Vegetables - how do you store yours?

[SomethingNastyInTheBallPool]

Roll up, roll up for the most exciting thread since “Plastic bag holders - worth the money?”

I’m on a drive to cram as much vegetable matter into our diet as possible. But the fridge - a perfectly decent size for three people - is bursting at the seams and I can’t see where anything is.

How do you store your veg? Do you have a vegetable rack? Where do you keep it? Please share your secrets of happy human-vegetable
coexistence!

Potatoes in the dark in the garage. Onions out there too.
Everything else in the bottom of the fridge.
If you’re lacking space perhaps frozen is the way to go.

I keep most root veg (spuds, carrots, onions, swede etc) in a veg rack in cupboard under the sink to keep them in the dark and relatively cool. Leafy veg goes into the fridge, fruit (including tomatoes, peppers) live in bowls. Unless in season when I can grow them myself, I buy peas & beans frozen as they keep their nutrients and store well.

I've got a little wooden rack with onions, tomatoes and garlic. Potatoes in a hessian sack and fruit in a fruit bowl, otherwise two designated drawers in the fridge for everything else (I still run out of space!)

Tomatoes in a bowl next to the fruit bowl, also alongside avocadoes, squash etc.

In the fridge we have three drawers:
Top is salad including peppers
Middle is green veg, french beans, spring greens, brocoli etc
Bottom is carrots and onions

Potatoes in the pantry in the dark as there is no heating or window in there.

Hope that helps!!

See how many replies you've had already? We are all so excited by your thread 😄

Definitely more excitement than I was expecting, @Moredarkchocolateplease!

This is what I've always wondered. We eat far less fruit and veg than most of MN claims, and there's only two of us, yet the modest amount we buy takes up a good part of our normal size fridge.

Do they all have massive fridges? Or are they buying several times a week?

Everything goes in the fridge except bananas and avocados. I was raised in Canada where that is standard, so I worry about food going bad if it's in cupboards. I am very likely wrong.

Wooden box with lid - onions and potatoes (in a hessian sack)
Kitchen fruit bowl - lemons, limes, garlic, tomatoes
Freezer - peas, broad beans, peppers, onions, stir fry mix, whole leaf spinach.
Fridge (left drawer) - salad, peppers, green leafy stuff and celery
Fridge (right drawer) - root veg, leeks and mushrooms.
Cabbages take pot luck and go where they will fit
Tinned toms live in a rack under the piano is the dinning room, no idea how this started but it seems to work.

I veg shop twice a week, in person, and although I have a vague list, I buy what looks good and fresh plus value for money.

I bought a bigger fridge <not helpful >

Root veg in sacks in a cupboard

Leafy veg and things like peppers, cucumbers etc in drawer one in the fridge, fruit in drawer two. I'm afraid it's all just launched in there with reckless abandon do be dug through when needed. I wish I was as organised as those ladies on tiktok with all their beautifully stacked tupperware but I'm not that person and never will be.

I buy a lot of frozen veg too, it's just as good if not better than fresh a lot of the time.

Potatoes (except new potatoes) and onions, in a deep pull-out kitchen drawer.

Everything else in the big salad drawer in the fridge - just about every bit of plastic wrapping removed, to stop things getting damp and slimy. I line the bottom with an old tea towel to absorb any wet.

We eat loads of veg as only eat meat a few times a week, but never had issues with storage. Potatoes, onions, carrots, peppers, other root veg go in big bowls on the counter in the utility room. If it’s getting to the middle of the week and they haven’t been used, carrots and peppers will go in fridge drawer. Mushrooms and tomatoes stay on counter in original packaging. Same with cabbages until I start chopping any bits off. I am to use mushrooms in first part of the week as they won’t last long.

Things that go in the fridge are usually salads and fresh herbs, broccoli. Any sort of green veg. In drawer or just wherever it fits. We have a small fridge 3 shelves and 2 small drawers at bottom. What I find takes up an annoying amount of room is like chopped kale because it’s mostly air, so I pop the bags and squeeze in if I need to buy kale. But we’ve mostly solved that issue by growing our own, which grows year round so I just go out and pick some.

We usually do one shop per week but if I know I’ll need something end of week that won’t last that long. I just pop out and get it when I need it.

Potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, leeks, squashes - vegetable rack in a dark kitchen cupboard.

All fruit except berries - fruit bowl on the counter in a different, cool room.

Everything else - fridge. There's never enough space in the veg drawer, so tomatoes, mushrooms and leafy veg generally end up on various fridge shelves.

I know you're supposed to keep the veg low down in the fridge, but I don't see the point of rummaging on my knees for things we eat frequently. So I've moved the cheese drawer to just above the veg drawer, and keep the veg that don't fit into on higher shelves.

And there are always at least peas, sweetcorn and spinach in the freezer. Freezer veg are a very easy way to add veg to your diet.

We have loads of veg in the freezer. I’m trying to get more green, leafy stuff into the rotation, eg cavolo nero, and it’s all just so enormous!

Salad goes in the fridge.
Potatoes in the cupboard under the stairs.
All other veg in a storage box (with a clip lid) and kept in the garage - lasts ages out there

Salad - bottom of fridge.
Leafy greens, carrots, leeks, celeriac, celery etc - low down in fridge
bagged veg like peas & beans - fridge
Mushrooms - not veg but in fridge, covered with paper

Potatoes, onions, squashes, fruit veg like peppers, chills and courgettes - veg rack

Wash it, chop it up and freeze it.

Fridge for veg mostly but avocados in the fruit bowl.
Any fruit I don’t want to ripen just yet goes in the fridge too

Bottom drawer of the fridge. However we do usually eat peas (frozen) or sweetcorn (tinned) as well as something else, so that helps. I also use frozen chopped onions.

I've started keeping the potatoes in the fridge. They used to say keep them somewhere dark but lately I've read it's ok to put them in the fridge.

They certainly stay fresher for longer

Spuds and onions we keep in a corner cupboard in the kitchen. There's an airbrick in the wall at the back there, and the cupboard stays fairly cold. We have kept them in the shed too, in the past.

Everything else is in the fridge. Sometimes you do have to do things like take all the leaves off a cauliflower and split it into florets, but it usually fits quite well.