Prolonging the life of fresh berries

[Primrose]

A fried of mine has just sent me this tip which she says works well if you don't want to freeze them.

Apparently you wash them with vinegar!.
Prepare a mixture of one part vinegar (white or apple cider probably works best) and ten parts water Dump the berries into the mixture and swirl around. Drain, rinse if you want (although the mixture is so diluted you can't taste the vinegar,) and pop in the fridge.

The vinegar kills any mold spores and other bacteria that might be on the surface of the fruit. Apparently raspberries will last a week or more, and strawberries go almost two weeks without getting moldy and soft

I haven't tried this yet as all my fruit this year is now in the freezer but if anybody tries it, can they report back on how well it works for them.

[glallotments]

I suppose you could use balsamic vinegar on strawberries as apparently some people serve them with this.

[Primrose]

I'm now wondering whether the diluted vinegar rinsing would also helpremove the fungus spores and preserve tomatoes which have been picked early to ripen indoors to remove them from blighted plants. Too late to experiment this year but will try this next year and see if it works as I'm having to throw away some of my tomatoes on trays indoors which are now showing signs of blight..

[PLUMPUDDING]

It sounds a good idea so long as you can't taste it. I sprinkle balsamic vinegar on freshly cooked beetroot if I've cooked too many to eat straight away. They keep much longer in the fridge than ones without and because it is only on the outside they don't taste too vinegary when you slice them.

[Primrose]

That's a good idea. I must remember to try that because they do go rather wrinkled if you fridge them, even in a covered bowl.