Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Re: Storage for display of produce

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Adriana Gutierrez" <gutierrez-lagatta AT home.com>
  • To: market-farming
  • Subject: Re: Storage for display of produce
  • Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 8:46:5


Cornelius said:
"They wash the leaf in cool water and then soak it in cool clean water to
allow the cells to absorb the most water that they can.
They then gently dry the leaf exterior on a paper towel or such."

I think commercial mesclun processors use similar processes to hydrocool
and wash their greens. Hand drying greens on toweling, especially baby
greens would be very time consuming and would cause tissue damage.

Liz said:
"Harvesting your lettuce should be done 2-3 days ahead of time. For
your lettuce to survive transport & display, it must be thoroughly
chilled."
I disagree, Liz. Research has shown that THE single most important factor
influencing the shelf life of greens is cooling the product down to 32
degrees F within one hour of cutting. I believe that for baby greens this
should be done within 30 minutes. If you cool them properly they should be
saleable the same day. I developed a very simple forced air cooling system
which has worked great for me and the greens are crisp and gorgeous
immediately afterward:

You need a walk-in cooler to do this. For most greens you want it set as
close to 32 degrees as possible. Build or install a work bench-type
structure with a shelf on it. Enclose the back of the shelf with heavy
duty plastic and put a clear plastic curtain across the front. Leave the
ends open. On one end install a square box fan ($12 at Walmart) blowwing
away from the bench so that air is sucked through the tunnel. Put your
greens in a laundry basket (the cheapest Rubbermaids are great). If it
makes you feel better, lightly mist the top of the basket. Put the basket
on the shelf and drop the front curtain. Turn on the fan. The cold air
is rapidly sucked through the greens, cooling them down in minutes. Then
you can pack them and delivery any time after that. Passive cooling is
much slower compared to this.




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page