Weird thought: Is BIGGER better?

When I go shopping, I often times see these HUGE produce: onions, veggies, even fruits.  I avoid them at ALL costs, it would go to waste in my home. I may not use it before it goes bad.  

I know this is a relative question. Some families are larger & bigger would likely be ok.  But generally speaking is bigger heads of cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, onions, etc. a waste or do they actually get eaten up?  I am always looking for the smallest, and if I can't find one, I won't buy it.  

Don't get me wrong, I love cooking, especially in the cold months.  I make a lot of soups, stews, etc.  I try to make enough for several days out even. But some of these produce are just HUGE.  Any thoughts?  --Tess

I am in a household of two people and two dogs. I am still trying to break my habit of cooking for a family of six and leftovers are a common occurrence here. It takes a little bit more planning, but excess veggies can be divided up and preserved in a variety of ways.

For example, I might only need about half a cabbage for a recipe and I do not cook cabbage regularly. I might throw the other half in the fridge for a day until I can get the time to create a homemade sauerkraut which then can be a side for something such as sausages.

If you can get a LOT of bigger veggies, I might be inclined to can then to take advantage of the longer preservation time. Last year I did not get a lot of tomatoes to process so I went the route of freezing them in jars instead of dragging out a canner.

I do not think bigger is necessarily better, I've been learning to let taste guide me more. A big flavorless watermelon can be a disappointment but an ugly small watermelon could be luxurious. Its an adventure.

As grocery prices increased, I made the obvious decision to grow more of my own food.   I also made a counterintuitive decision …I began purchasing more expensive food…quality wise…..but less of it.  I have much less waste and higher quality meals.  I just about cut my food bill in half.  We have all but stopped going out to eat because the food at home is much better.

I'm in two minds here.... I find produce that is on the smaller side fiddly to wash and prepare. But vegetables that are too big are also just wrong!

We've had some obscenely big carrots in the shop this year, but little ones don't last very well (surface to volume ratio not optimal I guess). Large produce can be rarher woody too.

I'm wanting my own grown parsnips to be fatter (but not so long). Potatoes need to be bigger than marbles too I suspect the optimum size of a vegetable is about a portion size; or obviously smaller in the case of things like peas and cherry tomatoes.

Thanks for the input all!!  For me, it really is the intention when I shop. Am I making a bigger meal for more people or am I going to create several dishes & cook ahead of time.  I'm very big on taste over size AND quality over price if it is within my budget.  

It just seems to be, maybe not wasteful, but overdoing it if the onion is larger than a man's hands or the cabbage is bigger than an adult's head, if you get where I'm going on this topic.

When I have more space, I will definitely be doing more jar storage.  I'd love to be able to cook up a ton of meals & just pull it off the shelf & heat up.  Prepping for me right now is almost impossible due to living situation - I do what I can, how I can, when I can in that area.  

Thanks everyone!!  --Tess

When you have chickens, nothing goes to waste. You feed the excess to your chickens and you get it back in eggs and meat and fertilizer.
But your question seemed to raise another point: Is the size of ??? a head of cabbage, for example proportional to its good taste? probably not. It is not inversely proportional either. The cultivar itself will determine the taste, I feel.
Some very small strawberries are sometimes superior in taste to the huge ones, yet we like plucking these larger ones. They are more appetizing, perhaps and also less work to clean.
Our obsession with large sized produce has more to do with convenience sometimes: Who wants to be peeling midget potatoes?
I do a fair amount of canning, so having larger produce saves me time. (Sauerkraut is what I was thinking of: I definitely want to have large heads to shred as there is less 'waste' on them.)
Perhaps we also equate larger size with healthy, just like we do with people. Within some parameters, of course, a smaller and 'scrawny' looking person appears less healthy. (There is a reason, not often formulated, that we tend to pick taller and "healthier looking" leaders)
I think the same thing is at play for the size/ look of produce.

Tess Misch wrote: if the onion is larger than a man's hands or the cabbage is bigger than an adult's head

I cook a lot, and I'm always open to being "led" (i.e. broccoli is on sale so I'll buy 3 so I will eat an entire one, because you can't eat too much broccoli and who am I to say no to the universe??).
That said, I don't buy the monster produce, with the occasional exception of a big cabbage or napa cabbage if they look lovely.
Also, where I live the big pretty stuff is usually exported for sale, and I prefer to buy the smaller/uglier stuff for a better price.

Onions, potatoes, tomatoes, apples, etc, pretty much all other fruit, I would rather buy more smaller items due to the possibility of waste.
I generally don't get upset about things rotting (anything edible the rabbits get, anything really nasty goes into the bokashi/compost and the garden eventually eats it), but it's usually small stuff that goes bad and so it seems less terrible-- if I lost an apple that weighed half a pound, I'd be ticked i think. (and also would it even be any good?)

While I may not be able to express the point I am trying to make here.

To me, I feel that some bigger varieties of tomatoes (used as an example) are fine. Though some produce growers might feed their tomatoes to make them grow bigger fruits.  Thus producing a tasteless tomato.

So in this case bigger is not better.

If tomatoes are feed compost tea, etc., then seeds from the largest fruit are saved to create a landrace then, yes bigger is better.

I tend to reach for smaller and more moderately producing varieties. My household of two has a hard time making it through larger produce in a reasonable period of time, so I go for smaller heads of cabbage for example. When I do grow larger produce like winter squash, I try to put as much of it as I can into long(er) term storage through drying or freezing. This is both to make it take up less space in storage and to make it easier to portion out when it's time to enjoy the harvest.

Most of our freezer space is dedicated to meat, which I do usually purchase in bulk and then portion out to our needs. We are getting more into hunting recently, so that will follow the same flush/dearth cycle that we are already used to from my buying habits.

These opinions might change as new long term storage becomes available to me (hoping to learn canning and explore root cellar type storage this year), but for right now, that's what we're rocking with.

I suspect there is more "wastage" in a small cabbage, proportionately than in a large one... But that's only my impression, and it may not hold for other fruit/ vegetables.
Incidentally, the tomatoes that I ate 10-20 years ago didn't have that hard fibrous "tree" in them. Has anyone else noticed that?
They could get cut easily from end to end without this detestable tree that stops my knife (I don't know what else to call it). The Amish paste and similarly shaped tomatoes as well as grape tomatoes, patio tomatoes don't have that. Only the 'slicers'.
They must have thought they were making an 'improvement'. Not really.

I think that what is key is the balance between calories, and micronutrients. A huge apple will have lots of calories, but may not have many more micronutrients than a tennis ball sized apple.

Many fruits and veg have their most important nutrients in the skin or just below it. If it's spherical, the surface area will use radius squared, but the volume will use radius cubed.

Also, I agree that to get supersized veggies, often requires a lot of irrigation and artificial fertilizers. My friend thinks the strawberries she buys look wonderful and are huge, but the ones I bring her have much more flavor. Mine receive the minimal amount of irrigation, if any. I accept the smaller size and the extra work to pick them, because I know they will taste better.

There are bound to be exceptions to this rule. Some years the climate just decides to be a certain way and my kale will be huge. Sometimes I'll get lots of strawberries and fewer raspberries and other years it will be the reverse.

I try to have a lot of variety planted so there's at least some harvests in poor years and be happy when it's a year where the harvest is huge.

When I make chutney, I use the biggest onions I can find because I can only peel and cut a maximum of two before I have to retreat into another room for twenty minutes with my eyes red and sore and weeping and I want as much chopped onion as possible to be produced in that time!

Most days I go for small ones, just enough so that one is enough for whatever I'm cooking.

The cabbage I use is mostly dark, green leafy galega cabbage, which is perennial and grows on a long stalk so you can pick just the leaves you want for that meal, leaving younger leaves growing near the top of the stalk.

Burra Maluca wrote:When I make chutney, I use the biggest onions I can find because I can only peel and cut a maximum of two before I have to retreat into another room for twenty minutes with my eyes red and sore and weeping and I want as much chopped onion as possible to be produced in that time!

Most days I go for small ones, just enough so that one is enough for whatever I'm cooking.

The cabbage I use is mostly dark, green leafy galega cabbage, which is perennial and grows on a long stalk so you can pick just the leaves you want for that meal, leaving younger leaves growing near the top of the stalk.

Burra, I LOVE cabbage.  I will have to find out if I can grow that where I am.  Picking just what I need & leaving the rest to grow sounds like a dream!  --Tess

Jay Angler wrote:I think that what is key is the balance between calories, and micronutrients. A huge apple will have lots of calories, but may not have many more micronutrients than a tennis ball sized apple.

Many fruits and veg have their most important nutrients in the skin or just below it. If it's spherical, the surface area will use radius squared, but the volume will use radius cubed.

Also, I agree that to get supersized veggies, often requires a lot of irrigation and artificial fertilizers. My friend thinks the strawberries she buys look wonderful and are huge, but the ones I bring her have much more flavor. Mine receive the minimal amount of irrigation, if any. I accept the smaller size and the extra work to pick them, because I know they will taste better.

There are bound to be exceptions to this rule. Some years the climate just decides to be a certain way and my kale will be huge. Sometimes I'll get lots of strawberries and fewer raspberries and other years it will be the reverse.

I try to have a lot of variety planted so there's at least some harvests in poor years and be happy when it's a year where the harvest is huge.

Jay, I agree.  Most of the time, for me, it is the smaller fruits that are most flavorful.  I usually buy smaller vs. bigger for that reason as well.  I taught my grandson how to buy apples, oranges, lemons based on weight, not just size.  I'm learning so much in my Permaculture reading & research these past few years.  Loving every moment!  --Tess

I think I've had too many experiences of buying big, beautiful produce at the store and finding out later that it tastes like... nothing. I assume smallish vegetables are going to taste better, even though I know that's not always true. I appreciate a happy medium - not too big or too small.

The volume itself isn't really a problem. I'm married to someone who follows recipes exactly, which means there are often leftover pieces of produce. Good thing I never use a recipe! I enjoy cobbling something together from leftover veggies, most often in the form of a frittata.

Jay makes 2 more good points in his response:
We do deprive ourselves of a lot of nutrition by tossing the skin.
The other element he introduced is the weather: There are some years when a lot of rain falls and my wealthy (apples) soak so much of it that they burst on the branch: they then do not have as much flavor.
The honeybees notice subtle changes in weather patterns as well:
The black locust produces wonderfully fragrant flowers every year, with which they can make a very transparent and delicious honey that will never sugar. (Even better than white clover honey, which is the standard by which other honeys are judged.)
The trees are there every year and do their thing every year, but some years, the honey bees just won't touch it and I don't see a single honeybee on it. They taste and smell something I don't.

Burra, I have the same weeping eyes/nose from onions.
My solution is to keep a couple at least in the fridge, a cold onion won't cause all that eye irritation.

Burra Maluca wrote:When I make chutney, I use the biggest onions I can find because I can only peel and cut a maximum of two before I have to retreat into another room for twenty minutes with my eyes red and sore and weeping and I want as much chopped onion as possible to be produced in that time!
Most days I go for small ones, just enough so that one is enough for whatever I'm cooking.

I'm not sure that the size of the onion is related to its pungency: Small ones can be really 'hot' too, and large ones are often mild.
I solved the problem of teary eyes in processing onions in a few ways:
One, I peel them under running water.
Two, I use an onion chopper:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Vegetable-Chopper-Food-Chopper-Multifunctional-13-1-Kitchen-Slicer-Dicer-Cutter-Veggie-Chopper-With-8-Blades-Cheese-Shredder-Carrot-Onion-Container/9392317033?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=102749441&selectedOfferId=28D5176ABF4F38CA83039FAA57EF4507&conditionGroupCode=1&sourceid=dsn_ad_34ba2672-106a-484b-a996-41cf96423ae3&veh=dsn&wmlspartner=dsn_ad_34ba2672-106a-484b-a996-41cf96423ae3&cn=FY26-MP-PMax-P13N_cnv_dps_dsn_dis_ad_mp_s_n&gclsrc=aw.ds&wl9=pla&wl11=online&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22437915517&gbraid=0AAAAADmfBIr_jNb3ODdmKJWAB2yhRur07&gclid=Cj0KCQiAhOfLBhCCARIsAJPiopNuJqajBYuVAlu7EhEF8FZybCEMSA_FA95N079N9nUzilmwvhyFgC4aAgiFEALw_wcB
This captures the chopped onion and keeps the vengeful fumes away from my nose
This one is from Walmart, but I'm sure they have something like this in Portugal as well.
(Hey, my son is going to Bilbao to watch the total eclipse this summer!)

Three: The offending fumes enter your nose, and that's how your eyes become affected:
Try to breathe (in and out) through your mouth, pinching your nose if you must.
You will notice that your eyes won't tear, at least not as much.
My eyes are very sensitive and I like to dehydrate a lot of onions, especially the ones that don't keep long, so they must be chopped first.
I hope that helps.

They're literally breeding strawberries to be super red before getting sweet, so critters avoid them but people want them badly. They breed varieties of tomatoes for transport resistance, they couldn't care less how they taste or how many nutrients they contain. People want the best for their buck, which is the biggest and shiniest. While modern research has proven that the little spots /scabs insects cause on apples and what have you are full of anti oxidants keeping the big C away. WHile every time i travel by train i hear people talk about someone in their surrounding succombing to cancer or getting operated or treatment. It's so common now. But keep going for that biggest, supershiny, spotless stuff flown in from the other side of the world where they make big ones. much cheaper, much better!

I'm also in the camp that prefers smaller, stressed, fruits and vegetables with more flavor and more phytonutrients.

For whatever reason, I do love a few things giant (and I might have to rethink this subconscious attraction). I like big onions and cabbages -- they don't seem deficient to my tongue and grabbing and hefting them is kind of fun. :-)

One thing, I think the data I've examined point to phytonutrient density at the field level being related to low-yield. The size of the individual item may not be the perfect predictor, but on the other hand, the largest prettiest fruit is probably also grown in such a controlled environment to maximize yield.

I think I'll keep increasing how much of my own produce I produce to make sure I get what I value.

There are so many factors in the size things grow. Some varieties are developed for size and soil nutrition and weather play a part. I cook for a family of two, so I'm another one who looks for the smaller size of many things. On the other hand, when I'm canning, large is good. Anything we don't eat goes to the critters or the compost. So I don't feel that anything goes to waste.

I prefer to eat wild where possible. In many cases, the labor of growing the plants is replaced by a smaller amount of work preparing them. Sometimes this involves boiling especially bitter or strong tasting greens to make the flavor milder. However when they are smaller, they are usually better for eating, before they fully expand.

I cannot say I dislike the convenience of big apples, especially the ones that grow along roadsides or in pastures, but the little tiny Siberian crabapples ("apple berries" as I call them) are the best! The smaller crabapples are, oftentimes, the more intensely and richly flavored, and the less affected by disease and worms. They are also very soft and can be easily pureed. The same with callery pears, which are blueberry-sized and heavenly (but only when fully ripe). However, I think the best is somewhere in the middle, where they are mild enough that you can eat enough to get caloric value, but still rich in flavor and nutrition. In the wild, big fruits do appear, but they cost more to the plant to make energetically so are a little rarer, and more sought out by animals so scarcer.

As for stronger flavors, they tend to indicate something about how the species defends themself chemically. Some, like mustard, do it by being very pungent. Pokeweed, does it by being poisonous (until you've boiled them). Milkweed has sticky sap that gets all over insects' feet and glues them down! It also makes you feel queasy if you eat too much that hasn't been prepared well. And nettles by being nettly (until they're cooked). If we are not looking for their medicinal properties and would like them more for food, then it is okay to prepare them in a way to make them milder such as boiling. Oftentimes plants have strong pleasant flavors, like fruit, which, depending on the fruit, would probably like us to eat them! Oxeye daisies also have an interest in keeping their habitat open and disturbed, so if they're growing on rich soils they have mild, sweet leaves. Nettles make less stingers in better soils and conditions. Generally, by keeping the soil good the flavor tends to get better...

As an herbalist I'd try not to eat too many strong flavored plants if I'm not craving them (i.e. not forcing them down). All natural plants are medicinal, so if we don't need their medicine we shouldn't have to eat them.

Acorns--I would say bigger is better in this case. They are eaten as a staple nut. It also gets tiring to dig tiny wild parsnip after tiny wild parsnip or tiny wild carrot after tiny wild carrot... they protect themselves simply because of the effort of digging them up! If they are growing in a good environment, they will most likely be quite a bit bigger.

Maybe after all this rambling is to say that if plants are growing in natural soils that are rich and full, they will tend to grow bigger, and that's fine. If the soils are not good enough, they will likely get eaten by bugs or diseases or just hold back and stay small. I don't think this offers anything for your question about finding vegetables at market, but hopefully it inspires you to try some foraging!