Shifting Seasons: How to Store Your Summer Produce

With the first 100 degree day of the summer already under our belt and the first tomatoes slated for CSA this week, it’s safe to say that we have entered our Texas Summer. That means early mornings and sweltering afternoons for the next few months, but it also means delicious summer produce. Tomatoes, Peppers, Cucumbers, Zucchini, Eggplant, Okra, Long Beans, Melons–it won’t be long until we can enjoy them all!

And to make sure we fully enjoy them, it’s important to understand the difference in storing summer vegetables versus most of the local produce you enjoy for the other half of the year. You may know that tomatoes are best stored at room temperature until ripe and juicy (they get mealy in the fridge), but did you know that your eggplant and okra may also prefer the countertop? What about your cucumbers and zucchini? Let’s take a closer look and get into the nitty gritty of summer crop storage. 

What it All Boils Down to: Relative Humidity

There’s a few reasons why we package our CSA veggies in a plastic bag, and the main one is to keep the produce inside as fresh as possible. We’re sure you know that leaving anything with leafy greens out on the countertop for an extended period of time will leave it sad and limp. Even when storing produce in the fridge, it’s best to pop it in a plastic bag or container. That’s because the relative humidity in a plastic bag is much higher than an open room or a refrigerator. Higher relative humidity means more moisture to keep vegetables crisp and fresh. As we enter into the era of summer produce, we keep relative humidity in mind, but it’s not the only factor to consider. 

TIP 1: Check Your Fridge Temp

The FDA recommends that your refrigerator temperature is at or below 40°. Anything above this temp, and bacteria will grow too quickly, your food will spoil. However, anything in the 32°-35° range is definitely too cold for summer vegetable storage. Check your fridge temp (consider buying an external thermometer), and aim to keep your temp between 35°-39° when storing summer produce. 

Most refrigerators have “cold spots” - usually located in the back or near the freezer compartment. Avoid these cold zones when storing summer produce. Usually, your crisper drawer remains the warmest zone when the drawer is closed properly.

But, the best practice for most summer veg is avoiding the fridge entirely. Tomatoes, Basil, Okra, Eggplant, Cucumbers, Zucchini, and Long Beans all prefer 45-55 degrees. Unless you have a wine fridge or access to a walk-in cooler, most folks don’t have access to a storage space in that temperature range, so other tips and techniques for the home cook come in handy. 

TIP 2: Make Quick Food

A common theme with summertime produce is that it must be eaten quickly once arriving in your home. The shelf life and storage ability of a tomato just isn’t the same as that of a hearty root crop, like a turnip. It’s simply the nature of the thing. Learn to lean into quick, cold food during the summer. Rely on tortillas and bread to be the vessel for sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, maybe with some good cheese added in. Pasta salad, roasted veggies and rice or a summer charcuterie board are all good, quick ideas. A simple tray of roasted okra that can come together in 10 minutes is better than no okra at all.

TIP 3: Be Gentle

Summer produce is prone to knicks and scrapes, and any tear in its protective skin will invite microbial growth resulting in quicker decay. Avoid unnecessary bruises, and your produce will last longer. Also: wait to wash your vegetables until you’re ready to use them.

Veggie-Specific Tips:

TOMATOES

Skip the fridge, store on the counter, and eat when ripe. When tomatoes are stored in a fridge, the chemical makeup changes. Enzymatic activity slows, leading to a decrease in flavor intensity and softening of texture, resulting in that mealy mush you may have unfortunately encountered. 

Exception to the rule: If you only use half a tomato, and are storing a cut tomato, go for the fridge. If you plan on cooking the leftover tomato or any fridge tomatoes, the mealy texture won’t be noticeable. 

POTATOES

The potatoes you recently received in your shares are what we call “new potatoes.” They haven’t had time to cure in or out of the ground, so their skin is more tender for a week or two. Potatoes will keep the longest in a bag in the crisper drawer of your fridge. If you are tight on space, they will keep a couple weeks in a dark cabinet at room temperature. The most important thing potatoes need is darkness! If they are exposed to light for too long then they can become green and actually become mildly toxic. Cut off the green parts on any potato you intend to eat, and always store your potatoes away from light. 

ONIONS

We started the season with Spring Onions, still fresh with their greens, which should be stored in a plastic bag in the fridge and used within a couple weeks. Similar to the potatoes, we will soon have short-term storage onions that can be stored in a cool, dark place, but only for up to 3-months (see our recent blog about our onion varieties and short-day vs. long-day types). 

EGGPLANT & OKRA

You may have noticed small black dots on both your eggplant and okra after storing them in the fridge. This doesn’t mean your produce has gone bad or moldy–it’s just cosmetic, but it’s due to cold temperatures. Eggplant and okra are best stored at around 50-55 degrees. So, you can either leave them at room temperature for a few days before they start deteriorating, or store them in the fridge for a few days to avoid the cosmetic damage, or just accept the black dots if you can’t eat your veggies quick enough. You can also fall back on chopping up and freezing any summer veggies you don’t have time to eat right away. 

CUCUMBERS & ZUCCHINI

These cucurbits are also susceptible to chilling injury and black dots from the fridge, but leaving them on the counter can lead to limpness. Nobody wants a limp cucumber. Cucumbers especially are best to store in a plastic bag in the fridge to stay crisp, and you can do the same with zucchini for a few days until the dots show up. The zucchini will do alright on the counter for a few days if you plan on using it quickly. 

BASIL

Whatever you do, don’t put basil in the fridge. You could put it in a glass of water on the counter, but that can lead to sliminess Our best method is storing in a plastic bag on the counter, to keep both the relative humidity and temperature at a better spot for the basil. Of course, you can also dry your basil to use later by air drying or oven drying. 

There are so many more tips and tricks to talk about when it comes to summer crop storage. You can check out a previous blog with more info on summer produce storage HERE, our Definitive Guide to Storing Vegetables HERE, or download this illustrated guide HERE. We can’t wait to share and enjoy the bounty of summer goodies with you!