Blog

By: Kiera Stankewich

Hello everybody! We have had some people inquiring about how to properly store their vegetables to ensure that they last as long as they should. Below are some recommendations about how to store produce that you may receive in your share.

Storing Your Veggies Properly

All information credited to Just Food at justfood.org

A:

• Apple
  • Leave room temperature – do not wash until ready to eat
  • Refrigerate – store in perforated plastic or paper bag in refrigerator
    • Browning near core indicators that temp is too cold
  • Once cut, to slow browning process, use lemon or citrus juice and water bath
• Arugula
  • Refrigerate – wrap arugula in damp paper or cloth towel and store in refrigerator drawer, try to change towel daily
    • Good for 4-5 days
• Asparagus
  • Refrigerate – wrap asparagus unwashed in damp paper or cloth towel and store in refrigerator drawer; or store upright in glass of water in fridge
    • Good for a week
  • Freeze – remove tough ends and wash thoroughly, cut, and steam for about 6 minutes; drain and cool in ice water; drain and pack, alternating tips and stem ends of spears

B:

• Beets
  • Separate beet greens from the roots, leaving 1-2 inches of stem attached to the bulb
  • Wrap beet greens in damp paper or cloth towel and store in refrigerator drawer
    • Best used right away
  • Roots can be left uncovered in refrigerator drawer or kept in paper bag
    • Good for several weeks
• Blueberries
  • Remove damaged berries to prevent spread of most; store unwashed on plate or baking sheet lined with paper towels to absorb excess moisture
  • Refrigerate
    • Good for 2-3 days
  • Freeze 
    • Good for several weeks
• Bok Choy
  • Refrigerate – wrap bok choy in damp paper or cloth towel and store in refrigerator drawer, try to change towel daily; can loosely pack in Tupperware container
    • Good for up to one week
  • Freeze – freeze greens by steam blanching for 3 minutes, cooling quickly, and packing in hard plastic container; white portion does not freeze well; store greens in freezer bag, leaving space in the top
• Broccoli
  • Refrigerate – wrap broccoli in damp paper or cloth towel and store in refrigerator drawer, try to change towel daily
    • Good for up to a week
  • Freeze – cut stem and florets into bite-size chunks and steam for about 6 minutes; cool in ice water; drain and pack in freezer bags

C:

• Cabbage
  • Refrigerate – store cabbage in refrigerator drawer, remove molded or wilted leaves
    • Good for 1-3 weeks
• Carrot
  • Trim leafy greens to ½ inch from top of carrot so leaves don’t absorb water from rots and make carrots soften
  • Refrigerate – Store carrots and leaves separately in damp cloth or paper towels in refrigerator drawer
    • Carrots good for up two months
    • Leaves only good for a few days
  • Freeze – slice or julienne carrots and blanch in boiling water for 5 minutes; cool, drain, and pack in hard plastic container, and freeze
• Cauliflower
  • Refrigerate – wrap cauliflower in damp paper or cloth towel and store in refrigerator drawer, try to change towel daily
    • Good for up to a week, but loses sweetness over time
  • Freeze – cut stem and florets into bite-size chunks and steam for about 6 minutes; cool in ice water; drain and pack in freezer bags
• Celery
  • Refrigerate – store unwashed celery in paper bag in refrigerator drawer or as whole bunches without a bag 
    • Good for up to 2 weeks
  • Can dry celery leaves to use is soups/stews by drying, washing, and hanging to dry until crispy; then put in sealed container
• Collar Greens
  • Refrigerate – wrap collards in damp paper or cloth towel and store in refrigerator drawer
    • Good for up to a week
  • Freeze – clean and trim leaves; cut into strips; steam blanch for 4 min; cool quickly and pack into container to freeze
• Corn
  • Best to eat while fresh to maintain sweetness!
  • Refrigerate – store in fridge with husks on
  • Freeze – blanch whole cob in boiling water from 3-5 minutes, rinse under cold water, and drain; either remove kernels or pack hole cobs in freezer bags
• Cucumber
  • Refrigerate – store whole in fridge drawer (once cut, deteriorate quickly)
    • Good for up to 10 days

E:

• Eggplant
  • Store at room-temp, handle with care
    • Good for up to 1 week

G:

• Garlic
  • Store at room-temp, unpeeled in open container away from other food
  • keep in a cool, dry place
  • do not refrigerate or freeze unpeeled garlic
    • good for up to 3 months
  • freeze – freeze peeled garlic in an airtight plastic bag or in glass container filled with oil

K:

• Kale
  • Refrigerate – wash and wrap in a damp towel, store in refrigerator drawer
    • Good for 1 week
  • Freeze – wash and destem the leaves, blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes, drain and rinse with cold water to halt cooking process, store in freezer bags
• Kohlrabi
  • Refrigerate – remove leaves and stems and bulbs loosely or wrapped in damp paper or cloth towel and store in refrigerator drawer, try to change towel daily
    • Good for 1-2 weeks
  • Freeze – wash, peel, and cut; blanch in boiling water for 3 min; cool and pack into freezer bag/container, leaving some space

L:

• Lettuce
  • Refrigerate – washed and dried greens wrapped in a damp cloth or paper towel in refrigerator drawer
    • Iceberg – good for 2 weeks
    • Romaine – good for about 10 days
    • Butterhead and leaf – good for about 3-4 days

M:

• Mustard Greens
  • Wash leaves and discard any that are bruised or brown
  • Refrigerate – wrap in damp paper towel and stored in fridge drawer, rewetting paper towel every other day
    • Good for up to 10 days

O:

• Okra
  • Refrigerate – store unwashed in a paper bag in refrigerator drawer
    • Good for 3-4 days
  • Freeze – wash okra and trim stems; blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes and then plunge into ice water; drain, spread on trays, and freeze before transferring to container
• Onion
  • Store bulb onions in cool, dry, ventilated place (avoid warmth and moisture)
    • Good for several months
  • Refrigerate – store cut onions tightly wrapped in plastic in fridge to avoid transference of flavors to other foods
    • *do not store near potatoes b/c cause spoilage 

P:

• Peach
  • Ripening process – place in paper bag at room temp out of direct sunlight to ripen faster
  • Refrigerate – can put ripe peach in fridge
    • Good for up to 1 week
• Pepper, Bell/Sweet
  • Refrigerate – store unwashed in a paper bag in refrigerator drawer
    • Good for 1 week
  • Freeze – wash and dry peppers, cut, and place in freezer bag/airtight containers, no need to blanch
• Potato
  • Keep in cool, dark, dry, well-ventilated place (out of sunlight and warmth)
  • Cut out any green parts before cooking
• Potato, Sweet
  • Refrigerate – store is loose plastic bag in a cool dark place like cupboard or closet
    • Good for about 3 weeks
• Pumpkin
  • Keep in cool, dark, dry, well-ventilated place (out of sunlight and warmth)
    • Good for 2-3 months
  • Freeze – can freeze pumpkin flesh by cutting in half, removing seeds, and baking until pumpkin flesh soft enough to scoop out; then place in container and freeze

R:

• Radish
  • Store radish bulbs and tops unwashed in separate containers or wrapped separately in paper towel or cloth, in fridge drawer
    • Greens good for 3-4 days
    • Bulbs good for 1 week

S: 

• Scallion
  • Refrigerate – wrap unwashed scallions in plastic bag or in damp paper or cloth towel and store in refrigerator drawer
    • Good for up to 1 week
  • *do not store need odor-sensitive foods (corn, bread, etc) which might absorb onion odor
• Spinach
  • Refrigerate – store wrapped in a damp cloth or paper towel in refrigerator drawer
    • Good for 1 week
  • If wilted leaves, might be able to revive by soaking in ice water 2-3 minutes, but then thoroughly dry leaves
  • Freeze – blanch for 1-2 minutes until bright green; rinse with cold water to stop cooking process, drain, and pack into freezer bag
• Squash, Summer
  • Refrigerate – store loose or in open plastic bag in refrigerator drawer
    • Good for one week unless cut, bruised, or damaged in which case only good for 1 day
  • Freeze – rinse, cut, and steam until tender; drain and store in airtight container or freezer bag; can also puree before freezing
• Squash, Winter
  • Store in dry, dark, well-ventilated place
  • Refrigerate – once cut, wrap in plastic and store in fridge
    • Once cut, good for about a week
• Swiss Chard
  • Refrigerate – wrap unwashed Swiss chard in damp towel and place in refrigerator drawer
    • Good for 3-4 days
  • Freeze – wash, chop, and blanch for 3 minutes until bright green; rinse with cold water to stop cooking process, drain, and pack into freezer bag

T:

• Tomato
  • Do not refrigerate – cold temps cause tomatoes to lose flavor and texture
  • Store unwashed tomatoes out of direct sunlight
  • Use ripe tomatoes as soon as possible to avoid spoilage
  • Can also be canned
• Turnips
  • Refrigerate – store in fridge drawer or coldest part of fridge, loosely in plastic bag; long-term storage, remove the greens before placing turnip in fridge
    • Good for up to 4 months

W:

• Watermelon
  • Refrigerate – cut and wrap or store in container
    • If whole – good for 3 weeks
    • Once cut – good for 3 days