If you’re like me, you love going to the local farmer’s market, but you tend to get carried away because all the produce looks so amazing. We buy at the moment with our eyes, thinking we will be able to eat everything throughout the week. As the week progresses, schedules change and we eat out more than we think we will. Our beautiful produce begins to lose its luster, and we end up throwing it and subsequently our hard-earned money down the drain.
This doesn’t have to be the case. With a few simple hacks, you can enjoy these bounties of nature for several weeks. Simply follow these three super easy storage tips and you won’t end up with mushy apples or limp carrots and celery.
The gurus on the internet and grocers are full of ideas on how to store these three items. I’ve tried the water baths, the bags, etc. By trial and error, I have found the following 3 storage methods really do work. I put them to the test and my carrots and celery actually stayed as fresh as the day I bought them for 3 weeks. I tend to go through my apples quicker but had great results for almost 2 weeks.
So let’s get started.
The overarching tip for all these things is: don’t wash them until just before use. Adding extra moisture is not a good idea.
Carrots
After you cut the tops off (see below for tops tips), wrap up the carrots in a paper towel and store them in an airtight container. I buy pretty chunky carrots at my farmer’s market, and so I’ll wrap each carrot in its own paper towel and then lay them together in a Pyrex glass dish with the plastic top sealed tight. While there are different theories about temperatures, I just keep them in one of the crisper drawers and that seems to work just fine. Then when I’m ready to use them, I’ll just take out what I need, wash and scrub them, and prepare as needed depending on the recipe. I will confess, I’m not a carrot peeler. I prefer eating vegetables with the skin on, so it’s one less step for me as well.
Tips for the tops: I didn’t realize before, but they’re nutritious with high amounts of vitamins C and K. Treat them similarly to parsley and strip the leaves from the stems.
Celery
This is really easy. You want to keep the celery heads whole and wrap them up real tight in aluminum foil. I’ll use a little bit of extra foil to allow folding over and crimping to ensure that they are really airtight. That seems to be the trick. Again, I’m not fussy with specific temperatures. I just put them in the crisper drawer. I know a lot of people recommend putting celery in cold water baths, but I found this works way better, and I’ve had great results even after a month.
Apples
So I used to always keep apples in a bowl on the countertop, thinking I’d go through them in the week. And invariably, a few would get mushy on the crown or the base. I’ve researched a lot and while there’s a lot of talk about the perfect temperature and the perfect humidity unless you’re storing tons of apples, just keeping them in a plastic bag in the crisper works really well. If you seal the bag, poke some holes in it, or just keep the top open, it works just fine. I love eating an apple a day and usually choose the smallest ones I can.
In Conclusion
Keeping your produce fresh for weeks doesn’t have to be a daunting task. By following the simple tips outlined in this post, you can easily enjoy your delicious and nutritious fruits and vegetables for weeks to come. Remember to store your carrots wrapped in a paper towel, celery in aluminum foil, and apples in a plastic bag in the crisper. And don’t forget the overarching tip to not wash them until just before use, as added moisture can cause them to deteriorate faster. With these tips in mind, you can savor the taste and benefits of your farmer’s market finds for much longer. Happy cooking!
