Do you grow anything that you don't like to eat?

I grow lots of varieties of tomatoes every year. But, I hate eating tomatoes. I’ve tried liking them. On sandwiches, burgers, salted, and I’ve tried all different types of tomatoes. But they all taste the same to me - disgusting! I know that’s probably blasphemy to some folks!

But, I LOVE growing tomatoes. My seed order for this year was just shipped out yesterday, and I can’t wait to get the seeds started. I’ll grow lots of varieties, but I’ll give them all away to friends, family, and coworkers. I just find growing them to be very rewarding, even though I can’t eat them.

So are there any fruits or veggies that you grow, but don’t like to eat yourself?

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I only grow what I like to eat. And while I don’t find tomatoes disgusting they don’t have a pleasing flavor for me. I’ll eat them like on a sandwich but not by themselves. I’d rather eat another fruit.

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never wasted time on anything I personally wouldn’t eat…for what it’s worth, I happen to love tomatoes, but can’t grow them worth a darn…they’re tricky here in Florida.

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I agree 100%. If I or someone in my family doesn’t like it sayonara. I’m already short on time, I don’t want to waste it with something I don’t care for.

I love good tomatoes too. But I’m horrible at growing them. Nothing beats a BLT with crispy peppered bacon. I also love to cut up ripe tomatoes and mix them with cottage cheese.

So you don’t like fresh tomatoes? Does it also mean you don’t like ketchup, tomato juice, homemade tomato sauces, staffed tomatoes, salads, soups and 1000+ more way to eat a tomato? I pick a minimum 30 gallons of ripe tomatoes for the season but eat fresh may be one-two a day. The rest goes into cans and freezer. I use whole frozen tomatoes to cook in winter, and all my peppers/eggplants need a lot of tomatoes to be canned. You may enjoy a different way to use the tomatoes too, try it :slight_smile:!

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I don’t like fresh tomatoes either, but the spouse does. If no one in the household likes it, I sure don’t grow it.

I haven’t done it, but I’ve been very tempted to grow collards and other winter greens just because my grandparents always did when I was growing up and learning gardening from them. . .we never had a garden without those greens! I, however, do not enjoy eating said greens (even though I had plenty as a kid!!). But I imagine if I ever do succumb to the temptation my chickens would enjoy eating the greens!!

I should have clarified - I do like things made from tomatoes. I love salsa, tomato soup, ketchup, ect. I just don’t like the taste of fresh/uncooked/unprocessed tomatoes. I wish I did. They look delicious. So deceptive :slight_smile:

Kale. I grow it from year to year looking for a variety I’ll enjoy more than once or twice, and I have some that self-seeds and comes back. I eat a batch or two (and I have a really good salad and a slaw made with kale, and even sautee it with oil and garlic), but I never feel like preparing it and eating it. So it sits in the garden attracting aphids (Boy! does it ever.)

A few tomatoes, green beans, garlic, shallots, a few peppers, basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme, sage, lots of lettuces and a little spinach, which always bolts on me anyway.

Tried fall-seeding spinach, beets, chard (under cover to prevent heaving) but they are not really my favorites.

I feel the same way about fresh tomatoes, yuck! Only exception is Sungold cherry tomatoes. I grow tomatoes mainly to cook them or dehydrate them, which makes them extremely delicious.

Things I’m growing that I don’t like to eat:
Roses
Jasmine (Jasminum)
Verbena
Pelargoniums
Germander
Cuphea
Lemon Mint Marigold
Yarrow
etc.

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I don’t usually grow them, but I really like having hot peppers in the garden. I love the way they look, but I never actually eat more than a couple. Whenever I do grow them, I basically give them all away.

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I do a little of that with peppers too- grow more than I want just 'cause peppers are neat to look at.

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All the melons. I hate watermelon, cantaloupe, etc. But everyone else loves them,so I grow them!

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Often it is the texture of a food that is off-putting rather than the flavor.
I don’t care for the texture of fresh tomatoes or melons. But a slice of tomato in a sandwich adds welcome moisture and variety.

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I am with the folks who don’t like raw tomatoes plain. I never have really liked them. I can eat a few cherry/grape tomatoes, but overall I’m not a fan. But once you mix them with a little lime, onion, peppers, and cilantro I love raw tomatoes.

My wife keeps trying to get me to plant a sweet cherry. Recently I have not been impressed by sweet cherries from the store with their lack of any sort of redeeming acidity. Though I do remember the fresh ones in Door Co., WI being good the one year we visted. With the cold, the brown rot, black knot, and birds, I see them as too much of a hassle. However, I may just break down and plant one this year if it garners me some extra support for my fruit tree problem.:slight_smile:

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I am too one of the tomato non-lovers. If I eat a pound of them my joints ache. I prefer self-seeding, semi-wild, somewhat bitter greens, and roots. No work, lots of nutrition, I feel great. But you have to take the family tastes into account, so I grow them.

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I raved above about loving raw tomatoes but I must clarify. If slice a tomato and eat it I must sprinkle a little sea salt on them. I don’t care for tomatoes without salt.

Thanks, Richard! I should have seen that coming. I think I should clarify my question a little better next time! :wink:

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Me too. I love tomatoes, but can’t hardly eat them without salt. I didn’t used to like them when I was younger, then tried them peeled and salted and fell in love with them. Now it’s the fruit I look forward to the most in summer. We eat a lot more tomatoes than peaches. It’s not unusual to fix a large bowl of them for dinner, and we eat them all at the sitting (because they don’t taste good once you refrigerate them :wink:)