A guide to choosing and storing farmers market produce

This weekend is Tomato Day, which usually marks the height of the farmers market season. Farmers have tomatoes and peaches and sweet corn for sale, potatoes and onions are still available, and melons are just starting to show up. And that is just some of the produce you can find.

To help make your shopping for fresh produce easier, we’ve put together some tips for selecting what’s in season and for storing it when you get home. You can pick up more tips at Tomato Day, which is 7 a.m. to noon Saturday, July 23, at the Extension Center at 21st and Ridge Road.

Because this will be the last Tomato Day that the Extension plans to have, extension agent Denise Dias will give a cooking demo with the best of Tomato Day recipes, giving out samples as well as the recipes. The master gardeners also will have recipe cards for sale with winning salsa recipes from past Tomato Days.

Tomatoes

Selecting: Look for tomatoes that are somewhat firm but that yield to gentle pressure and are free of bruises, cracks and other markings.

Storing: Don’t refrigerate tomatoes, but leave them at room temperature. Tomatoes that are not fully colored can be left to ripen on the counter out of sunlight or in a paper bag; be sure to check the bag daily. For health purposes, deep red tomatoes are healthier than those of other colors. Generally, the smaller the tomato the higher its lycopene and sugar content. Cooking tomatoes concentrates their flavor and makes their nutrients easier to absorb.

Peaches

Selecting: Look for fruit with a yellow not green background color. Those that have a green area around the stem end should eventually ripen, but it will take longer. Peaches should have a slight give when pressed gently.

Storing: Ripen peaches on the counter, or in a paper sack for faster ripening, and keep checking on them, because they won’t all ripen at the same rate. After that you can put them in the refrigerator to keep a bit longer if you’re not eating them right away.

Summer squash

Selecting: Look for smooth squash that are firm and without discoloration; smaller ones tend to be more flavorful and have fewer seeds.

Storing: Keep yellow squash and zucchini in a produce bag in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.

Sweet corn

Selecting: Peel the husk slightly and check the top row of kernels for plumpness and density. Pierce a kernel with your fingernail; if it’s milky, the corn is good.

Storing: Eat fresh corn as soon as possible; if you can’t eat it the same day, store it in the refrigerator in the husk and eat within two days for best flavor.

Cucumbers

Selecting: Look for plump, firm cucumbers that have a deep green color; smaller ones usually have fewer seeds. Larger ones can be bitter.

Storing: You can keep them on the counter if eating soon; otherwise put them at the front of a crisper drawer because they don’t like it too cold.

Onions

Selecting: Choose firm onions with skin intact and tight, and no bruises, sprouting or smell.

Storing: Place in a cool, dark place and give them lots of air circulation, never keeping them in a plastic bag. They can be placed in an open paper bag or net bag.

Eggplant

Selecting: Size and color vary according to variety, but look for firm, glossy skin and a heavy weight. Pass on eggplants with wrinkled skin, soft spots or brown patches.

Storing: Refrigerate in a paper bag in the crisper.

Melons

Selecting: The surface of a watermelon develops a roughness near the base and a yellow “ground spot” – where the melon touched the ground – when ripe. Some people thump a watermelon, looking for a hollow sound. This can indicate ripeness, but won’t differentiate from overripeness.

The stem end of a cantaloupe should be fragrant, and there should be a clean, dish-shaped scar there.

Honeydews should change to a cream or yellowish not green color when ripe, though this varies by variety. If the seeds rattle in a honeydew, it’s overripe. Depress the stem end and choose a honeydew melon that has a slight give. Choose a melon that is heavy for its size. Avoid those that are too soft, because they’re overripe.

Storing: Keeping a watermelon on the counter increases its antioxidant value, but refrigerate in plenty of time so that it’s good and cold when you want to eat it. Ripe cantaloupes can be stored in the crisper drawer for a few days, but eat as soon as possible.

Okra

Selecting: Look for small green pods 1 to 3 inches long that do not have little or no black bruising.

Storing: Put in a produce/paper bag in the crisper drawer and use within a week.

Peppers

Selecting: Pick peppers that are firm, glossy and without wrinkles, sunken areas, slashes or black spots. The best ones are heavy for their size.

Storing: Put peppers in a produce bag and place in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator where they’ll keep about a week.

Potatoes

Selecting: Choose potatoes that are firm and not green or sprouting.

Storing: Place new potatoes in the fridge and eat within a week; they don’t keep as long as older potatoes. Older potatoes should not be stored in the refrigerator but in open paper or burlap bags in a cool, dark spot. (Diet tip: Cook potatoes and then refrigerate for at least 24 hours before you eat them to lower their glycemic load.)

Garlic

Selecting: Buy firm, plump cloves whose outer wrapper is intact and tight.

Storing: Garlic will keep longer in the refrigerator, but put it on a shelf, not in the crisper drawer. Outside the refrigerator, for storage of one or two months, put bulbs in netting or an open paper bag or garlic keeper. Keep them out of light and away from the sides of heat-generating appliances.

Lettuce and other greens

Selecting: You want unblemished leaves that are not wilted or browning or yellowing, according to variety.

Storing: Here’s the technique described in “Eating on the Wild Side” (Jo Robinson, 2013, Little, Brown): Spend 10 minutes prepping salad greens for storage and they will last longer and retain healthy benefits longer. As soon as you bring greens home, remove leaves from stems, rinse them, and then soak them in very cold water for 10 minutes. That slows the aging process and locks moisture in for crisper lettuce. Then dry greens with a towel or in a salad spinner. Whatever moisture remains will hasten decay.

Put the greens in a resealable plastic bag, press out as much air as possible without crushing the leaves, seal the bag, then use a needle or pin to poke 10 to 20 evenly spaced holes (10 for a quart size, 20 for larger bags). Put the bag in the crisper drawer. This treatment lets the lettuce breathe while providing humidity.

If you tear up the lettuce before storing, it doubles the antioxidant value, but it also hastens decay, so eat within the next day or two.

Cilantro and parsley

Selecting: Choose bunches whose leaves are not slimy or have brown spots.

Storing: Cut the ends of the stems off and stand the bunch up in a container that has 1 inch of water. Cover loosely with a plastic bag and refrigerate. By changing the water often and removing any browning stems or leaves, it can last 10 days.

Produce with blemishes

Fruits and vegetables with blemishes such as bruises or holes are still edible; just be generous in cutting out those parts before using. Some vendors have a special bin of less-than-perfect produce for discounted prices.

This story was originally published July 21, 2016 at 9:12 PM with the headline "A guide to choosing and storing farmers market produce."