I store most veggies either "as is" or in open bowls in the veggie drawer. They don't really need to be in a bag, as they seem to do better when kept drier. Those that will dry out faster (carrots, fruits) could be in a bowl with a damp paper towel on top of them (compost the paper towel afterwards, of course). Just wipe the veggie drawer out once a week before refilling, and you're good to go...

Really? I always thought if I just plopped stuff into the drawer, it would just dry out and get limp. Hmm. I do keep a little water in the bottom of the carrot bag to keep it from drying out.

Most of what I buy is peppers (bell peppers), celery on occasion, green onions, baby carrots (which do need a little water in the bowl), and lettuce (which I store with a damp paper towel). Asparagus goes in a pitcher of water, uncovered. I have tomatoes from the garden in a bowl in the crisper at the moment, no water. Maybe other veggies wouldn't do so well though?

Everything keeps fine for 4-5 days, which is long enough for me. Onions, potatoes, bananas and squash all stay on the counter, of course.

When I buy fresh vegetables and fruit at the store, I've gotten to the point where if I don't need a bag, I don't take one. For instance, for loose apples, potatoes, peppers, ears of corn, etc., I just put them in my cart, and pile them up on the belt. The cashier then piles them up on her scale and then I put them in my reusable bag.

Some people might not like the "ick" factor here, but I figure by the time the produce is at the market, it's been handled so many times that one more time won't make much difference. And I only do this part of the year, since in summer/fall/spring I buy what's available from a local farm.

As far as storage, many of my fruits and vegetables stay on the counter or table. If they go in the fridge, I usually just put them in a bowl like Jamie, and don't always even use the vegetable drawer. We use them pretty quickly - we're often at the store on a daily basis. I detest shopping, so I usually just stop on the way home from work to pick up stuff. Which doesn't make sense, because I'm there six days a week instead of getting it over with in one, lol!

:)
Dee

I rarely use plastic bags in the store for these things. Maybe for lettuce since it's usually wet and small things like cherries. Everything else goes in my cart. If you want to store them in plastic bags once you get them home, use ziplock bags. I use these all the time, wash them out in hot soapy water when needed, dry them and reuse again and again. I can't remember the last time I bought a box of these. However, most things like apples or peppers simply go in the veggie drawer.

I've found that lettuce will keep 2 weeks or longer if you wash it, spin it dry in a salad spinner and use the spinner for storage. If I have too much for the spinner, I wash it, dry it and pack it in liplock bags. The key for storage is spinning it dry first. I only buy leaf lettuce, so I don't know how you would handle iceberg lettuce.

Kevin

I do not use bags in my fridge, because I have two 'crisper' drawers. Both of them have humidity controls on them. Some fruits and veggies need keep in high humidity, and some do better with low humidity. The only items I keep confined are things like head lettuce, where it is hard to 'wash' and may be cut already. I have a heavy plastic container with a snap lid for that. Certain items shouldn't even be in the fridge, and tomatoes are one of them. It breaks down the starches into sugars and makes them mealy.

I know tomatoes aren't supposed to be chilled, but honestly, I prefer them firmer, rather than warm from the garden or room temp. So I refrigerate them for a few hours or overnight, so I get that satisfying firmness that I prefer. They don't get mealy at all for that amount of time, in my opinion. Just different preferences... :-)

Don't worry, jamie. People also say to never refrigerate bananas, but I do so all the time to keep them from ripening once they get to my ripeness limit (I prefer greenish). Sure, the peel gets brown in the cold, but I don't eat the peel. :)

I am definitely going to have to experiment a little with how to keep my stuff other ways. I LOVE a tomato warm from the garden, in fact when I go to pick, one usually doesn't make it back. Also going to have to look into getting my salad drier, I use leaf too.

As for the store, yes my husband said "ick" so to speak when the lady sent the stuff over the noce dirty belt and scanner. I wash stuff with soap anyway, he tends to rinse it with water. I usually pick from the top to start with, trying to cut down on the children who are wiping their noses on their hands and walking along running their hands over the produce. ;-) But then when I see the cashier lick her fingers so she can pull a bag apart, what does it really matter? You're going to be washing anyway. Maybe a mesh washable bag will help. a couple of those for the stuff I use the most of and the rest in the cart or like you said, in a bag for stuff like lettuce.

This place was a great discovery. I had used the gardening forums a lot a few years ago, but not since it expanded so much. So nice to find a place to exchange ideas. Julie

I started bagging my veggies & fruit at the store again because I noticed the drippings from meat and what else on that conveyer belt. Tom

A drop of bleach in your washing water and you are good to go . Don't worry . Skip the plastic and go for something you can re-use and or wash .

I made some bags from mesh fabric (holes about 1/2") with a drawstring - in imitation of bags I saw for sale at my coop. Good for potatoes, onions,etc. Apples and peaches I get at the orchard around the corner and the paper bags they come in go in the compost pile.

For washed lettuce, I roll the leaves in a linen dish towel and stuff that in a plastic bag. I usually have a few around from bread, etc.

Since I grow a lot of my own veggies, bagging them at the market is not that much of a problem for me.

I used to have a cotton net type bag. It eventually wore out. I bought it in the 70s. I saw Emeril using one for potatoes on his "Emeril Green" show the other day. I have not recently seen this type of bag for sale, but Whole Foods must have them since Emeril was using one. They are large enough to hold about five pounds of potatoes,and they are washable.

Lorna