By Leslie Shallcross
I was in the sunny Southwest two weeks ago, leaving while many Alaska gardens and greenhouses were slowing but still impressing with wonderful, nutritious subarctic-grown potatoes, carrots, cabbages and even tomatoes. I saw totally different gardens on my return, with many having experienced frost and gardeners in a hurry to get their vegetables out of the garden and into storage for winter.
The perennial challenge of a productive garden is that it usually produces more than can easily be consumed. Keeping produce from deteriorating and potentially going to waste requires some thought and planning. There are a number of food storage principles and preservation methods to keep in mind for vegetables, whether from a local garden or your grocery store.
The tips in the following article can help Alaska gardeners with that end-of-the-season excess. I originally wrote this article for the Senior Voice and updated it for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: I admit to being an enthusiastic, nutrition-minded cook with a penchant for making twice as much as my household can eat and often neglecting many purchased fresh edibles until they appear fit only for compost. Just this week, my countertop fruit bowl with tomatoes, avocados, apples, oranges and limes transformed from beautiful and welcoming to “oh, no, I’ve done it again” with a couple of overripe avocados and a seriously deteriorating, bruised apple.
Even though none of us like to throw food away, research shows that the average U.S. household wastes 3½ pounds of food per person weekly and between 30% and 40% of their food purchases.
The average value of food loss per four-person household in 2022 was $1,500. When I read those statistics, I can easily picture my nutritious fruits and vegetables, cheese, yogurt, bread, homemade desserts and voluminous leftovers that end up in the trash periodically.
If the benefits to your own nutrition status and bank account don’t motivate you, one other thought may give you a reason to put “wasting less food” in your “being a good citizen” list. A significant portion of discarded food may be edible and provide enough calories and nutrients to feed millions of food-insecure individuals. We know it isn’t a straight line from our homes to feeding others and households are responsible for only about 35% of the overall system food waste (grocery stores account for much of the rest). Nonetheless, the adage of “waste not, want not” may be thought of as much for the common good as for our own.
There are easy “not-so-genius hacks” for keeping food fresh and decreasing food waste. The art and science hacks of keeping food fresh focus on preventing dehydration, cool temperatures, controlling microorganisms and ethylene gas sensitivity (this gas is part of normal plant ripening). Industrial-controlled food storage has advantages that we don’t have at home with the ability to maintain high humidity and low temperatures appropriate for each different food item.
We can only approximate this at home, but modern refrigerators and freezers can do a pretty good job for short-term storage if we use them properly.
Even before you consider the refrigerator, plan your weekly menu based on your budget, nutritional needs and preferences and stick to your plan. Make a shopping list after checking your refrigerator and pantry so that you don’t end up with duplicates in your cart. Don’t shop with the thought, “I’ll get a little extra, just in case”; that unplanned extra bunch of scallions or pepper or zucchini, may spoil before you are able to use it. If your plans change during the week, immediately consider how you will handle perishables that may deteriorate before you can eat them. Hack No. 1 — most fresh foods can easily be frozen in freezer-grade plastic bags or storage containers and used in soups, casseroles, smoothies or stews later.
Bring home food that is in peak condition — buy locally if you can. If you get home and find moldy or rotting items, remove them all from the packaging, discard the deteriorated produce and place the remaining in clean packaging.
Use your refrigerator to your best advantage. Keep your refrigerator clean — this will limit bacteria and mold by physically removing the microorganisms and eliminating liquids/spills that could give microbes a place to grow. Don’t overfill your fruit and vegetable keeper compartments — allowing air to circulate will help prevent moisture from accumulating on produce surfaces. It will also help you see what you have so that food is not forgotten. Produce that does not fit in the compartments should be kept in containers or bags to prevent produce from drying out. Even in a crisper drawer, produce will likely keep best in a clean, ventilated (put some holes in it) plastic bag.
Most produce should not be washed before refrigeration, but one “hack” for leaf lettuce is to gently rinse and dry the leaves. Then, wrap them loosely with a paper towel and put them in a plastic bag with holes or a salad spinner in a cold spot in the refrigerator.
Place produce and other perishables in a temperature zone most appropriate for the specific item.
Some newer refrigerators have multiple zones, but recommended temperatures for home refrigerators will keep most fruits and vegetables between 32°F and 41°F. Keep cabbage, carrots, parsnips, apples and lettuce in the coldest area. Keep citrus fruits, ripened avocados and herbs at higher temperatures.
When deciding where and how to put different fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator, keep ethylene-releasing produce on a different shelf from ethylene-sensitive. Ethylene may cause bitterness, browning/yellowing/rusting, wilting, mushy spots, and even toughness or woodiness. Some ethylene-releasers are apples, bananas, kiwi, peaches, mangoes and tomatoes. Some ethylene-sensitive produce includes carrots, green beans, cabbage-family vegetables, celery, lettuce, cucumbers, spinach, watermelon and peppers. One hack suggested by a Penn State researcher is to put ethylene-sensitive produce in paper bags, roll the top shut and place them in your vegetable crisper.
Freezing extra citrus fruit is another not-so-genius hack to consider. You can freeze citrus whole and use it for juicing later, cut it into slices that can be frozen and used in a fruit salad, or freeze them as an “ice cube” to make flavored water. Citrus peel can also be frozen. Before freezing, wash the fruit. Then freeze whatever portion you like in airtight freezer bags or plastic freezer containers.
Alaska gardeners can use the following tips for best storage of potatoes, carrots and cabbage.
• Alaska gardeners with cabbage to store should wrap them in paper, plastic, or a combination of these and keep them in a cold (32 — 40) and humid spot with some ventilation. They may keep for up to four or five months if wrapped properly. If you don’t have enough refrigeration space, consider making sauerkraut.
• Potatoes like warmer but still cool, dark, high-humidity storage between 33° and 50°F° depending upon their intended use. Higher temperatures are good for potatoes that will be fried; 40° to 45°F if they will be baked or boiled. Storage can be in a root cellar, garage or basement in a breathable burlap bag or box. Temperatures between 33° to 40° will help prevent sprouting and keep the potatoes through the winter. Store potatoes away from onions, which release ethylene gas.
• A large volume of carrots will keep well in cold temperatures (32°F). Humidity should be maintained at 90 to 95 percent, but avoid condensation on the carrot surface. Layering carrots in damp (not wet) sand will help carrots retain firmness.
Leslie Shallcross is a registered dietitian and the Tanana District health, home and family development agent for Cooperative Extension Service, a part of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, working in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She can be reached at 907-474-2426 or lashallcross@alaska.edu.
