Storing Summer Vegetables

You paid good money for that food. Now you want to make the most of it, right? 

Here's how we keep summer vegetables fresh at our house. 

Don't store tomatoes in the fridge! We try to harvest tomatoes at varying states of readiness so they ripen for you throughout the week. Put them in a paper bag and keep them on the counter: it keeps fruit flies and other insects away while allowing the tomatoes to breathe.

Everything else we can think of should go into refrigeration right away. Separate any roots from their leaves as soon as you get them home. The poor things think they're still trying to grow, and the longer you leave the tops on carrots, beets, radishes, or whatever, the more the quality of the roots will suffer. So give them a quick whack with a knife before you send them off into the fridge, OK?

Fruit flies. If you eat fresh food, you've probably got them this summer, and so much the worse if you're composting. When they said you attract more flies with honey than with vinegar, they obviously weren't talking about fruit flies. Totally more flies with vinegar.

Cover a paper cup (or a recycled yogurt container, etc.) with saran wrap and punch little holes in the plastic with a fork. Don't make too many holes. If the plastic wrap isn't sticking well, use a rubber band.

We add a banana to the vinegar to really get 'em.