How To Store Your Share 3

We know that many of our shareholders leave for Thanksgiving break fairly early, and we bet that many of you will have a hard time finishing your share before you leave town. To help you out, we've compiled some info about how to properly store each item of your share before you leave to make sure it'll last till you return to PVD.

Happy Thanksgiving from the whole BMSP Team!
-Anna, Antonia, Blain, Carlie, Erin, Estelle, Jenna, Maddy, Meg, Taylor L., Taylor S., and Wesley.

General Storage Guidelines:

1. Do Not Store Fruits and Vegetables Together. Fruits that give off high levels of ethylene (the ripening agent) can prematurely ripen and spoil surrounding vegetables. (Think of the "one bad apple" adage.)
• Also, do not store root vegetables and onions together, as they will spoil faster.
2. For Vegetables: Before storing, remove ties and rubber bands and trim any leafy ends. Leave an inch to keep the vegetable from drying out. Make sure the bag you store the veggies in has some holes punctured to allow for good air flow. Pack vegetables loosely in the refrigerator. The closer they are, the quicker they will rot. Leafy greens can be washed before storing by soaking them in a sink full of water.
3. Storage Buddies This Week (can be kept in bags together to save plastic!):
   -Leeks, carrots, radishes, turnips
   -Kale, lettuce, herbs
   -Sweet potatoes
   -Apples, cranberries

Storage advice for the items in this week's share:

Apples: Apples are one of the few fruits that really do benefit from being stored in the fridge as quickly as possible. Keep these in the fridge in different airspace than all your other produce, in a plastic bag in a separate drawer. The ethylene apples release will cause other items to continue to ripen far too long.

Carrots: Put in a loose, perforated plastic bag, preferably twisted shut, in the crisper/vegetable drawer of your fridge. To be extra certain they will not dry out, you can add a damp towel to the bag, or place 
them
 in
 closed 
container 
with
 plenty 
of 
moisture. Alternatively, you can store the carrots in a covered container filled with water. This will keep them fresh for a long time!

Cranberries: Store fresh cranberries for up to two months in a tightly-sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator, away from the apples. As with all berries, if one starts getting soft and decaying, it will quickly spread to the rest. Be sure to sort out the softies if you plan on storing them for any length of time. You can also easily freeze them for even more long term storage!

Kale: Take off any rubber bands, and store me in a plastic bag in the fridge. Keep the bag closed loosely, and don't put other items on top of me. You want to minimize the air flow, but it's fine if the bag is not completely sealed. To be extra certain it will not dry out, you can add a damp towel to the bag, and exhale into the bag before closing it (to give the greens the CO2 they need).

Herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary): All the herbs available this week are hard herbs - they have hard, woody stems instead of softer, greener stems (like parsley or basil). Store your hard herbs by wrapping them first in a damp paper towel, then loosely in plastic wrap, and keeping them in your crisper. (If you’re going green, a damp kitchen towel and airtight container works perfectly well.) Don’t wash fresh herbs until they are ready to be used; it will add excess moisture and waste time.

Leeks: Fresh leeks should be stored unwashed and untrimmed in the refrigerator, where they will keep fresh for about two weeks. Put in a loose, perforated plastic bag, preferably twisted shut, in the crisper/vegetable drawer of your fridge.

Lettuce: Store me in a plastic bag in the fridge. Keep the bag closed loosely, and don't put other items on top of me. You want to minimize the air flow, but it's fine if the bag is not completely sealed. To be extra certain it will not dry out, you can add a damp towel to the bag, and exhale into the bag before closing it (to give the greens the CO2 they need).

Radishes: Remove the greens (store separately - see above) so they don’t draw out excess moisture from the roots. Put in a loose, perforated plastic bag, preferably twisted shut, in the crisper/vegetable drawer of your fridge. To be extra certain they will not dry out, you can add a damp towel to the bag, or place 
them
 in
 closed 
container 
with
 plenty 
of 
moisture.

Sweet Potatoes: Keep me in a cool, dark place in your pantry or on your counter, and do not put me in direct sunlight. Ideally you will put me in a brown paper bag! But keep me away from any onions. Make sure to let them dry out (if still wet from washing) before storing.

Turnips: Remove any greens (store separately - see above) so they don’t draw out excess moisture from the roots. Put in a loose, perforated plastic bag, preferably twisted shut, in the crisper/vegetable drawer of your fridge. To be extra certain they will not dry out, you can add a damp towel to the bag, or place 
them
 in
 closed 
container 
with
 plenty 
of 
moisture. Alternatively, you can store the carrots in a covered container filled with water. This will keep them fresh for a long time!