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  • From: jay sleichter <jaysleichter AT yahoo.com>
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Holding produce for Market
  • Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 07:20:50 -0700 (PDT)

Hello,

I have a strange question that I am in the need of some help.  All summer long, I pick my produce, store in cool basement and fridges or I pick just hours before the market.  However, I am starting school next week and I will be unable to go home and load prior to the market.  I am going to have to load my stuff at 6:30 in the morning and get to school park in the the heaviest shaded area, teach all day, leave at 3:00 and get to my market by 3:45 and sell by 4:00.

I don't have tons of stuff like I did this summer, but I can still make a little money and sell what produce I have and all the jellies that I make.

My question is this what will be the best way to store this stuff in my truck during the day.

Yesterday was my first time trying this.  I was in a hometown for meetings and we had an hour lunch break, so I ran home and loaded up for the market. Here is what I did and the results.

Tomatoes I put in my tubs with lids, stacked in truck and covered with heavy blanket.  Result: No problem, everything was still cool and looked great.

Cucumbers:  Put in plastic bags, Took out of fridge, put in big coolers with frozen two liter bottles.
Result: Everything was fine, except for the cucumbers that touched the bottle, they froze and had a bad spot.  I put a small towel down first, but the bottles moved, I can fix that.

Beans: They were picked Tuesday night, bagged up in one pound bags and put in fridge.  Out of the fridge and into coolers, same as the cucumbers. 
Result: Some rust spots and they didn't look good.  As the market was going, I was dumping out bags and going through them to get out any beans with rust spots.  Should I keep them all together in one big bag or in one pound bags?  I thought they were all dry before I put them in the fridge, but I guess I was wrong.  Was my problems because of the individual bags, wet beans or something else?  I ended up not selling them all and brought them home.  I was disappointed.  But, I did go through them all and we processed them.  There weren't as many bad ones as it looked like before.

Peppers: Bagged, in the fridge and put into coolers.
Result: They were fine.

Okra: Bagged, in the fridge and put into coolers
Result: They were fine.

Now for things I am going to have later this fall.

Beets, Radishes, Lettuce, Spinach, Broccoli, Cauliflower

I will pull and wash off the beets and radishes on Tuesday night. I will bundle and sit in tubs with some cold water in the bottom.  Will this work if I change the water the next morning before I load them up?  This is usually what I do when I am selling the same day I pick, it is usually only 2-3 hours, not 20-24 hours.

Lettuce and spinach: 

I plan on picking the night before, wash and dry, then bag.  I am also planning on putting into pound or 1/2 pound bags.  Will this work?  or will I have problems?  Once again, I usually only pick a few hours before I sell these, not 20-24 hours. What will be the best way to store these all day long?

Broccoli and Cauliflower I am not worried about. These guys are pretty tough and I am not sure how much I will have.

Any suggestions on the best way to do this?

Thanks,

Jay



  • [Market-farming] Holding produce for Market, jay sleichter, 08/13/2009

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