hello cnuck. do you use raw manures on your fields? if not, you should not have any problems as far as your fresh picked produce. (what happens between picking and market is your responsibility to keep clean and fresh)
mark.

I will only be using aged compost and probably small amounts of aged manure. Raw manure is really the only major concern for you average market gardener before harvesting?

What produce should be refrigerated immediately after harvesting?

Thanks!

hello canuckustani i dont like refridgerating anything.
now keeping it shaded and around 60 degrees works well.
a basement or air conditioned small room works great, and keep it in wax produce box,es.
tomatos like room temp( not 85-95 degree) lettuce like to be moist and covered .and piled up together. same for beans and cukes -60 degrees or close.
when produce is refridgerated it gets to around 40 degrees ok for your use. but when you take it out to sell at market in warm weather it well deteriorate fast. hope this helps,mark

I refrigerate all greens (these are the most important thing to get cooled of all the crops I grow), peppers, roots, berries (straw, rasp, etc..), radishes, carrots, turnips, cabbage, broccoli, scallions, all herbs (basil can be problem as it will get black at temps under 45F and most things do best at 34F but if bagged the plastic bag and air will insulate it and keep it from ruin usually), beets, cucumbers, zucchini, leeks, green beans, peas, sweet corn, apples, pears, grapes, parsnips, etc..In winter I keep all onions and garlic in the fridge as this keeps delays sprouting by about 12 weeks.

Tomatoes, melons, potatoes, eggplant, winter squashes do not need to be refrigerated and in the case of tomatoes and melons kills the flavor.

I find that refrigeration is extremely important. Refrigerated produce will stay fresh for about 3 weeks in the fridge (i.e. your customer's fridge). Produce that was not cooled to 40F to 32F will last no more than 5 to 7 days in the fridge and will loose a lot more nutrients than properly cooled and stored produce.

Before going into the fridge I wash everything in cold well water with salt and vinegar in the water. The vinegar softens the water and acts as a disinfectant. The salt is also a disinfectant and kills slugs and rehydrates the produce so, especially, the leafy greens are really, really crisp after being washed/hydro cooled. You do have to dry the produce after washing and before it goes into the fridge. I use an industrial salad spinner but I used to use net laundry bags and would spin them around my head. Worked until my rotator cuff decided it did not want to do that kind of work. So I got the salad spinner (costs around $200 to $250) and found it gets things drier in about 1/5th the time and my shoulder is not in constant pain. My spinner is about 10 years old and still going strong.

Hi boulderbelt!
Love your blog and advice. Is there any specific ratio of water,salt,vinegar, for cleaning greens.
Thanks again!
Jake

Lets see, I use white vinegar that I buy by the gallon and 10 glugs (I'd say 2 cups) go into about 25 to 30 gallons of water. Probably 1/2 cup of salt. I have never gotten out measuring devices to know exactly what I am putting in. I will put in extra salt if the slugs are hanging tight to the produce. When the salt level is correct they will slide right off and writhe in the bottom of the tub until dead.