Mice in Greenhouse - How to Clean tomatoes

[cambourne7]

Hi All,

Just been out to harvest tomatoes and found mice have got in and had themselves a feast, i am going to remove the tomatoes that look undamaged but i cant guarantee that there not untouched !

What can i do to wash the tomatoes to make sure there safe to eat?

Help appreciated.

Cam

[cambourne7]

[saddad]

Not a problem I have had in the greenhouse... the outdoor ones do get nibbled so I just boil them ( the undamaged ones) down into "tomato slop" to freeze and use in cooking during they year. Sorry not to be of more help.
Does anybody know if washing them down individually with say wet paper towel and drying separately with another would be sufficient? I'm sure mice come into bodily contact with lots of my allotment produce and I had never really given it much thought.....

[ancellsfarmer]

SO, if google is your friend, see:
https://www.bunzlcatering.co.uk/best-way-wash-fresh-produce
For mice, I recommend the little nipper, the last thing it does is nips!

[saddad]

Very keen on them myself!

[Vinlander]

Whenever you think of putting chlorine on food or even skin (swimming) I always think of Hydrogen Peroxide as an alternative bleach/disinfectant.

This link refers to adding acetic acid but it is a large-scale approach https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/produce-wash-water-sanitizers-chlorine-paa

It seems likely that a similar concentration would work just as well without acid. The benefits are clear.

Permanganate also offers a means of avoiding chlorine - from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5812110/

"The current work highlights the bacterial diversity and load on raw coriander leaves. The potassium permanganate solution at 0.1% concentration for minimum 10 min contact time proved to be an efficient and easy method to significantly reduce the bacterial load. This can be used as an alternative to or in combination with plain water washing. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first ever study demonstrating the efficacy of potassium permanganate solution as a cleanser for cilantro."

Cheers.

PS. I'd be more worried about rats - worried enough to use H₂O₂ or permanganate on anything too precious to dump.

[Obelixx]

I think a good rinse with clean water would be adequate.   Bleach, peroxide and all the rest are bit OTT for me.

[ancellsfarmer]

Very keen on them myself!

When you wrote this, I was unaware of anything living in my shed. There is no obvious food source within.No physical indication of occupation at all. That evening I found a 'resting' little nipper, It was armed with a solitary peanut in shell. Since then, 6 mice do no longer reside there. Your enthusiasm has been rewarding.