It can seem like like as soon as you buy fruit or other produce it goes bad before you have the chance to eat it. It can be such a waste of money that you don’t even want to buy it anymore. No wonder we go for those packaged, quick snack foods! But, with summer coming around, and more fruits and vegetables coming into season, here are some tips to keep your produce fresh.
- Research
The first step is researching how to best store your produce and the precautions you should take beforehand. For example, you shouldn’t wash your mushrooms before you put them in the fridge because it makes them slimy. Other fruits, like cucumbers, need to be kept at room temperatures. Every type produce is different, and it’s important to keep that in mind when you’re trying to store your fruits and vegetables.
- Keep Away from Other Produce
You don’t have to keep every piece of produce you get away from each other. But, most fruits will tend to go bad if you store them too close to other fruits and vegetables. Without going into too much detail, this happens because of the fermentation process of the different produces. When one fruit starts to go bad, it contaminates everything around it. So, if at all possible, make sure that the fruit you buy has a place of its own to call home within your fridge or on your counter.
- Freezing
No, we’re not talking about those flash-frozen bagged vegetables and fruits that you buy from the store. You can freeze your fruits and vegetables! For your leafy greens, just make sure that you rinse them thoroughly before putting them in a plastic bag. Freezing them does change the texture, so this is best for if you want some vegetables in reserve for soups or a specific recipe – not your summer salad. However, according to Terra-Organics, you can freeze fruits without any worry about the texture changing!
- Preserve
The best philosophy when it comes to your produce is still to use it before you lose it. But, if your family and friends don’t feel like sitting down for the eighth fruit salad in one week, preserving your produce might be your best option. Of course, there are jams and jellies. But there are also lots of different ways that you can preserve your fruits and vegetables before you lose them!
