PRODUCE STORAGE TIPS

The longevity of your fresh produce can be an indicator of quality and even its nutrition. To support best transition from our farm to your table, we’ve put together a list of storage tips for the produce we grow at Farm Sol. We hope this guide is useful during peak vegetable season, especially for our CSA members who receive vegetables in quantity.

Please consider recycling other packaging materials for storage (our salad bags work great for this, so start saving them!) to reduce waste. Avoid washing produce before use and dry before storing, if necessary.

 

  • refrigerate in crisper drawer - a plastic bag extends texture timeframe

    dehydrates well for later use and baking applications

  • remove air and refrigerate in an air-tight bag

  • treat like flowers: remove lower leaves and store stems in water at room temperature

  • refrigerate in air-tight bag

    before eating, shock in an ice bath if limp

    blanching unnecessary when freezing

  • top greens for more immediate use in sautés and salads

    refrigerate roots in plastic and they will endure a long storage period!

  • appreciates some air flow - refrigerate in an open or loose plastic bag in crisper drawer

    blanch before freezing for best texture retention

  • refrigerate whole in a plastic bag or other air-tight container

    use Napa variety within 1 week for optimal quality retention

  • if bunched, top greens and use in a sauce, sauté, or salad

    roots store keep well several weeks; refrigerate in a plastic bag

  • refrigerate in loosely wrapped plastic

    coarsely grind in food processor and cook lightly for an easy “rice” substitute

  • refrigerate; remove air and wrap in plastic bag or wrap in foil

    limp stalks can be shocked in ice bath to improve texture before eating

  • dry well and refrigerate in plastic bag

  • refrigerate in loose plastic bag, keeps longer if stem ends are placed in water

  • raw fruits store fine refrigerated for up to a week

    utilize pickling options for longer-term storage!

  • stand stems in an inch of water, cover loosely with plastic, and refrigerate

    also stores well dried and frozen

  • do not refrigerate! treat like a tomato, storing in a cool spot out of direct sunlight

    roast with olive oil in the oven, blend, and freeze for an easy base to dips and sauces

  • separate fronds from bulb and store separately, refrigerate loosely in plastic

    to freeze: chopped bulb can be blanched briefly

  • BULB: sotre at room temperature away from sunlight

    SCAPES: refrigerate wrapped loosely in plastic

  • separate greens from root, refrigerate separately wrapped loosely in plastic

    roots freeze well without special prep!

  • refrigerate in sealed plastic bag

    blanch before freezing for best texture retention

    dry into chips

  • top greens and store globe and leaf separately, refrigerated in loosely wrapped plastic

  • HEADS: if necessary, dry well. refrigerator in sealed plastic bag in crisper drawer

    BABY GREENS: see SALAD GREENS

  • ripen on counter if fruit is not yet fragrant, then store ripened fruit in refrigerator

    once cut, wrap open end or refrigerate flush on a flat surface (a plate works well)

  • refrigerate in a paper bag

    dehydrates easily for long-term storage, rehydrates quickly for use

  • CURED: store in dark, dry, cool location away from squash, fruits, and potatoes

    FRESH: refrigerate in plastic and use within 2 weeks

  • wrap loosely in plastic and refrigerate

  • refrigerate in loose plastic bag, keeps longer if stem ends are placed in water

    stores well dried and frozen

  • you didn’t eat these all already?

    store in crisper drawer covered loosely in plastic

  • refrigerate in crisper drawer, stores longer if wrapped in plastic

    easy to freeze: chop, pack, and chill

  • store in a dry, dark, cool location away from onions

  • separate greens from roots and refrigerate both, separately, in air-tight container

  • refrigerate in plastic bag or wrapped in foil

    easy to freeze: chop, pack, and chill

  • wrap in damp paper towel, place in air-tight container, refrigerate

    use fresh within 2 weeks or dry for later use

  • wrap in damp paper towel, place in air-tight container, refrigerate

    use fresh within 1 week or dry for later use

  • dry if necessary, remove air and refrigerate in an air-tight bag

    add to a smoothie to quickly process excess quantities

    heartier baby greens can be braised or blanched and frozen

  • wrap in plastic and refrigerate

    easy to freeze: chop, pack, and chill

  • remove air and refrigerate in an air-tight bag


    freezes well for extended-season eating

  • separate greens from roots and refrigerate both, separately, in air-tight container

  • do not refrigerate! store in dark, cool location on countertop, leaving space between fruit to slow individual ripening

    freezes easily raw or processed into sauce

  • prefers cool, dark storage location

    easy to freeze: bake or roast, pack, and chill

  • prefers air-flow when stored in refrigerator (crisper drawer, loosely wrapped)

    easy to freeze: chop or grate, then par-freeze on a sheet tray to keep from clumping before final packing

 

USEFUL KITCHEN TOOLS

Good produce lends itself nicely to little treatment, so you need very few implements to graduate raw ingredients into delicious dishes. However, a few tools may empower you to expand your possibilities… and make it easy to do so!

This list includes items we consider valuable in our own kitchen, ordered from most essential (the ones we use most often) to luxury. You definitely don’t need all or even most of these items in your toolkit - this list is meant to serve as inspiration to how you think about transforming your local produce into enjoyable nourishment that feeds you year round.

 
 

  • A sharp and reliable cutting utensil is arguably the most important tool in your produce-processing arsenal. If you have to invest in one item, we suggest making it a quality knife that is safe and enjoyable to use.

  • We recommend a non-slip surface that will be nice to your knife and easy to clean. Thin, flat, lighter weight boards are also useful for easy transfer of processed produce to your cooking vessel.

  • Of course most sauté pans will work just fine, but we love cast iron because of its flexible utility. You can use this fry on the stovetop, bake in the oven, toast on a grill, or roast in a fire pit - you’ll be ready to try anything!

  • From slaws, hashbrowns, and desserts, a sharp and easy to handle grater is useful in reducing prep time.

  • Useful for oven-roasting, a large sheet tray can help you prepare sizable recipe batches in a breeze.

  • This grater allows you to control your consistency, so you can slice things translucently thin to deliciously thick. Useful in the creation of beautiful salads, baking, and sautés.

  • Most popular with smoothie fans! In substitution of an upright model, we like immersion blenders for their ease of use and stressless flexibility into the world of dips and soups.

  • An ideal tool for creating the correct consistency for own hummus and batch work and coarse blending.

  • There are many great ways to store food for later, but a vacuum sealer is a reliable and simple way to retain quality and increase storage capacity if you are limited on space. Freeze extras now and enjoy good produce in February!

  • Dehydrating produce is a simple way to create portable snacks, transform fruit into baking ingredients, and keep food for later use. With patience, most produce can be dehydrated via sunshine or oven, but stand-alone dehydrators make the process most flexible for a controlled result.

  • Definitely a luxury item, but useful to have when you desire a thinner base than a blender can offer. We mostly use ours for DIY cocktail bases and processing bulk batches for later use.

 
 
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