Topic: How do they do that......... do I really want to know?

[ceres]

Just had a clear out of the fridge as I can't stuff another thing in there for the strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, salad stuff etc.  Lurking at the back I found an unopened pack of two Tesco Little Gem lettuces, dated display until 9 April, best before 11 April.  They're still pretty much as fresh as the day I bought them, only the cut root end is a little brown.  They've been binned anyway because my home-grown is far superior(!) but how does lettuce keep for 6 weeks?

[caroline7758]

I dread to think!

[tonybloke]

the bleach they rinse them in is stronger than your local swimming pool!! :o

[barkingdog]

I also think that there is a kind of gas in the bag which also keeps it 'fresh'  :P

I think I'll stick to my homegrown  ;)

bd

[tonybloke]

'packed in a protective atmosphere' usually means Nitrogen Gas. (no Oxygen, no Rot)

[Baccy Man]

The subject has come up before here:
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,39706.0.html

[ceres]

Thanks Baccy Man and all, now I know I really didn't want to know!

[Kea]

Yes I gave some strawberries to a friend yesterday and she gave me that 'she's lost her mind' look when I explained that they wouldn't last as long as the supermarket ones and that she should eat them quick. I think most people just don't realise what gets done to fruit and veg sold in the supermarket. I also pointed out that she would need to check through for blemishes such as peck marks! Got another strange look for that.

[Isleworth]

Just had a clear out of the fridge as I can't stuff another thing in there for the strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, salad stuff etc.  Lurking at the back I found an unopened pack of two Tesco Little Gem lettuces, dated display until 9 April, best before 11 April.  They're still pretty much as fresh as the day I bought them, only the cut root end is a little brown.  They've been binned anyway because my home-grown is far superior(!) but how does lettuce keep for 6 weeks?

When you say binned... I do hope you mean the compost bin LOL  ;D

[allaboutliverpool]

I grow what I think is lovely produce and my wife insists it has to look as if it has come from Tesco, scrubbed and trimmed and packed in plastic bags or containers.

She still turns it over on her plate, cooked or raw and manages to find the smallest creatures imaginable despite thorough washing and inspection which leads one to ask that apart from hydrogen and bleach, how many insecticides are in Tesco's finest?

If she finds so much as a dead greenfly you would think that I was trying to poison her. I respond by eating them for her, even caterpillars but she is not impressed.

http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments1_homepage.html

[debster]

whats wrong with a bit of healthy organic protein ie caterpillar or greenfly?

[theothermarg]

thankyou, I have always wondered why fresh produce "went over" so quickly
thought it must be sprayed or something and yes I get put off shareing my produce cuz it doesn,t look so good as shop stuff

OH found a slug in his I told him if it,s not good enough for wildlife ,it,s not good enough for us, was impressed (not)
marg

[Duke Ellington]

When we worked in Libya ~ the fruit and vegetables were the most peculiar shapes ~the oranges weren't as orange as the ones you buy in the supermarkets here~the cucumbers looked weird~and most things had blemishes! It was the most flavoursome fruit and vegetables I have ever eaten.
When the season was over for a particular fruit that was it (no trade with other countries) no oranges for another year! but you really greeted the next season when certain fruit and vegetables appeared again. Its ironic that we have fruit of most kinds at anytime of the year together with a rising obesity problem. They say our diets were better 40 years ago and I believe them!!

Duke

[Amazin]

I'd become resigned to the offspring eyeing up his plate as he gingerly turned over each home grown cabbage leaf to check for wildlife. If he suspected any item wasn't shop bought he would push it around his plate until the end of the meal before making his excuses -  "too full to eat another mouthful, honest".

Then the miracle happened. Earlier this year I bought him a couple of strawberry plants in pots. Ye Gods, do I know about these plants! Daily progress updates, including the size and weight of each proudly announced fruit (no names yet, but give him time ::)), the heartbreak of the mysterious disappearance of the first two to some unknown thieving swine, the raptures of the first (unwashed, unbagged) harvest and now, the swaggering 'my strawbs are bigger/ better/ more plentiful than yours'.

I think his squeamish days are over, I really do.

 ;D

[antipodes]

Yes people in France are a bit more forgiving because they often get veg from mother or granny that grows her own and know how much more flavour it has!  I find the knobbliest, bizarrest tomatoes are usually the best  ;)
Actually I don't quite agree about long lasting - my home grown often lasts much longer than the shop bought stuff because it has not been washed and sorted and packaged and driven all over the continent for days. Courgettes and lettuce last for ages in the fridge, and so do the strawberries.

Bugs? Here folk wash salad type things with some vinegar in the water, which seems to flush out any slugs or aphids etc.

[Kea]

My son yesterday in his 6th form common room someone produced some tesco strawberry's for lunch, and offered some around. The boy who works after school at Waitrose said these don't have any flavour and they're half the size of the waitrose one's. My son say's no the Waitrose ones are rubbish you should see and taste the ones from our allotment! Note the 'our' allotment though!

In NZ (I'm talking 20 years ago but i have been back and it still seems to be true) all of the fruit a vege except some exotic fruits e.g. banana's, oranges (and even most of these came from places such as Fiji and Rarotonga which were NZ protectorates) were seasonal and grown in NZ. I try to stick with the seasonality if I can, though I do buy NZ Cox apples because it's virtually the only apple I really like having said that the NZ Cox apples were not very good this year.

[tonybloke]

here's a brief list of post-harvest treatments.[attachment=1]

[jonny211]

I never realised 'packaged in a protective atmosphere' meant that  >:(

I'm even more against shop bought stuff now, time to take on another plot I think.