Farmers markets are plentiful in the Catskills and Northeast Pennsylvania regions, especially during the summer months. But keeping farm fresh produce crisp through the warmer weather and wind can be challenging for some.
Radio Catskill’s Kimberly Izar spoke with Erica Madden, co-owner of Good Find Farm, about her best tips for keeping farm fresh produce last a little bit longer and stay crisp through the summer heat. Founded in 2018, Good Find Farm is a certified organic vegetable farm in Damascus, Pennsylvania.
Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Kimberly: Tell me about some of the greens that you have this summer.
Erica: The greens are more spring and fall, but there are still some greens on the farm. We have swiss chard. We’re about to start having our sprouting broccolis. We definitely have lettuce. We kind of just finished our cooler weather greens, like spinach. People can grow arugula throughout the year, but I find it really difficult, so kinda phasing that out ‘til the fall.
What else is really good along with the greens is the fresh herbs: cilantro, dill, parsley, mint – all of those fresh herbs is really coming in right now.
Kimberly: As someone who grows the food and probably eats lots of what you grow, what tips do you have for people who want to make their farm fresh produce last longer?
Erica: First off, I’ll say get out to the farmers markets early because that sun and the wind is the worst enemy of the produce. For the vegetable farmers, going out to the markets and standing around in the sun and wind, having your vegetables wilt is so sad. Get out to the farmers markets early and get those greens while they’re still fresh.
If you do end up with a wilty bunch of parsley, you can just get some really cold ice water or really cold water and dunk it in there and let it sit for, like 20 minutes. You don’t want to sit too long, but yeah, let it sit 20 minutes or so, and let it perk back up. Then I’ll usually shake out all that water.
Kimberly: What about refrigerator storage handling?
Erica: When you put your vegetables in the refrigerator, the humidity of a refrigerator is like 50 percent when it’s operating well, so it’s constantly wicking moisture away.
Use those crisper drawers on the bottom shelves. That’s a really great place because the relative humidity in those drawers is a little bit higher.
Another thing I recommend is to use a damp paper towel or kitchen towel and wrap your produce in there, and then you want to bring it down to temperature pretty quickly.
You can also use airtight containers. If you’ve dried your stuff pretty well, you can put it in an airtight container and put it in your fridge. That keeps the humidity in there, too.
Kimberly: How long can people expect farm fresh produce to last?
Erica: I’d say most things, especially if you get it at a farmers market, you’re guaranteed a week as long as it’s not already wilted. It could be more.
You could have things in your fridge for a month, and it might be okay as long as it was properly stored. When you’re buying from the farmer’s market, that stuff has been harvested most likely within that week or the day or two days before.
You can find Good Find Farm at their farm stand at 25 Stone House Road, Damascus, PA on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Roscoe Farmers Market on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and at the Tucker Square Greenmarket in New York City on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Image: Erica Madden (right) and a Good Find Farm team member at Good Find Farm in Damascus, Pennsylvania (Photo Credit: Kimberly Izar)