Washing salad greens
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Matthias Member
I'm wondering about other peoples techniques for washing harvested greens (mesclun, arugula, etc) Right now I dump the greens into a tub of cold water, swish them around for a minute or two and then put them into a hand cranked, commercial salad spinner (the orange one) and spin them for 40 revs then bag them up. It works, but the spinner is the weak point in the system as it's a real challenge to hold it in place while cranking, and only a few pounds can be spun out at a time. I'd like to find out what others are doing to get their greens washed and spun. Posted 1 week ago # Edit Delete
Peg Member
Hello Matthias, This is what we do for our weekly greens
After picking, we wash three times with the hose using this method.
1. Fill the greens container with water.
2. Gently swish and lift the greens by hand into a second container.
3. Fill the second container with water and repeat the process two more times.
4. Then we run our greens through a commercial hand spinner before bagging.We don't know how many revolutions we do, but it does make a difference to have the spinner at the right height.(lower than counter height) We also spin and empty the water at least 3 times per load. Having originally used a small personal spinner,this method seems easier to us. Posted 1 day ago # Edit Delete
Mike (tfb) Veggie grower
Hey Matthias,
So far, I've stuck to using laundry tubs, dumping the greens into icy cold well water for a couple of minutes. For drying, I'm still happy with the repurposed washing machine, used on spin cycle. We actually already moved it to the new farm! There's a bit of getting a feel for it, so that you don't damage leaves, I mention that in the post. Dunno where I got the idea, but it works!
I'm wondering what people's experiences are with washing or not washing greens (lettuce mix, spinach) right after harvest. I am working on a garden with little access to water, the only water I have has to be brought on site in jugs. In the past I've always been used to plunging my greens in cold water when they come in from the harvest, but have recently been talking with some growers who don't wash them-- avoiding the extra handling.. just get them out of the field early and into cold. I'd love to hear any thoughts/expert opinions! Rahcle Posted 6 months ago # Edit Delete
Butterfat Member
In my experience, washing is a necessary step for salad mix and spinach. Not only does the rapid cooling keep it fresh, but washing allows little rocks and dirt bits to sink and bugs to float free from the leaves. We also use it as an opportunity to pick out weeds and less-than-lovely looking leaves. Posted 6 months ago # Edit Delete
organicsheri Member
This is a topic I have been musing about all year. I have found that a good soaking in icy water takes the bitterness out of the leaves. The problem for me is keeping the water cold enough and the greens cold after the water treatment. I think that the trick might be to have a place to put them where the temp is really cold (just above 0) and the air is circulating though all the lettuce, etc. to dry them. Any thoughts on this?
I'm really enamored right now with the CoolBot I found on the tools side of this website and I think we're going to build a shed for next year. Currently we have a Port-a-cooler, which is an a/c unit mounted in a cube top on a utility trailer for post harvest cooling. Unfortunately the a/c unit has died on me. :( Next year will be better... :)
[edit] bulk spin drier for salad greens
This one is simply an old top-loading washing machine with the agitator removed, used on the spin cycle. It's served well for four seasons now. It stands outdoors from mid-spring till well into fall, and winters in shelter in the unheated drive shed. I've used it with a mesh bag so you don't have to hand load and then scoop out leaves, but we've taken to dumping 'em in by double handfuls rather than mess about with bags (though I plan to get back to mesh). There's a bit of a trick in how much you load, as putting in too much tends to crush lettuce leaves (a good number of leaves come out veiny) and shred spinach (some leaves). Putting in less per load solves this problem, so finding the optimum amount is the trick. Can't remember where I read about this one...
