4. Store fresh produce so it stops drowning or drying out
Most vegetables die of one of two causes: they dry out, or they sit in their own moisture and rot. Fixing each takes a minute at unpacking time, which is the moment that decides whether something lasts four days or twelve.
Leafy salad and herbs like parsley and coriander last far longer washed, spun dry and stored in a container lined with a dry paper towel. The towel absorbs the condensation that otherwise pools and turns leaves to slime. Change it when it feels damp. Bagged salad benefits from the same treatment — open the bag, add a folded towel, reseal.
Carrots, celery and radishes go limp because they lose water. Store them in a container of cold water in the fridge, changing the water every few days, and they stay crisp for two weeks or more.
Mushrooms need to breathe and must stay dry. Keep them in a paper bag in the low-humidity drawer, never sealed in plastic.
Berries mould from a single damaged fruit spreading spores. Do not wash them until you eat them, remove any soft ones the moment you get home, and store them in a single layer in a ventilated container.
Asparagus, and herbs on stems, last best standing upright in a jar with an inch of water and a loose bag over the top.
Spring onions, leeks and celery regrow from their bases in a glass of water on the windowsill, which is a small saving but a satisfying one.
Keep ethylene producers — apples, bananas, avocados, tomatoes — away from ethylene-sensitive items like leafy greens, broccoli and cucumbers, or the second group ages visibly faster.