At Abundance Wholesome Foods, our vegetables are not treated with food additives or chemicals to extend the shelf life of the produce.
Nature intended you to enjoy the freshness, great taste and nutrient-dense goodness of vegetables, herbs and fruit, and we’re here to make sure we keep it that way! To understand more, read our article: Organic Food – What’s the Big Fuss?
Organic vegetables are not treated with food additives or chemicals that extend the shelf life of most fresh produce and other foods. However, you can enjoy freshness, great taste and nutrient dense quality of organic produce.
In our organic produce boxes for delivery you may find an odd snail or bugs in the bag; gently remove these beauties they will not kill you. The size, colour, texture or form may be different from the supermarket produce – rest assured this is how nature intended as the produce is not chemically formed or grown.
Sometimes the produce is straight out of the soil and not washed, this is another way of ensuring longer shelf or refrigeration life. You will only need to wash the produce before you cook or consume it. If stored properly, you can keep your veggies for longer.
Leafy greens
Most leafy greens will show signs of wilting. That’s ok! Simply store in the fridge as they are and when you’re ready to cook just wash the produce and watch it come to life while the water drains. If you do wash leaves before storing in the fridge make sure they are properly dry.
For leafy greens like parsley or celery, immerse the stems in a jug of water and store in the fridge. Take the amount you need from the bunch, leaving the rest until it is all consumed. You will be able to gauge how long it lasts as the days go by – this varies depending on your fridge temperature. The trick is to avoid your produce retaining excess moisture, which usually is absorbed by a paper towel if wrapped in one.
Tubers
Most tubers, like potatoes, do not need to be stored in a fridge – your pantry or vegetable rack will do just fine. Cabbages or onions keep well out of the fridge as well, just be sure to not mix onions and items like potatoes as this may cause potatoes to sprout. While not a tuber, tomatoes are best kept out of the fridge at room temperature and away from direct sunlight and heat. Should your beetroot become soft, leave them in cold water before cooking and they will firm up. Sometimes we will leave the leaves on certain items like carrots, turnips or beetroots as they’re a great addition to your dinner on the day of delivery (think pesto from the carrot leaves or morogo or salad greens from the other leaves). However, cut off the leaves immediately so they don’t suck the moisture from the vegetable, or leave the item in water until you’re ready to use it.
Herbs
A wet paper towel or tea towel is your best friend when storing herbs. Remove your herbs from the brown bag, wrap them in a moist tea towel and keep them in the fridge. Cotton bags also work well; when they dry out just spritz them with water to moisten again.
Drying or freezing herbs is also a winner for longer keep. Try dried herbs like mint or lemon verbena for teas. Other herbs like rosemary and oregano are great as a dried seasoning, and sage makes for good herb butter for bread and flavouring a variety of dishes. Imagine lemon verbena tea when the herb is out of season!
Alternative storage containers
- BPA-free, airtight reusable or silicone containers are good for freshness and reuse.
- The breathable fabric of organic cotton muslin bags helps keep organic veg fresh for longer.
- While we promote zero waste, you may still encounter plastic bags. If you haven’t already made your way through the stash in the kitchen drawer, make sure to reuse these bags to store your veggies in the fridge.
- Organic cotton beeswax or soy wax wrappers are also great to wrap half-eaten fruits and veggies in when keeping in the fridge.
What also help to avoid food waste is meal planning, if you plan for the week you can buy exactly what you need for the week and be able to consume everything accordingly.
These are some of the methods we have tried ourselves, do let us know what works for you and share with us what works best for you and let’s limit our food waste.
Read more about the South African Organic Sector Organisation (SAOSO) and how they certify organic farms.