sticky labels on apples - remove before washing!

Makes you wonder doesn’t it MissInterpreted. The fruit other children scrumped too, not me of course!

Crikey you wouldnt want to drink from the local stream now MissInterpreted. Our local "stream"" here is the Thames. The boat race teams are being advised not to get wet. No drinking or dunking for them.

I wouldn't do it now, HelterSkelter1 - but when we were children, we never thought twice about it.

MissInterpreted we live in a different time. I will be 66 next month. We used to have a bag just for potatoes because they always had dried soil on them . What they call wonky veg was just veg years ago. Veg came in all shapes and sizes . Standardisation was due to supermarkets . Miss curly cucumbers and comical shaped veg.

With my parents and then once married with my husband when the children were toddlers and young teens we went to pick your own places . One of the many things I miss since he died 20 years ago.

I always take the labels of fruit and price your own veg before washing as they come off easily. The only thing I don't wash is mushrooms and just brush the dirt off them . If you wash them they just absorb water. But I freeze most fruit and veg as being disabled I can't cook fresh everyday and don't like some frozen veg and fruit . I can't cut veg up so things are washed and prepared and frozen whole ready to be used from frozen I never blanch anything. Can't peel butternut squash or sweet potatoes so line a roasting tin with foil put in veg prick water in and cover with foil and bake for a hour. Once cold peel comes off easily and seeds out with a spoon. Bagged and frozen . Given up on onions just us leeks as easier to prep.

Make enough homemade red lentil and veg soup to last 6 lunches and make enough stew,lasagne or pasta bake to last 6 dinners . Always have same diet all year round. Porridge for breakfast cooked in the microwave. But I always have healthy lunch and dinners in the fridge just to reheat.

I peel all fruit. They are usually coated with wax, and you have no idea how many people have handled them.

I buy organic whenever I can. Don't forget the skin on fruit contains a large proportion of the nutrients and if not organic then likely spray residues. I don't eat many apples and prefer berries much easier to add to cereals and puds.

I'm another who always washes shop-bought fruit before eating.

I gamble with my home-grown fruits, as I do 'graze' on them unwashed when I am out in the garden (as long as they at least look clean) even though I am aware of how many animals and birds have been on or over them. Those that make it into the house are washed before eating though, as I don't want to push my luck too far!