless you sir

[@geraldineheywood1728]

Loved this video. So much fun 😂

[@helenparker1870]

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.

[@KatySimpsonLive]

Loved this video: great idea, so funny and so interesting

[@tinapayne2367]

Love this and it was quite entertaining😊

[@rl53]

There was a study done in Canada that shows the over use of chemicals & pesticides has destroyed the nutrition in farmed foods as they have degraded the soils by 60%+ plusd they harvest too early to keep[ shelf life & reason foods taste so different.

[@artstamper316]

Love the humor!

[@johnlord8337]

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.

[@mrsrover8997]

Thank you for this highly amusing, scientificy video!

[@johnlord8337]

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.

[@eathanjohnson2405]

Have you ever heard the name John Kemf? I'm not sure if his organization has brix numbers but he knows people that use brix for testing. Advancing Eco Agriculture is the name of his company.

[@charlie5204]

Great test 🙂. I started 2 years ago with my little garden and checking out the right vegetables what fit to my environment. I'm looking forward testing the tomatoes and cucumbers and peppers. So let's stay curious ;-)

[@ElizabethMaidment]

The reason for some of the surprising brix results will be due to the hydration level of the produce. Because your produce is fresher it won't have lost as much water as the supermarket produce. The brix score is just a crude measure of how concentrated or dilute your solution is (how much sugar or salts are dissolved in the water). If you have lost water then your solution will be more concentrated. The fact that lots of your veg had a higher brix score, despite not having lost water, indicates that their sugar content must be way higher than the supermarket veg. Something like spinach is going to have lost proportionally more water so it's no surprise that the brix score was higher in the supermarket version. To get an accurate idea of the nutrients you need to measure it on a dry matter basis, ie what it would be if there was no water at all in either. I hope that helps with the interpretation 😊

[@karenmarieperpetua2183]

So funny 😂😊 Brilliant video.

[@freewillchoice8052]

a 16 minute video on a topic that is a no-brainer decision worldwide

[@stuknox7468]

I've no idea how to operate one of those gizmos but it seems to me if one sample has more water in it than another the density of nutrients will differ just because of the water content and supermarket produce, having been picked days before will have less water than something freshly harvested after rain. The consistency of the test samples should be similar to provide an accurate comparison? I know tomatoes taste 'weaker' if you pick them after watering.

[@jessheppell750]

One thing not mentioned is when growing food at home you can grow plants / varieties not even available at the supermarket (eg. Blue potatoes, varieties of strawberries NOT bred for transport but bred for flavour). Easy winner.

[@valeriehowden471]

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. 😊😊😊😊

[@cherylhowker1792]

Very interesting and very informative I expect the soil differences will chance the outcome.

[@Olivia54984]

Wouldn't the moisture level (less dehydration in fresh picked) change the ratio of sugar to water, thereby changing the brix?

[@lisahoche4017]

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.

[@lisahoche4017]

I am definitely not an expert in this. And what I stated is oversimplified. My father used to listen to Dr Reams on an old cassette player. Cation exchange capacity stuck in my head for decades. My husband is a natural medicine practitioner. He read Dr Reams books. He then formulate the amount of calcium we need to add to the soil he made from leaves and manure. It was a large amount of calcium. And people thought he was crazy to add that much calcium. But, it takes several years for the calcium to be assimilated. Prior to my husband's intervention, I could barely grow anything. Now we have a prolific garden. My father sent me a refractometer. My husband uses it in his natural medicine practice. And we have used it doing comparatives. To note, there are different varieties inside every fruit and vegetable that have different Brix levels. For example, every carrot has the same capacity of optimal Brix level. And as someone stated in the comments, time of day (and temperature) will change the Brix levels in the sample collected.

[@aliciafranklin4275]

Awesome thanks for sharing ❣️

[@honoregale856]

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!

[@lorelei9393]

Great attitude. You get food, mental health benefits, and no standing in the check out line

[@simondavies5285]

Hugh, nigel Palmers book has a BRIC index in it. Have u seen this?

[@morgan0598]

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.

[@sandymurray3997]

Haven't the shop ones dehydrated a bit hence more concentrated

[@gardenandcee]

The dab was adorbs haha

[@LC-hf3rk]

Do you think fast grown supermarket vegetables use more nitrogen fertilisers(e.g sugars) which could account for the higher readings?

[@lostinsomerset6002]

I wonder how frozen veg holds up in tests like these? Would be interesting to know.

[@renatehaeckler9843]

I can't grow carrots that taste as good as the ones from the store either. Maybe chilling them in storage sweetens them some?

[@michelledenise5096]

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.

[@LearnPermaculture]

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...

[@HuwRichards]

Absolutely! Looking forward to really going deep into this all, and think it's exciting how varieties can be more nutritious compared to others, so growing a veg garden for varieties chosen for nutrition is an interesting angle

[@LearnPermaculture]

@@HuwRichards Yes! rather than just for how well a varietiy survives transportation or cold storage.

[@HuwRichards]

@@LearnPermaculture Exactly, fresh-centric

[@Atimatimukti]

In the case of the spinach, what is important is the oxalates and I bet the homegrown have way less than the ones from the supermarket. Also the carots, you have to have them the exact same variety and full maturity

[@laurapennings5140]

How is my mascara😂 love your humor!

[@Wrightworth]

Awesome experiment!

[@HuwRichards]

Thank you :)

[@hollydimig3998]

Very fun to watch.

[@originalwoolydragon8387]

Juicy means more water = more diluted. The store bought spinach is probably dehydrated from sitting on the shelf. Always a silver lining!

[@jeanettefrancis6473]

I would have thought that the older the bed and the better the soil and the more micro organisms in it would result in a higher brix vegetable. How about doing the same test with an older bed with more nutrients in it. Very interesting.

[@jeil5676]

A spinach with less water content would logically have a lower sugar content as the juicy spinach is watered down.

[@NN-fz4pd]

Opposite.

[@jeil5676]

@@NN-fz4pd well water is required in the manufacture of sugar, so if its been denied water during the sugar manufacture process, you should be right.

[@dianefields6056]

Interesting. I would love to see a more in-depth study of what is lost from veg and fruit when they are stored for ages /boiled / steamed / fried / dried etc. I wonder if there is a point beyond which they have no value.

[@debvalle7466]

This is an interesting thing. Depending on the produce, nutrients can degrade or concentrate based on the produce’s “state.” Spinach gains nutrient density when frozen, other produce degrades in cold. Some fruit (berries, I think?) concentrates nutrients when dehydrated. Same with some canned produce. I’m no expert on the above; just something I happened to read about a while back.

[@joshlovegood9392]

This was brilliant. I'm so fascinated by the carrot results, as those big carrots are always so bland from the supermarket. I wonder what it is...

[@annteather2826]

I despise the fat tasteless carrots that are in most supermarkets, more so the awful ones in plastic bags, which wick up the condensation; roots split and they can only rot! My homegrown carrots are usually eaten by carrot root fly! I persist, bunch carrots from farmers market & some shops seem to be good and I store them in damp sand in a tray in my lean-to. I give up with carrot fly barrier, next experiment will be in Ergrownomics planter (on tall legs) which is way above the height of carrot root fly!

[@PepeSnow]

I have stopped buying veg from the supermarket after seeing it rotting in the shops , plus all the stuff they are sprayed with . got plenty of salads atm and in a week and a half i have a few massive bins of Charlotte to harvest , then just waiting on the onions and carrots which are getting there each and every day

[@PepeSnow]

everything else has a few more months , like tomatoes ect everything is from seed , started in February indoors :)

[@RedbushTea1]

Great video thanks :)

[@HuwRichards]

My pleasure! :)