[Sharonx]

Hi,
I dug some carrots up Sunday for out dinner & had a few too many so put them unwashed in the fridge, stalks still attatched. Yesterday went to use them and they has gone soft and bendy, which has happened beefore. Why does this happen when I can buy carrots from the supermarket & they stay firm for ages. I have even noticed the supermarket carrots stay firmer than the farm shop brought ones. Why is this? What do they do to them?

[paintedlady]

stalks still attatched.

+ leaves?  Cut them off immediately when you harvest    If storage is only for a few days in the fridge, try putting the carrots in a bag to help reduce water loss.

[Guzzik]

Hi,
I dug some carrots up Sunday for out dinner & had a few too many so put them unwashed in the fridge, stalks still attatched. Yesterday went to use them and they has gone soft and bendy, which has happened beefore. Why does this happen when I can buy carrots from the supermarket & they stay firm for ages. I have even noticed the supermarket carrots stay firmer than the farm shop brought ones. Why is this? What do they do to them?

At great risk of a cyber slapping.....................Shops "treat" fruit/veg so that it lasts longer, they used to irradiate them as a preservative..............A bit like putting red dye in meat so that it looks more appetizing.  Twenty eight day hung meat does NOT look all bright red:). Or, letting the smell of baking bread waft through the store even when the store does not bake it's own bread:)  Also, stores keep veg at much lower temperature than we do at home.

Did you know that apples, oranges, lemons and limes are coated in a wax to make them shiney and make them look better?

[cob nut]

Remove the leaves & stalks, wrap in newspaper & place in the salad draw of the fridge & they should stay firm & fresh for a week.  I also find that beans (runners, french & dwarf) & rhubarb also stay firmer & fresher longer by wrapping in newspaper.

[solway cropper]

One of the great advantages of growing your own is that you can pick just what you need at any one time. That way you don't have to put stuff in the fridge 

[sunshineband]

If you put carrots bought from a supermarket in the fridge with their leaves till attched they too go bendy in a few days. They dry out by losing water through their leaves -- they are alive still of course 

[Salmo]

Commercial carrot packers wash the carrots in chilled water, blown dry with cold air and then store them at low temperatures. The chilled water wash apparently slows down bacteria that cause rots as seen in bags of forgotten supermarket carrots.

Wash in cold water, dry, place in a polythene bag and put in the bottom of the fridge.

[Paul Plots]

Remove the leaves & stalks, wrap in newspaper & place in the salad draw of the fridge & they should stay firm & fresh for a week.  I also find that beans (runners, french & dwarf) & rhubarb also stay firmer & fresher longer by wrapping in newspaper.

Fridge = fine as is anywhere cool but I'm not sure the waft of news print would be my favourite aroma and my carrots pong beautifully 

[Fisherman]

A lot of other vegetables deteriorate similarly i.e. radish, cucumber, courgettes, summer cabbage, beans etc. Best to just pull or cut enough for what you intend to eat. Makes you wonder though what the commercial suppliers do to maintain the freshness of the various vegetables! Whenever I can I stick to seasonal vegetables picked fresh from the garden.

[Jonajo]

yes i tend to only pick what I need at a time too although at times I have gotten a bit carried away!

But carrots freeze beautifully and retain all of their original wonderful flavour afterwards so if you do pull up too many, freeze then and cook from frozen later.

[barbarella]

As Fisherman says, cucumbers also go floppy very quickly in the fridge.  I copy the supermarkets and wrap them in clingfilm as soon as they harvested and they then last as long as shop bought ones. 

[cob nut]

Remove the leaves & stalks, wrap in newspaper & place in the salad draw of the fridge & they should stay firm & fresh for a week.  I also find that beans (runners, french & dwarf) & rhubarb also stay firmer & fresher longer by wrapping in newspaper.

Fridge = fine as is anywhere cool but I'm not sure the waft of news print would be my favourite aroma and my carrots pong beautifully 

Never noticed any smell from the newsprint - but I guess it's each to their own, this works for me. 

[hamstergbert]

astonished nobody has mentioned one of the key reasons that supermarket produce seems to last better than fresh - their growers are 'encouraged' to grow varieties for which the key selection criterion is not flavour but keeping quality to survive time to supermarket and teh subsequent in-store shelf-dwelling time.

[Paul Plots]

yes i tend to only pick what I need at a time too although at times I have gotten a bit carried away!

But carrots freeze beautifully and retain all of their original wonderful flavour afterwards so if you do pull up too many, freeze then and cook from frozen later.

I leave them in the ground...... they last right through to early Spring!
Dig when needed.

Good old January King!