Picture this…you are strolling through a Saturday morning farmers market when you notice some of the most gorgeous berries you have ever seen. You ask the farmer if you could sample one, because you are not convinced that they can even be real. Perhaps these berries are just a prop for their display? To your delight, your suspicions were dead wrong. These berries are bursting with flavor, and you immediately ask for a 3 pack to take home. $5 a pint is hard to swallow, but these are heavenly. The next morning you can’t wait to get up and start your day off with those berries. And then it happens… there is nothing more tragic than paying $5 for a pint of local raspberries, only to look in the fridge the next day and find that fuzzy mold growing on their insides.
I love finding tips on how to make my organic fruits and veggies last longer. Berries, particularly super-fresh berries, are just wonderful, aren’t they?
Wash them with vinegar.
A friend of mine shared this tip with me a few weeks ago, and it really, really works. When you get your berries home, prepare a mixture of one part vinegar (white or apple cider probably work best) and ten parts water. Dump the berries into the mixture and swirl around. Drain, rinse if you want (though the mixture is so diluted I find you can’t taste the vinegar,) and pop in the fridge.
The vinegar kills any mold spores and other bacteria that might be on the surface of the fruit, and voila! Raspberries will last a week or more, and I’ve had strawberries go almost two weeks without getting moldy and soft. So go forth and stock up on those pricey little gems, knowing they’ll stay fresh as long as it takes you to eat them. Your pocketbook will thank you later!
Don’t you just love finding out tricks of the trade? If you know a good secret, I would love to hear about it. Please email me, and I will publish your secret in a post.
