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  • From: "TxBeeFarmer" <TxBeeFarmer AT HotPop.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Cooling and Storing Produce
  • Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:28:18 -0600

I'd like to share a few problems with all of you and get your feedback please.

Our market is located in the hot, dry part of west Texas. It's held twice a week, like most markets I know of. One of those days, Saturday usually, is VERY busy. The other day, Tuesday, is usually VERY slow. To meet the demand on Saturday, picking must be done every available morning to accumulate enough produce at the desired size ranges. This means everything must be stored for most of the week, even longer if some things don't sell and must be carried over to the next market day.

Problems arise with the quantity of perishable items that need to be stored for a week or longer. At the peak of the season, we average,10 bushels of black-eyed-peas, 5 bushels of yellow squash, 4 bushels of other types of beans, 2 bushels of tomatoes, and 4 bushels of okra each non market day. Cantaloupe averages 3 or 4 tons a week along with many gallons of blackberries. Of course we grow other things, but they aren't that perishable.

Here are some of my thoughts. If I just pile everything into a cooler, it will take a long time to cool down. I can't keep the cooler super cold initially to cool the produce quickly because there'll be produce in there from previous days . The only way I can think of to manage storage is to pre cool the daily harvest in cold water before placing it into a cooler.

This brings up some concerns about everything being wet for a week or more. And, how can I cool that much water every day?

Sure hope some of you have dealt with these issues and have some great suggestions/solutions!

Thanks for the help.
TxBeeFarmer
West Texas Zone 7b




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