permaculture

[Jacqueline Greenleaf <jacque@book-woman.net>]

Thanks for posting this Lawrence, I've been thinking idly along these lines 
for years.

In a past life, I had occasion to talk to a famous strawberry breeder about 
the lack of flavor in those huge supermarket strawberries. He told me that 
the giant berries are a result of a mutation which makes the individual cells 
able to absorb and store more water inside their cell walls. There are about 
the same amount of individual cells in those giant berries as there are in a 
smaller, traditional berry, and each of those cells has about the same 
machinery for making all those wonderful flavors - so when you buy those 
giant berries, you are paying for water, not strawberry flavor. 

Now I have noticed recently that the flavor of some of those giant berries is 
improving, and I wouldn't have a clue why, but I think the basic idea that 
less water = more flavor is completely sensible. For instance, I seldom 
irrigate potatoes, and I think the resulting spuds are much better tasting 
than irrigated ones.

I would love more detail on how exactly growers are managing tomatoes and 
other fruiting vegetables, whose growth always seem to be so sensitive to 
water.


 
On Aug 30, 2013, at 11:08 PM, Lawrence London wrote:

> To Grow Sweeter Produce, California Farmers Turn Off The Water : The Salt :
> NPR
> http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/08/23/214884366/to-grow-sweeter-produce-california-farmers-turn-off-the-water
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