What is the matter with carrots etc.

If you top and tail the carrots, wrap in newspapers and then place them in a plasma bag, it will keep a little longer and fresher.

Carrots are easy to grow and so much nicer straight from the garden - whatever shape they may be.

They've got neglected and are feeling a bit mouldy.

Kevin Carrot & baby Chantanay are a bit upset you no longer love them! They were just whispering it wasn’t that long ago you couldn’t get enough of them.

We had two which were entwined like lovers

Forgot to say my carrots from the garden, very tasty, but
very few straight ones, stony soil, the obscene shapes give us a chuckle though

Ive also noticed potatoes have black patches on that go into the flesh and send them bad. I grow my own but don't have a enough ground to be self sufficient, hence the bought ones.
Gardening books all say potatoes for keeping should not be washed but left to dry and the earth rubbed off. I've noticed all supermarket potatoes come washed and in a polythene bag, is this the problem, potato farmers out there please respond.

I'm finding fruit is going off very quickly. I store my soft fruit in the fridge as I have always done but it's just not keeping the same. Even oranges & limes aren't keeping as they used to and I've had nectarines go off within 48 hrs - not good.

very bad season for all vegetables, especially root- either too dry, or rotting in water.

I buy organic carrots and they go off just as quickly as the other sort. I also agree about apples. Ever since I was a child I have loved apples but in recent years they have definitely not been the same. Pink Lady used to be crisp and sweet, Granny Smiths used to be the same and Jazz apples were good for a while but no longer. I hate the thick skins (especially bad on organic apples) and the woolly sort of interior, so I no longer buy apples. Bananas don't last five minutes before they go brown and squidgy and oranges are often mouldy after day one. I could go on but I'll stop now before I become too boring.

organic carrots are the only organic vegetable I buy regularly. I think they are worth a bit extra and they are not too dear if I buy them in Aldi. The farm shop ones are also good but they are twice the price so that it a rarer purchase. Washing dirty carrots to make them clean and shiny seems to make them go off quickly whether organic or not. I make sure they are completely dry when I buy them and definately before I put them in the salad crisper at the bottom of the fridge. I cut at least 3/4 inch off if I do use non organic carrots as I read that chemical fertiliser builds up in the tip and is not removed by washing. Seems a bit of a waste of a couple of extra rings of carrot, but the chemical fertiliser build up does sound plausible issue.

I find organic carrots keep very well.

Thank you for all these responses this thread has certainly come on in my absence. I shall certainly take the recommendation of the Lakeland Stayfresh bags thank you very much.

Patsttaylor, like you I’m the only avocado eater in my house!....Cut the top off like you would an egg and scoop out what you want, leaving the skin and stone intact, wrap well and put in fridge...It’s good to go for the next couple of days and I can get through one without any waste.

My grandfather used to make a clamp when storing his carrots.

They were stored in sand and then covered in soil and if it was really cold straw was put in top.

Not that I suggesting you do that with your carrots!!

Hope I’m not veering off-topic but I cannot remember the last time I ate a good apple. All the ones I’ve purchased have tough skins and are really woolly with no crispness. I started only buying British apples but it’s just the same. They must be stored for what seems like years. Bet the nutritional value is zilch.

I line my fridge veg box with several layers of newspaper - I find the fruit and veg keeps better loose on the paper and the box stays clean. Carrots can go a bit rubbery after a wile so I put them in an open container on the paper. When the paper needs changing, I peel off the top layer.

PS, both my bags of carrots were from Aldi,

The last 2 bags of carrots I bought went black and some had thick black mould on them. One bag only took 2 days to get to that state. I've also noted that nearly all fruit and veg. doesnt keep for as long as it all used to.

I find the ability to keep veg fresh and usable depends on where I buy them Aldi and lidl they keep for 2 days, Morrison's I can keep them 5 or 6 days Tesco slightly longer and Sainsburys the longest of all. I know they are cheaper in some stores but the problem is they are older before you buy them, so dontnkeep well.

I’ve noticed the same thing with carrots sold in plastic bags...from Coop,Tesco,etc

Even the loose carrots that are sold in the supermarkets are displayed in a crate covered with plastic....and these go off quickly.
Shall try the organic ones in future from what’s been recommended by others...

I buy carrots (not pre-packed) as and when I need them which is very frequent. I wrap them in a brown paper bag until I use them, in the veg basket. I used to wrap them in foil and put them in the salad drawer of the fridge and they kept for ages.

Avocados
I'm the only one that eats them in our house. I can only eat half and end up throwing other half away as my storage attempts have been unsuccessful.
Any ideas?

vissos

I use those green bags from Ecoegg. Expensive, but keeps veg fresh for weeks, more than a month in some cases. And they can be reused. Tried some cheaper ones from Amazon but they don't work the same at all, think they're just coloured green.

I use Stayfresh bags from Lakeland and they work quite well, especially for broccoli. I agree with OP, have noticed that carrots are small and scrawny at the moment, but they keep reasonably well.

unigran