Hello,

I guess I am either lucky or lazy. lol I normally toss the veggies in the fridge in the bag they came in and cut them up as needed. I "normally" don't have an issue with them going bad before I use them up.

If the produce section had recently misted everything, I will pat the collards because they are the only veggie that seems to "yellow" if not used fast enough.

__________________

I wrap mine up in a paper towel and place them in a ziplock bag. They usually last a week to 10 days.

__________________
Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

I remove large stems, cut the greens up and put them in a gallon plastic ice cream bucket with a lid. When I used ziplock bags they went bad a lot quicker. They also will spoil quicker if they are too wet when you store them. Mine will last a little over a week that way. I don't feed water cress but I know that the curly mustards will get mushy quicker than the flat leafed mustards.

__________________
Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I chop the greens as I don't have the time or patients to tear up 2 pounds of greens at a time. If you have a dull knife you will more hack and bruise your way through the leaf than cut. The bruising will cause the leaf to go bad very quickly. I keep my knives sharp and clean(well most people have no problem with the clean part) so they slice right through what I want -- a sharpening block is a useful tool in the kitchen.

__________________
~ Mark

I don't work with veggies for my herps, but I do for my job in Kitchens as a chef.

I've learned how to do things the right way with severe consequences for messing up, it is a job of high stress to say the least. One thing i've noticed is that greens need to breath, the clorophyll may not be prodcuing sugars still but it is respiring, without oxygen the veggies will go bad quickly, probably from anaerobic buildup. But also conversly the bacteria that is partaking in the degredation of the veggies needs the oxygen to decay the leaves, so it is a balance of allowing the greens to breath but restricting some of the air flow, this will also keep the moisture in the leaves that is needed.

Wet paper towels are added to anything that needs to be kept moist (arugula, watercress, radichio de travisio...I don't know if any of these are being used) and only when they show signs of drying (usually yellowing). Our lettuces and leafy greens (bibb, oak leaf, romaine, green leaf, kale) are all stored in large sterlites with no moisture. Once shredded/cut they only last about 2 days, while in the containers they can make it for up to 10. I believe a large part of the decay is from contaminants introduced from handling and mishandling before you even get them accounts for some as well.

Also, if you have a co-op or 'organic produce' market of any kind I recommend buying greens from them. For one you save the risk of introducing your pet to any of the various chemical '-cides' and that organic veggies last much longer stored, however once prepared the degrade extremely fast, so it is for the 'as needed' person.

As far as knife vs tearing, that is one that I will test and see which last longer. I usually use shears to cut all of the greens, I believe the less handling equates to longer life and using a tool whether knife or scissors IMO would help to keep the greens healthier. And this would have to be sharp knives, as a dull or serrated would masacre the veggies.

This is what I noticed working with vegetables five days a week for the past few years, and as its been said this works for us, it might not work for you.

I handle greens much like Merlin does, but I line the tub with paper towels on the top and bottom. I can get about 12-14 days out of collards. I do NOT wash them before cutting them up, but wash what I need for a particular day.

I NEVER store different veggies together. Each veggie has a different "decay rate" and the delicate will corrupt the hardy much sooner (i.e. mixing yellow crook-neck squash with butternut squash will cause the butternut to go bad at the same rate as the crook-neck).

I too use a sharp knife for greens, but I use a salad shooter pro with a coarse grater to cut up squash (works especially will with the hard, winter squash).

The ONLY greens that I don't cut before feeding is Dandelions... they're so delicate they practically rot if you look at them wrong.

__________________
~~Steph

"This I believe: That the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world." John Steinbeck

Here's an idea that my help your "zoo" to get used to collards: cut a leaf up into small pieces and add it into the spring mix. It may take quite a while of "just a little" collards, but eventually it will become part of the spring mix... as they get used to it, continue to add more and more collards.

__________________
~~Steph

"This I believe: That the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world." John Steinbeck

What seems to work for me right now (keep in mind I have only had Spike for about a month) is I bring all of the fresh produce home. I wash everything and lay it out on paper towels to air dry. Once dried, I then transfer them into small seperate tupperware containers. I take small amounts of the items of the week, throw them in the food processor and then transfer the "salad" into a tupperware container for quick feeds. The "salad" will last almost a week while the other seperated veggies and fruits will last 2-3 weeks.
So far, so good
Angel

__________________
Hard to notice, gleaming from the sky
When you're staring at the cracks
Hard to notice what is passing by
With eyes lowered

"The Leaving Song"- AFI

0.0.1 Mali Uromastyx (Spike)
1.2.0 Bearded Dragons (Hercules, Megora & Eeyore)
1.0.0 Bi-color Flame Point Himalayan (Koda)
1.2.0 Children (Dimitri, Mercedes, and Mariah)

MAR, are you serious when you say 20 pounds of vegetables? Or is that a figure of speech meaning "A lot"? 20 pounds is a LOT of veggies, especially since veggies are light.

Read that again, I said two pounds, I don't know how you saw a zero after that. Two pounds of greens will last me about five days for my one iguana.

__________________
~ Mark