Keeping Green Veggies in Frig

[Guest guest]

Are there any tricks in prolonging the life of organic dark green leafy

vegetables in the refrigerator? We don't have a garden yet, and therefore I

have to purchase greens from the store. I want to purchase enough greens to

last for a week b/c the store is not very close to us and I don't have the

resources to go to the store more than once a week. However, the quality of the

greens quickly deteriorates by the time I'm ready to consume them raw. (I end

up cooking the greens so they aren't totally wasted.)

 

 

[Guest guest]

Depends on how 'bad' they are...first thing I would check would be the temp.

of your fridge. Our old one was not cold enough (I was tossing out stuff

faster than we could use it, and nothing ever seemed as cold as I liked -

like water in the fridge). Anyway - I found our fridge was about 10degrees

warmer. We needed a new one and as our housewarming gift, we did get a

new/energy star one. I have to say it keeps stuff fresher for a lot longer

(I'd say 2 weeks or so if I had to guess). You can get a fridge/freezer

thermometer - I think it says if you put it in the back, on the middle shelf

you get the most accurate reading. I believe it's supposed to be between

32-40 degrees Farenheit. \To give you an example, Our old one was around

45degrees F. Maybe slightly less, but that was with it turned all the way to

cold, for several days, and it never got any colder. It's now right around

35-40 (i've not checked in a while, but we're not having issues so I don't

feel the need, but I should anyway, even if it is new...).

 

Do you have humidity controls? If you do, you should have leafy greens

(greens/salad greens...I also put things like broccoli, as it's a flower,

and stuff that seems it may need more moisture) on the side set to MORE/MAX

humidity. The other skinned vegies should be set on LESS (peppers,

cukes/etc). I think it took a month for my son to stop thinking it was a fun

toy inside the fridge to play with when we got the new one. LOL. Eventually

he lost interest, and I dont' actually recall anything untoward happening by

way of our vegies.

 

I have also kept garden greens (we are lucky enough to have a garden this

year in our yard) fresh a long time by doing the following (it's also worked

with kale and collards) Rinse your greens, then shake gently to get MOST of

the water off. Wrap in a kitchen towel, it will soak up more of the water,

but also keep it from going bad from sitting in a pool of water. Never keep

stuff in the bags from the grocery store, as they don't allow them to

breathe or let the moisture evaporate. I always rinse and wrap my greens in

cotton kitchen towels, and they last a very long time that way. Even the

salad greens from the CSA last a long time this way (they seem to be very

delicate, and my friend says that she has to use them up in a day or they're

really just not very good after that. I had them nearly a week before they

started to get icky.

 

Those are my tips. We seem to buy a lot less stuff now, but only because it

lasts a lot longer. I feel I can 'stock up' for 2 weeks instead of getting

stuff every week/every few days.

 

Missie

 

On 8/31/07, admartin5 <admartin5 wrote:

>

> Are there any tricks in prolonging the life of organic dark green leafy

> vegetables in the refrigerator? We don't have a garden yet, and therefore I

> have to purchase greens from the store. I want to purchase enough greens to

> last for a week b/c the store is not very close to us and I don't have the

> resources to go to the store more than once a week. However, the quality of

> the greens quickly deteriorates by the time I'm ready to consume them raw.

> (I end up cooking the greens so they aren't totally wasted.)

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hey, I second that question! I've seen/heard about some brand of plastic bags

that are

supposed to keep veggies fresh longer. Has anyone used them? And can they be

washed

and reused?

[Guest guest]

I put a paper towel in the ziploc bag with the greens, and it definitely keeps

them fresher longer! I think it does the same thing as those bags you buy.

 

Danielle J. Bernhard

 

 

[Guest guest]

I use and absolutely love the Evert-Fresh reuseable bags. I do dry my

produce and use paper towels in the bag if moisture is present when I

refrigerate the produce. I now have a humidity control refrigerator.

However, nothing works as well as these bags for me. My organic produce

lasts longer in these bags than conventional food without any special

attention paid to storage. (Every now and then I buy conventional

produce and it scares me how long it lasts!) Yes, you can wash and

reuse them. The manufacturer says reuseable up to 8 times but I reuse

mine so often I lose count. When the food doesn't keep as long, it's

time to buy more. They also make disks to put into the produce bin

instead of using the bags. I haven't tried these yet but am considering

it. They are supposed to last 3 months. Recently, I have seen some

grocery store produce bags that have a light green lining in them. I

think these are treated like the Evert bags but not as heavily. They

are probably good for one use. I save so much money on discarding food

that the bags pay for themselves.

HTH,

Carrol

 

, <admartin5 wrote:

>

> Are there any tricks in prolonging the life of organic dark green

leafy vegetables in the refrigerator? We don't have a garden yet, and

therefore I have to purchase greens from the store. I want to purchase

enough greens to last for a week b/c the store is not very close to us

and I don't have the resources to go to the store more than once a

week. However, the quality of the greens quickly deteriorates by the

time I'm ready to consume them raw. (I end up cooking the greens so

they aren't totally wasted.)

>

>

[Guest guest]

Where do you by the bags?

Thanks,

Hope

-

rtillmansmail

Sunday, September 02, 2007 4:32 PM

Re: Keeping Green Veggies in Frig

 

 

I use and absolutely love the Evert-Fresh reuseable bags. I do dry my

produce and use paper towels in the bag if moisture is present when I

refrigerate the produce. I now have a humidity control refrigerator.

However, nothing works as well as these bags for me. My organic produce

lasts longer in these bags than conventional food without any special

attention paid to storage. (Every now and then I buy conventional

produce and it scares me how long it lasts!) Yes, you can wash and

reuse them. The manufacturer says reuseable up to 8 times but I reuse

mine so often I lose count. When the food doesn't keep as long, it's

time to buy more. They also make disks to put into the produce bin

instead of using the bags. I haven't tried these yet but am considering

it. They are supposed to last 3 months. Recently, I have seen some

grocery store produce bags that have a light green lining in them. I

think these are treated like the Evert bags but not as heavily. They

are probably good for one use. I save so much money on discarding food

that the bags pay for themselves.

HTH,

Carrol

 

, <admartin5 wrote:

>

> Are there any tricks in prolonging the life of organic dark green

leafy vegetables in the refrigerator? We don't have a garden yet, and

therefore I have to purchase greens from the store. I want to purchase

enough greens to last for a week b/c the store is not very close to us

and I don't have the resources to go to the store more than once a

week. However, the quality of the greens quickly deteriorates by the

time I'm ready to consume them raw. (I end up cooking the greens so

they aren't totally wasted.)

>

>