Storage Tips

Several members have requested instructions on how best to store their vegetables. Here are a few tips.

Cucumbers will only keep for about one week in the refrigerator with a damp paper towel inside a plastic bag. Peppers and eggplant will do best in the vegetable crisper in a plastic bag. Eggplant tends to be a bit more perishable, so eat them up as soon as possible.

Kale, chard and broccoli all like to be really cold and wet. Place them in a plastic bag in the veggie crisper and add some crushed ice. Chard keeps up to one week, kale two weeks, and broccoli up to three weeks. If they do wilt, recut the bottom of the stems and soak them in a sink full of ice water for 1/2 hour and then cook.

Beets, carrots, Brussels sprouts and turnips like moisture and cool temperatures. Put them in separate sealed plastic bags, each with a damp paper towel, and they will keep for about a month.

Lettuce can be washed, rinsed and not dried before putting into a plastic bag with a very wet paper towel. It will stay crisp for about 5 days. Lettuce can also be kept like hydroponics by standing it upright in a wide cup of water with a bag over the top to keep the leaves hydrated. This also helps sweeten the lettuce if it is a bit bitter.

Potatoes, onions, winter squashes and garlic should always be left in a dry, cool, dark place. The dark prevents potatoes from turning green and bulbs from growing from inside. They can keep for months, but check weekly. If eyes appear on the potatoes, they have started growing again. Cut out the eyes, use them right away, and look for a cooler place to store your next batch. If onions or garlic grow green shoots, cut lengthwise and remove the green parts. Use immediately.

Tomatoes and tomatillos don't like cold. Do not refrigerate them unless they are fully red and you want to stop the ripening process.

Beets, carrots, turnips, cabbage, celeriac and Brussels sprouts like to be stored in sealed plastic bags in the refrigerator and can last for weeks or even months.

Please enjoy your fresh organic vegetables!

- Anne Tisbert