A Farmer's Secret: How To Keep Berries Fresh For Weeks
Sep 05, 2018
As the harvest season comes upon us, there are a ton of different delicious berries to be had. Lucky for us, farmers have shared these great, easy tips for how to keep your berries fresh and tasty.
Mother Nature gives us all kinds of treats during this time of the year, but strawberries are one of her finest. When you learn how simple and easy it is to keep your strawberries fresh, you'll never suffer the struggle of biting into a questionable one again.
apost.com
Strawberries are among the hardest fruits to keep fresh after you harvest them.
A lot of this is because of the way that strawberries grow. These berries naturally grow on the ground. They can be accessed easily by slugs and other fruit-loving insects. Because they're lying on top of soil, they also have a higher susceptibility to fungi, bacteria, and diseases that might have taken hold in the dirt.
When we rinse them off, all we're really rinsing away is the dust. The rest gets left behind to cause damage and mayhem to the precious harvest.
We all know the feeling of heartbreak when you pick up a fresh strawberry, and then discover that the berries have become a rotten mess over just one night. The reason this happens is because of those lingering fungi and bacteria that you didn't wash out with your initial rinse.
If you want to avoid your strawberries having premature rot, you'll need to disinfect them as part of your overall cleaning process.
That sounds complicated and strangely medical. But don't worry -- it's a much simpler task than you think. You'll need to get some basic materials, including:
Vinegar, a strainer, clean and filtered water, a large bowl, paper towels, a clean container with added breathing holes, and your delicious strawberry harvest.
Put the strawberries in your large bowl.
The bowl should be big enough to completely submerge the strawberries during the rinse. Mix vinegar and water in a 1:5 ratio. After the berries are ready to be bathed in vinegar, pour the mixture over them. Some berries might float up to the top, but that's fine.
Let the berries soak for at least 3 to 5 minutes.
Vinegar works as a natural form of disinfectant. When your strawberries sit, the rinse penetrates the berries to their core and kills any remaining threats. After they've soaked, strain them and shake off as much excess liquid as you can. Dry them off, because moisture helps decay strawberries.
Have you tried this method? Did it make your strawberries last longer? Let us know in the comments and show this secret to your friends and family!