[Pinot]

I am not a chef , but I do love cooking and vegetable growing and they are very complimentry passtimes.

I grow tomatoes here in Sydney , but due to an awful fruit fly problem we are restricted to growing only cherry tomatoes. Luckily these days cherry tomatoes come in all shapes , sizes and colours . So there is plenty to choose from , although I have found the standard red ones still taste the best. I would love to grow romas and oxhearts too , but its either eat them full of grubs , eat them green or use some pretty nasty chemicles. So I don't bother. I still don't understand why fruit flies leave the cherry tomatoes alone ??

Broadening the subject a little I find that I grow certain vegetables simply because the shop/market versions are below par and its the only way to get a decent fresh product.
Tomatoes would definatley top this list as all but a tiny minority of whats available around here is complete rubbish.
But other everyday things I "have too grow" to get something worthy are-

Garlic - nothing beats very fresh picked garlic
Basil
Lettuce greens mixed, rocket etc
Leeks
Corriander leaf
Horseradish
Zuchini
I would like to gorw more , but space / time is quite limited. My dream business one day is a restaurant along side a very large veggie garden