5 ways to make fresh produce last longer

This post was written by Renee Hillier, a health sciences student and founder of Love Thy Earth, an eco-products small business based on the Gold Coast.

Glass jars can help keep produce nice and crisp! Image by Shift

Making produce last longer can sometimes be quite a painful experience. Your carrots go bendy, your celery goes floppy and your herbs go slimey, too quickly if you ask me! So if you want to get value for your money, cut down on food wastage and make your produce last longer, then this is the post for you.

Since undertaking a Bachelor of Health Science Degree in Naturopathy (Herbal Medicine) and Nutrition, I am constantly researching different ways to maintain the nutrient value and vitality of foods. Being a plastic free girl myself, I am always on the hunt for more natural ways to store fruits and vegetables.

Fresh produce storage tips

The Ceramic Method:

Place garlic, ginger and chilies into a ceramic jar and keep in the fridge. The garlic and ginger will keep fresh for 3 - 4 weeks and the chilies for about 2 - 3 weeks.

Storing your garlic, ginger and chilis in a ceramic container will help keep them fresher for longer. Image via Unsplash

The Water in a Jar Method: 

Place filtered water into a few different jars, placing celery stalks, whole carrots and bunches of herbs like coriander, mint and parsley into the jars of water. You can place them on the shelf of your fridge, or on the bench top in your kitchen away from heat.

You will get around one week of freshness out of your produce and four days with herbs.

Use old glass jars and jugs to store fresh produce like carrots and leafy greens. Image by Shift

The Tea Towel Method:

You’ll need two tea towels for this one. Line the crisper drawer of your fridge with a wet (water) tea towel, placing produce on top. Then place the other wet tea towel over the top of the produce.

This method is best done in the coldest section of your fridge, making the crisper section perfect - and if you don’t have a crisper, find the coldest section of your refrigerator and wrap the produce up into a wet tea towel.

You will get approximately one week of freshness out of your produce. Remember to re-wet the tea towels and wash them weekly.

Use tea towels to help keep produce fresh in the fridge. Image via The Good Trade

The Container / Paper Towel Method: 

Line a container (preferably glass) with a thin layer of filtered water, place produce i.e. carrots, chopped lettuce and celery sticks into the container and store on the fridge shelf.

You can also use a wet paper towel in the base of the container (you’ll use less water for this method).

The Calico Bag Method:

Use a mid-to-heavy weighted calico bag, place produce inside the bag/s, wetting them entirely with filtered water, placing them in the crisper section of your fridge. You will get approximately 3-4 weeks of freshness from your produce. You can also use a mid-to-heavy weighted calico bag to store potatoes, but make sure you put these in the cupboard (not the fridge) as potatoes release gasses and require dark (not damp) storage. 

Not all calico bags are the same. In fact it comes down to the textile’s weave and thickness, as this will affect airflow. The tea towel method (inspired by my grandmother) allows too much air through (oxidization) eventually drying out your produce within a week; plastic (even compostable) bags, and the container method limit airflow, which will eventually suffocate your produce.  

Calico food storage bags by Love Thy Earth, a small Gold Coast business.

Why i created produce storage solutions.

As a child I would watch my grandmother using cotton (calico) tea towels to wrap up all of her produce, cheeses, and cured meats, placing them in the fridge for storage. This inspired me to create a more practical food storage method, one that doesn’t compromise produce freshness and remains a sustainable method for food storage. 

Through many experiments, trials and errors, Love Thy Earth’s Produce Storage Bags were born, providing the perfect balance of airflow, creating a greenhouse-like effect for produce to be stored in. Using Love Thy Earth’s Calico Bag method, you will get 3-4 weeks of fresh produce: I’m talking crunchy lettuce, firm carrots and celery, fresh cucumbers, zucchinis, capsicum and more!

What produce storage methods have you tried? Let us know what works in your home!

You can find Renee’s Australian-made, plastic-free calico produce storage bags here: https://lovethyearth.com.au/