Fresh For Days: A Produce Storage Guide

Hello everyone! My name is Ellie Moran, and I am the CEO and co-founder of Verdantt Fresh. I am a home cook, health enthusiast, and yoga teacher. I also have a passion for sustainability and hope that sharing my insights on food waste will help you reduce your own waste. To begin, let’s dive into a few of my favorite tips on how to extend your produces’ shelf life at home. 

Avocados

Avocados are a sensitive item of produce because once they become ripe, your window to use them is only one to two days. After that, you are left with a mushy, brown avocado. One hack to keep your ripe avocado fresh for longer is to store it in the fridge submerged in a jar of water. This will keep your avocado at peak ripeness for an extra two to three days.

Wilted Greens

How many times a month do you go to make a salad for lunch and find wilted, sad lettuce? It happens to me more often than I’d like to admit. However, there is no need to toss those greens! Instead, trim the ends of your lettuce or stems of the greens. Then, submerge your wilted greens in a bath of ice water for 10 to 30 minutes. You will be left with fresh lettuce for your salad in no time. Use this tip for kale, romaine, chard, collard greens, and spinach. For spinach, make sure to leave the greens in water for 30 minutes to an hour. 

Herbs

When I buy herbs, I am a culprit of using them for one dish and then forgetting that I bought them. They often get slimy, sad, and wilted in the back of my fridge before I can use them again. To avoid this, take your herbs out of their original packaging, trim the bottom of the stems, and place the herbs in a jar with an inch or two of water in the bottom. Place the jar in the fridge. Not only does this create a beautiful herb garden within your fridge, it keeps your herbs fresh for up to two weeks. Now, your herbs are at the front of your fridge and the front of your mind!

Carrots and Celery

There’s nothing worse than reaching for a healthy snack, only to find your carrots and celery to be dry and rubbery. Next time you purchase these two fan favorites, store them in the fridge submerged in a jar of water. After washing and cutting your celery or carrots into sticks, place them in a sealed container filled with cold water and pop it in the fridge. Not only does this keep them super crisp, but it also makes for easy snacking. Just remember to change the water every few days to keep things fresh.

Mushrooms

When mushrooms are kept in the fridge for too long, they become slimy and start to grow mold. To keep your mushrooms dry and clean, ditch the plastic packaging that you bought them in. Transfer your mushrooms to a paper bag and store in a dry place in your fridge. This will provide the airflow that mushrooms need to stay fresh for longer. 

What to Avoid

Some items produce ethylene gas as they become ripe. Ethylene gas is a naturally occurring plant hormone that speeds up the ripening and spoiling of produce that it comes in close vicinity to. Some of the biggest culprits of ethylene gas production are everyday visitors in your kitchen: apples, bananas, avocados, and tomatoes. These four are great at ripening on their own, but if you store them near more sensitive produce (like leafy greens, cucumbers, or berries), you might accidentally expedite their spoilage, too. To avoid this, remember to store your avocados, apples, bananas, and tomatoes in their own space. 

Bonus tip: You can use ethylene producers to your benefit if you want something to ripen faster. If you are stuck with a rock-hard avocado, place the avocado in a paper bag with a ripe banana or apple. Within a day, you’ll be left with perfectly ripe avocado. 

Reducing food waste doesn’t have to be overwhelming - it can start with simple habits right in your kitchen. Whether it’s giving wilted greens a second life, storing herbs like a pro, or understanding the effects of ethylene gas, these small changes can add up to a big impact over time for the planet and for your wallet!

Thanks for joining me to talk about all things fresh food. Stay tuned for more tips, and feel free to share your favorite storage hacks with the Verdantt team by using #VerdanttFreshStorageTips on Instagram.

Talk to you soon,

Ellie