Tips from March Insert - storage and ripening pears

Storage Options

Storing and ripening produce is the key to enjoying them. There are three basic storage options for produce:

Room temp

• Fruit which needs to be ripened, ideally in a paper bag, and then refrigerated (examples listed below)
• Well ventilated area: Onion, Garlic, Potato
• If fridge is set on the cold side: peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, winter squash or other sensitive produce like herbs (which can be kept in water like a cut flower)

Refrigerated

High humidity

(In crisper drawers + closed vent =“veggie” setting)

• Things that wilt: greens, herbs, legumes
• Produce that does not ripen on counter: strawberries, cucumbers, squash, citrus, nightshades

Low humidity
(In crisper drawers + open vent = “fruit” setting)

• Counter ripened fruits: avocados, banana, pear, mango, stone fruits, tomato
• Other fruits that produce ethylene: apples, avocados, cantaloupes, honeydew, kiwi

Ripening Pears

Similar to the avocado tips last month, it is best to buy unripe pears and ripen them yourself. They are just hard to buy in a grocery where so many people handle the fruit and “test” the pears prematurely. Those pears wind up with way more damaged spots due to poor handling.

Store your pears in a paper bag on the counter for a few days. You can check for ripeness on the neck of the fruit (not base). Once it gives a bit, then put them in the fridge in the low humidity drawer to slow ripening until you want to eat them.

Early Produce Member,

Thanks again for helping us build an amazing produce offering for our community. Your feedback and support is helping us to create a unique produce box and is so appreciated!

If you haven’t, please read the Early Access Blog.

We will update the post for each week’s delivery with recipes and additional information even after the delivery. Some of these items I haven’t yet posted recipes for and I am going to use our produce delivery to make up our planned recipe and take photos.

Please continue to fill out the survey included in the blog each week and provide feedback on the overall program, this delivery and your ideas.

White Chocolate

So sorry that we were unable to get the planned Pacha white chocolate. I can’t believe they sold out the week before we ordered for you! We tried to get another organic option but it just wasn’t possible. It is super hard to find organic chocolate at all and white chocolate chips are even less common. If you want to order these in April, feel free to add them to your cart.

Future expansion of the Early Access program

We are looking to expand the offering to you and of course get your feedback along the way. Look for the following changes:

• Full Ordering Option – order any TC Farm item along with any of your produce deliveries
• Weekly Delivery – We hope to start weekly produce delivery sometime in April
• Dairy Options – We plan to add a limited selection of Organic Valley products to help us figure out the logistics of including liquid milk and other diary items
• Customize – We don’t expect any major customization options but we’d like to offer different sizes to match your household soon. Perhaps extra fruit add-on options because several people have asked for staple items like fair-trade bananas and other items we probably will not include in the base package.

What other ideas do you have we should be working on?

Next Delivery is March 24^th or 25^th

^-Jack