Maintaing vegetables for longer than a week, my strategies....

My family participates in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program with a local, organic farm.  This means we get farm fresh, local produce every other week.  It also means that I am charged with the mission to keep our produce fresh as long as possible.  Let's face it, produce is not cheap and when you try to preserve it for any length of time, it is frustrating when it goes bad.  I have tried multiple ways to care for our produce, I have read blog posts, I have bought 'bags' touting their greatness is preserving produce, but my current system has worked for us better than any other.

I realize this system may not be for everyone, even I have issues with the fact that we use plastic bags.  Our family tries to reduce our waste as much as possible and we have attempted to remove most plastic products from our home.  To help with the waste issue, I wash our plastic bags and dry them out so we can use them again and again and again......  I also use paper towels in our plastic bags to catch any moisture.  To offset this potential waste, I made paper towels from cloth that we use and wash (these double as napkins and rags for cleaning up).  It's not a perfect system, but it has saved me from frustration and ruined vegetables multiple times.

I keep onions and garlic in this bag on the counter.  Onions should be kept away from other vegetables, you don't want your carrots tasting like onion, do you?  The refrigerator really isn't the best place to store onions, I've read it changes the flavor of them.  Onions also give off something that can speed up the spoiling process for other produce.  I definitely don't want to speed that process up!



These are the vegetables I put in the refrigerator.  There are others, but these are the ones from our CSA this week.  I put them in bags with a paper towel and then make sure the air is out of the bag and it is sealed well.  You'll see I have broccoli, carrots, parsnips, spinach, and kale in these bags.  I try to put the hardier vegetables in the same bag (parsnips and carrots are together).  The spinach and kale are together, notice the spinach is on top because it tends to go bad before the kale.  I use the spinach first and then attack the kale.  I use mesh bags for items like beets and cabbage.  Beets will go soft in the mesh bags, but it takes a while for that to happen.  We will either roast, dehydrate, or juice them before that happens.  The brussels sprouts are still on the stalk (LOVE THIS) and will be eaten tonight.  Finally, notice the bag labeled "For Broth".  In this bag, I have carrot tops and we will add to it throughout the weeks until we are ready to make bone broth (we waste very little).  I also fill bags up with beet greens to stick in the freezer for smoothies and freeze herbs to use later (although now I have a dehydrator, I may start dehydrating them).



See these beauties?  I bought this entire bag of bananas for $.99 because they were starting to go 'bad'.  I put them all in the freezer and will use them for smoothies in the coming weeks!  SCORE!


I have a bowl on our counter that has our winter squash and potatoes/yams.  This helps me remember to use these.  As the seasons begin to change, I'll post more pictures of the different storage methods we use for our vegetables.  What are some tips you have to share?  I would love to hear them!