>>I don't think greens survive freezing very well - they just turn into a slimy, nasty mess.
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>>Mine do best when I keep the moisture down as much as possible. After getting them home from the store, I pull off all the twisty ties, shake off as much moisture as possible, then put the greens in the vegetable drawer with paper towels in the bags to absorb condensation. I change out the paper towels when they get soggy. It seems to work pretty well.
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>>Someone here suggested drying extra greens before they go bad - lay them out on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven at about 200 degrees until they're completely dry. You can save them that way and crumble them over your salad to add variety - especially if you can only have one or two fresh greens at a time. I tried it with endive once, and it smelled terrible, but worked great.
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>>Torey
That may have been me. I do sometimes dry my excess greens then powder them and store them in ziptop bags. Just wanted to comment and say that dryed greens probably lose some of the nutritional content in the process.
I use the powdered greens to try and fill in the nutritional gaps of whatever I am feeding. If I am feeding escarole and endive that day I will put a bit of dandelion and collard powder on. I use them more as a supplement rather than a food source, sort of like uro dust. I also use uro dust sparingly and sometimes feed pelletized finch food so I feel I should have all of the vitamin and trace minerals covered. I never use either powdered greens or uro dust to try and feed unhealthy (iceburg lettuce) food items. Contrary to what the makers of uro dust say I don't think there is anything that can make things like iceburg lettuce a good thing to feed.
Back to the orginal subject of this thread. The enemies of fresh greens are oxygen and excess moisture. Most of the answers in this thread have it right. When you get the greens home wash them and remove excess moisture (dry them on towels or put them in a spinner) then store them between paper towel in ziptop bags with as much air squeezed out as you can without bruising the greens. Package them small enough so you can use up the package within 4-5 days so you are not opening them all the time to let in more oxygen.
While excess moisture on the outside of the greens is bad moisture in the greens is good so I always soak my greens in water after I get them home for an hour or two to let them rehydrate. You might be surpised at how much moisture they soak up.
As for other vegetables the only ones I feed regularly are hard winter squashes and peas. Peas I either buy in small quantities fresh or frozen in bags which store for far longer than I need. Buy the smallest hard winter squashes you can find and store them in a cool dry place (under a bed in a cool bedroom works very well) and they will keep for months until you cut them.
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Mike Wilson
mwilson@fuu.net
