Next week, we are celebrating independence day on Tuesday, so Tuesdays deliveries will be delivered as so:
Tel Aviv on Wednesday, orders must be in by Monday the 1.5.17 at 12:00
All other Tuesday deliveries will be delivered on Monday. Orders must be in by Sunday the 30.4.17 at 12:00.
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Shavua Tov!
IT IS hot!! And we must take special care of ourselves, our loved ones and our produce.
While growing, the fruits and vegetables are connected to their own ordering system – the ground. When we pick them, we interrupt this connection but they still breathe and emit gas, produce heat and lose fluids and other resources … during the hottest days I can see the effect of picking immediately. Lettuce leaves wilt and stop respiration in half an hour. I must immediately put it into a bag to maintain its moisture. Eggplant loses its shine very quickly and becomes limp and the cucumber becomes so quickly.
According to our organic views, we do not choose species specifically developed for longer nutritional value and health.
Now, when it's hot and all natural processes are accelerated, we are quick to pick everything as early as possible in the morning or in the evening before, but especially not during the heavy heat. Picking during the hottest hours will make even more severe distress that can limp, bend and/or bitter any crop.
From the moment your box comes to you, it is in your hands. There is much that can be done to wake up and return the liveliness and preserve the freshness and nutritional value of our produce for longer.
This heat requires all of us to store the picked produce better, to not let it over ripen, wilt etc … Everything went into your box really really fresh, but still for most of you it will arrive only after several hours and perhaps will wait a bit until its entry into the fridge … So do not worry, the produce is fresh and full of life and nutritional value and therefore can be awakened and preserved better. Just like we handle ourselves and our family differently during the hot summer, the same goes for fruits and vegetables.
So you get super fresh produce and now you have to keep it over time.
So a few general rules:
Heat accelerates processes. Cold slows them down.
Refrigerator – it is coldest down at the bottom and away from the door (cool descends and heat rises. The door opens a lot and warm air enters)
Stagnant water and liquids cause rot.
Glassware is excellent for storing vegetables and unlike plastics do not emit all kinds of chemicals and other materials.
Every vegetable, fruit and plant produces heat, emits gases, "breathes" and loses fluids and other resources at different rates. Accordingly, it is usually recommended to separate the types of fruits and vegetables and keep them in the fridge – Down at the bottom where it is colder, in bags or glassware, clean and dry. Closed or with small ventilation openings.
Attention is needed to the influence of the ripening hormone of crops – ethylene gas. In this context, we divide all produce to "heavy emitters" and "light emitters". It is usually very easy to identify the "heavy emitters" because they continue to ripen after harvest, (become soft, sweet, and change color) such as bananas, tomatoes, avocados, nectarines, apricots, peaches… If we place a "heavy emitter" near other products, the ethylene that it secretes will also affect the neighbor!
Therefore, it is best to keep everything separate, unless you want to use one's influence on its friend. You see now why they say that in order to ripen an avocado you should put it in a paper bag with a banana.
On the other hand there are products that you do not wish to ripen. For example, green leaf vegetables, when exposed to ethylene, will lose chlorophyll and turn yellow. Carrots exposed to too much ethylene will become more bitter, potatoes will start to sprout … All these are natural processes of crops exposed to a natural gas, so we should try to understand how it works and use it to our advantage.
Bottom line:
As with us people, if you will find someone "fatigued" veggies in your box, a cold shower will usually revive them. Just do not forget to dry them very well before storage.
Roots that arrive with their leaves – separate the leaves from the roots as soon as possible and keep them dry in a bag or glassware in the bottom of the refrigerator, where its coldest.
Leafy vegetables – keep them dry. You can even wrap them in a cloth or paper towels and then into a container in the refrigerator.
Crops on the vine or attached to each other tend to ripen faster than if it is separated from each other. If you want to slow down the ripening of the fruit disconnect the cluster.
"Cool as a cucumber" and his sibling, the zucchini:
They prefer the cold, but not really really cold, so they are happy to be kept in a container above the vegetable drawer. The container should be closed because they are sensitive to ethylene emitted by their neighbors and also in order to retain their fluids. If they arrived to you with flowers, you should remove them because they tend to rot. Some people wrap each one separately in a cloth or paper towels which protects them from shrinking and wilting which is actually caused by microscopic cold sores!
Tomatoes are large ethylene releasers. Be sure that they do not disturb their neighbors. A definite summer crop. They do not like cold and should be kept outside until the desired ripeness and only then put in the refrigerator to slow the ripening. Keep them closed in a container so their emitted ethylene will not interfere with their neighbors.
Bananas and papaya – keep outside until the desired ripeness then keep in the refrigerator for a few days or in the freezer – it's really fun.
Avocados – keep outside until ripened. They ripen faster in a dark closet or wrapped in paper. You can put in a banana or tomato to speed it up. When it reaches the desired ripening, keep in the fridge.
Sweet potatoes and onions – keep outside of the refrigerator in a cool dry place.
Carrots, beets, turnips, radishes – keep dry in a bag or sealed container (you can put an absorbent cloth) at the bottom of the refrigerator. If they become soft they can be freshened by an ice bath before using or serving.
Pumpkin – if it is closed, it should be kept outside in a cool and ventilated place. If opened, in a bag or glass dish in the refrigerator.
Sprouts and delicate fruits such as strawberries, figs — keep in the refrigerator in their packaging.
Peppers – keep dry at the bottom of the refrigerator
Melon – keep outside until ripening and then refrigerate
Eggplants do not like it too cold, but are not well kept outside the refrigerator. Should be used as soon as possible and until then kept in a bag in the refrigerator. This will warm them a bit.
Cruciferae (cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage) – keep in a bag at the bottom of the refrigerator.
Basil, a summer green leaf (unique) — keep in a bag on the refrigerator door where it is not too cold.
Garlic – keep outside in a cool, dry place. Ours can and should be hung. Thus, it will be successfully preserved, beautiful and will keep away the vampires ….
Putting a "grass mat" or sponge at the bottom of the vegetable drawer will help maintain dryness. Once they get dirty, which usually indicates bacteria, disinfect and dry them and only then return them to the fridge. Some use newspaper and replace it every week.
May we have an easy and healthy summer!
Take care of yourself, your loved ones, your families, the fruits of your bellies and all other fruit.
Yours,
Maggie
Organic vegetable baskets (draft only):
Carrots
lettuce
Leeks
Cucumbers
Beets
Tomatoes
And cherry tomatoes
Celery root
Fennel
Kale
And mint
In the large organic vegetable baskets, also:
turnip
Radishes
Chard
dill
Organic fruit baskets:
Melon
grapefruit
Oranges
And strawberries
In the larger organic fruit baskets, also:
Papaya
And another melon
