Fresh berries from your own garden are a summer treat that store-bought fruit can rarely compete with. If a few basic rules are observed during storage, the unfortunately very short shelf life can sometimes be extended by valuable days.

Frozen berries have the longest shelf life

Harvest late and wash at the right time

Most berries can generally only be stored for a very short time after harvest. If you do not want to eat the harvested berries directly or freeze them, then you should not pick the berries all at the same time from the bushes during the harvest season. Of course, berries can also spoil or dry up on the bush, but they are usually better kept fresh on the bush than in the harvest basket on the kitchen counter. At room temperature, berries stacked on top of each other can mold within a day. Strawberries, raspberries or blackberries usually keep for about two to three days in the refrigerator. While firmer berry varieties can be washed before moving to the fridge, delicate raspberries should always be washed just prior to consumption.

Preserve firm berries with a vinegar bath

Berries with a slightly firmer consistency can be made to last longer with a simple trick. This is suitable e.g. for the following berry varieties:

  • Strawberries (must not be overripe or mushy yet)
  • blueberries
  • blackberries
  • currants

Simply place the berries in a bowl filled with one part white vinegar and three parts lukewarm water. The berries are then gently agitated in this non-toxic cleaning solution for a few minutes before they are freed of any vinegar smell in several gentle rinsing cycles with clear water. This wash removes the mold spores that cling to the berries before they are picked in the garden. After washing, the berries are gently dried on kitchen paper and then placed in a single layer on a plate lined with kitchen paper or in a bowl for storage. When storing in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator, the kitchen paper underneath should be checked regularly for moisture and replaced if necessary.

Freeze berries for longer storage

If large quantities of fresh berries cannot be eaten or cooked promptly after washing, freezing can save the fruity treasure from the garden from spoiling. In particular, small berries such as currants are ideally first spread out in a single layer on a flat surface and then transferred to portion containers after they have "frozen". In this way, clumping of the berries during freezing can be avoided to some extent.

tips

If a larger harvest of fresh berries is expected, then recipes and materials for the preparation of durable jams and jellies should be obtained in a timely manner. These stay fresh much longer than the fresh berries and make a great gift for friends and visitors to the garden.

The garden journal freshness ABC

How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?

The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:

  • as a free PDF file to print out yourself

Category:

Vegetable garden