Summer is quickly approaching and here in the midwest, with the warmer summer weather, comes an abundance of farmer’s markets and fresh produce stands. Visiting local farmer’s markets, farms, greenhouses, and produce stands are one of my favorite summer activities. I love to seek out new locations we have not been to…one of my favorite places to shop for produce is at an Amish farm about 15 minutes from our home, where they sell a ton of flowers, jams, soaps, wood carvings, seeds, and other items. The kids love visiting the farm and seeing all of the animals too! While visiting our local farmer’s market, we have also been able to find some wonderful local sauces, candles, and beauty products from small businesses in the surrounding area.

Wellness and Your Diet

Webster’s dictionary defines wellness as the quality or state of being in good health. While many facets of your lifestyle can contribute to your overall wellness, diet is one of the most important elements to ensuring your body and mind are able to function at their best. A well-balanced diet with a variety of vitamins and minerals is recommended. Fruits and vegetables are a major source for many of these essential vitamins and minerals our bodies cannot produce on its own.

Benefits of Fruits and Veggies

Besides providing our bodies with essential nutrients needed to maintain peak performance, fruits and veggies have many other benefits such as:

-lowering blood pressure.

-strengthening bones.

-reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke.

-helping to prevent some types of cancer.

-lowering the risk of eye and digestive problems.

-lowering the risk of diabetes and have positive effects on blood sugar.

-controlling appetite and aiding to maintain a healthy weight with dietary fiber.

Fruits and vegetables also contain electrolytes that function as antioxidants and anti-inflammatories.

Produce Storage

Storing produce properly is crucial to prolonging its life and lessening food waste. Fruits and veggies can decompose more quickly when not stored adequately. Most fruits and vegetables are okay to be stored in the refrigerator. But no two fruits and veggies are alike so there is no one method to store them all. Some fruits and veggies also emit ethylene gas which speeds up ripening (and rotting) so you must take care when storing to keep fruits and vegetables apart, thus the [generally] two crisper drawers in your refrigerator.

Below I have included 25 sustainable ways to prolong the life of your produce. These tips are guidelines, of course. I recommend regularly checking produce in storage to trim off bad spots, throw out or add to your compost pile if unedible.

Sustainable Ways to Extend Produce Life

1. Shop local farmer’s markets for produce or grow your own. This cuts out the ripening of produce while during shipping from further away locations.
2. Prepare to store immediately after purchase in the refrigerator or freezer.
3. Remove moisture before storing produce and store it in a reusable zipper storage bag. Excess moisture promotes premature rotting.
4. Plan and prep meals to prevent over-buying and reduce produce waste.
5. Freeze what you aren’t planning to use right away.
6. Store in produce drawer to avoid from getting too cold in the back of the refrigerator.
7. Rinse fruits and vegetables with edible skins with white vinegar to prolong life up to a week. (1 part white vinegar, 3 parts water)
8. Add foil to banana stems to keep yellow longer. Plastic wrap works too, although this is not something I keep around. And don’t forget — brown bananas can also be frozen to use later for smoothies, baked goods, or homemade beauty recipes!
9. Store other produce items that do not require refrigeration like potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, onions, bananas, etc in a cool dry place away from direct sunlight.
10. Use ice water to revive lettuce, greens, and herbs. Place in a bowl of ice water for about ten minutes.
11. Gaseous produce like bananas, apples, and avocados should be stored away from each other and other produce. Also, remember to remove from plastic bags. A mesh produce bag is a better choice.
12. Inspect produce while storing. Remove any brown leaves or rotting pieces to prevent it from spreading to the rest.
13. Use lemon juice to keep sliced fruits and veggies from browning. I use this trick on avocados, apples, bananas, and fruit salad.
14. Wrap celery in foil to prolong its life in the crisper.
15. Wrap leafy green in paper towels and place in a reusable zipper bag to keep fresher longer. Be sure to leave some air in the bag so the greens do not get smashed.
16. Keep whole, uncut pineapples, watermelon, cucumbers, squash, and eggplant out of the fridge. These items can be stored on the counter or in the pantry until they are ripe. Once ripe, put in the refrigerator to slow further ripening.
17. Remove green tops from carrots and beets before storing them in the fridge.
18. Store asparagus, green onions, carrots, celery, and herbs in water. Don’t forget to trim the ends off first. Water should be changed every other day. This can prolong up to a month!
19. Apples and citrus fruits do not need to be kept in the refrigerator but will last longer if you do. Did you know apples can soften 10x faster when stored at room temperature?!?
20. Do not wash berries until ready for use. Moisture encourages mold growth.
21. When pineapple is ripened, cut the leafy top off and store in the fridge upside down to redistribute the sugar that has settled to the bottom during transportation and helps it to last longer.
22. Wipe off mushrooms and store them in a paper bag in the main part of the refrigerator.
23. Use produce scraps to regrow produce. This is a fun experiment, especially for kids. My kids love trying to regrow our produce scraps. We have tried onions, avocados, celery, romaine lettuce, carrots, beets, and pineapple. This is such a fun experiment!
24. As a general rule, store fruits and vegetables separately.
25. BUT keeping an apple in with your potatoes can help to keep them from sprouting!

     

    So if you are throwing out produce because it’s rotting faster than you can use it, try some of these sustainable produce storage tips to help you prolong the life of your fruits and veggies for an extra week or maybe even two!

Veggie and Fruit Storage Life

Favorite Farmer’s Markets in My Surrounding Area:

Here are a few farmer’s markets and produce stands in my surrounding area in NE Indiana. If you’re in the neighborhood visiting or traveling, I encourage you to check them out!

**Fort Wayne Farmer’s market is downtown on Saturday mornings at Parkview Field and travels to other locations around town as well. Open YEAR ROUND.

FWFM offers a variety of products from 50 vendors during the indoor weekly season and 60+ during the summer. 

-products ranging from farm & garden, home-based & professionally prepared foods that are minimally processed foods, natural products, and local artisans.

https://ftwaynesfarmersmarket.com/

**YLNI Farmers Market

Saturdays, May 16-Spet 16, 9 am -1 pm

Located in the heart of downtown Fort Wayne, the YLNI Farmers Market presents a vibrant, open-air outdoor market experience! 

302 East Berry Street Fort Wayne, IN 46802

Free parking is available in the History Center lot along Berry Street and on the streets in the surrounding blocks, with ample opportunities to lock up a bicycle as well.

https://www.ylnifoundation.com/

**Historic West Main Street Farmer’s Market

Friday nights, 3 pm-7 pm

https://www.facebook.com/mainstreetfarmmarket

**Atom Acres Family Farm

https://www.atomacresfamilyfarm.com/

**Schmucker’s Produce

12815 Doty Rd., New Haven, IN 46774

260-657-5248

(no website)

**Hilger’s Family Farm

https://www.facebook.com/HilgerFamilyFarm/

**Cedar Creek Produce

https://www.facebook.com/Cedar-Creek-Produce-134805093199048/?eid=ARCjLBMafJQVxZXASz7Fpr9Sadrk7Jxk1zGghaPbsKN3RW89JaU4hxHhxTKnG9rbOymDDYMW_HR9FXiV

**Kurtz Produce

https://www.kurtzproduce.com/

For more on re-growing fruits and vegetables from kitchen scraps, check out this great post by fellow blogger, Olivia at Olivia for the Ocean.