Debbie Myer's Green Bags really WORK!!!

I am here to tell you, it is a sound $10 investment. I was not convinced at first but today I took out some Romaine I had tucked into a greenbag...I don't even want to think about how long ago (2 weeks? 3?)...and it was still fresh and crispy! I highly recommend them :) Apparently they even work for fresh flowers! You can either put the arrangement in a green bag or place a bag over the vase at night and remove it in the mornings. I even saw at Wegman's a week or two ago that she now has bread bags as well! And, upon checking the link above: green boxes, cheese bags, and coldcuts bags! I can't attest to any of these other products but will probably try the bread bags at some point in the near future (the once-I-have-a-job future).
The bags are reusable so I just labeled them with what produce is inside (wouldn't want to put tomatoes into a bag that use to hold onions!) and then if you want to keep track, you can just tick off how many times it's been used each time you reuse it.
So, first I have to show you the carrots pre-washing because while I had them in my cart at Wegman's I was browsing the pasta isle and this guy walked by, talking to his wife about what they still had to find before they could leave and he goes "and then we have to get some of those cool carrots because I keep seeing them in other people's carts and I want to have them in our cart" hahahahaha. When we have our own house we will grow our own "cool carrots" in our gigantic veggie garden :)

So, I decided to go ahead and prewash most of the produce before putting it in the bags - more convenient later :)

 

and, of course, Cadence was my super helper ;) (in addition to the hedgehog veggie brush :P )

She was sitting IN the sink by the time I was done with the grapes...she had to be close enough to reach in and try them one or ten times ;)

So - does anyone know if taking the grapes off of the vine makes them spoil faster? I wasn't sure about this but I figured if I was already washing them and picking out the bad ones, I might as well go all the way and pull them all now rather than later...hopefully the green bag will help me out here if this was the wrong choice ;)

VOILA!

I just put the onions and potatoes straight in, keeping them in their original bags since they were breathable and I'll have to prep them directly before use anyway.

Even our back-up banana bunch got a bag! (We go through a lot of bananas around here - thank God they're cheap! - we usually get 2 to 3 bunches at a time).

Also, as I was washing up the grapes, I decided it was time to look up a recipe for a homemade fruit & veggie wash.

Here's what I got:

DIY Veggie Wash

1 tbs organic lemon juice

10 drops grapefruit seed extract

2 tbs baking soda

1 cup filtered water

3/4 cup white vinegar

1. Mix well in a sprayer bottle.

2. Shake before use.

3. Spray produce (except mushrooms, because they absorb and retain water) and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

4. Rinse well

I haven't tried it yet bc I don't have grapefruit seed extract but it seems easy enough. As long as it has lemon juice and vinegar, I'd go with it!

I also read "Mix 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar, and 1 cup cold tap water in a spray bottle, shake well, and apply to your produce. Rinse with tap water before cooking or serving." and "in a clean sink or bowl put 4 Tablesp' of salt, fill bowl with cold water & when salt has dissolved add juice of half of a large lemon [ or all of 1 smaller size] soak fruit or vegs for 20 min' then rinse REALLY well, berries need only 10 min' soak" if you'd like some other options :)

Happy Fruiting!