Here’s part of a weekly CSA share. There are about 25 members this year. A third pick up here, the rest on Saturday mornings at the farmers’ market 15 miles away. It’s all local! In the pic, this week’s washed: carrots, beets (red, golden and striped), mesclun (the bag’s in the top left corner), green onions, baby beets for cooking greens. These go in with cucumbers, string beans, baby potatoes, zucchini and other summer squash, garlic. Still waiting on early tomatoes, but the main season harvest is picking up! (I’m still thinking over the what-to-wash question. Washed veggies look nicer and are less messy when you get ’em home, but there are various arguments for not washing, like longer storage and even better nutrient retention. Not to mention, saving lots of post-harvest time. I do know it’s a lot more work)
It looks like you really clean them. Have you found people to care if they are quickly rinsed? Seems to me your right , being that it takes so long doing something that people do when they get it home anyway. All though at market it might be better? Nice Blog by the way..
take care,
jeff
Yeah, the veggies in the pic do look pretty clean when you think about it! It’s not like I polish ’em or anything, though. :) The rinse method is quick, low-tech, down-and-dirty so to speak (unfortunately, I don’t have a pic). The veggies are basically set in a low, wide pile across a mesh table (wire mesh, like chickenwire, in a frame, so water runs through), all facing the same direction (not a jumble), and blasted for a few seconds with the jet setting on one of those multi-nozzle garden watering guns. That gets rid of the all the big, loose dirt, and the soil stuck around the roots. For dense roots like green onions, a few more seconds of surgical blasting is required. Then, I gather up big double-handed bunches and dunk them in a laundry sink, up and down with some force three-four times. That’s it. It’s still lots of work over a full harvest, but if you don’t wait around for the dirt to dry and set, wash soon after digging up, it’s not hard. My method will…evolve this year, I imagine!
Unwashed veggies can get real messy if they get wet. Even condensation in a plastic shopping bag starts the mud running, and a little wet soil on plastic goes a long way… Some people don’t like this. I’m personally not into catering to cosmetics, but presentation is a consideration along with all the many other things to consider (like storage life). If it’s raining or wet in the field during harvest, I have to wash (even mesclun, which I normally don’t wash, has to be rinsed if mud’s splashed up). I guess it’s a flexibility thing, maybe I’ll end up washing some things only on days when it’s necessary…
Glad you like the blog. Hope I make time to keep up a pic a day this season, it’s already starting to get busy… I’ll check out yours…