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Post by daylilydude on Sept 10, 2018 3:50:42 GMT -5
Do you wash melons before cutting them?
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Deleted
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Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2018 6:03:47 GMT -5
Depends on where I got them from, home grown or else where, and are they grossly dirty, as to how much washing may happen. Of course, I've eaten melons out in the field, too cut with a pocket knife.Melons that are stored for a time get brushed off and not washed until use. Some types of melons collect more dirt, such as the rind on cantaloupe versus a smooth rinded melon.
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Post by paulf on Sept 10, 2018 8:25:45 GMT -5
Any fruit purchased from a store or fruit market gets washed. Any fruit from a foreign country gets washed extra good. Any dirt from a known source still gets washed off.
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Post by brownrexx on Sept 10, 2018 8:59:28 GMT -5
I didn't wash melons in the past and never got sick but since the Listeria infections from cantaloupes a couple of years ago, I started washing all melons, even smooth skinned ones like watermelon. Watermelons may not have as many nooks and crannies on the skin but they have been shipped in trucks that have carried who knows what previously and then they sit in open bins in stores or outside at farmer's markets. I wash my lemons too since I drop the slices into my iced tea.
The Listeria infected melons had the bacteria on the outside of the melons and since no one eats the rind, I figure that cutting through the rind with a knife must have pushed the bacteria into the inside as the knife sliced through the rind and into the flesh.
I have a little short bristled brush intended to clean the silk off of corn that I use on melons. I wash them with soap and my brush and then rinse and allow to dry before refrigerating. I don't like unwashed items (except green beans or corn) in my refrigerator.
This may seem nutty but we do not eat so many melons that it is too much work. I would rather be safe than sick.
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Post by carolyn on Sept 10, 2018 9:21:35 GMT -5
I do and I grow to sell melons. I advise everyone to wash the fruit with vinegar water. 1 cup to 1 gallon of water. I went to dinner at a friends house last week and took a salad. one of the guests mentioned he shouldn't eat raw greens... and of course I asked why. because he is on chemo and shouldn't eat anything raw and green because of the bacterias possibly contaminating it. thankfully I washed the lettuce in vinegar water just because its habit. it wasn't my lettuce and you never know who has handled or what it came in contact with before you got it. Always wash all melons before you cut them. wash the cantaloupes with a scrub brush and vinegar water. the smooth ones with a cloth and vinegar water and all other fruit with a vinegar water dip/swish/rinse/dripdry. vinegar will kill off bacteria and mold spores and keep your fruit fresh much better.
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Post by brownrexx on Sept 10, 2018 9:40:55 GMT -5
I advise everyone to wash the fruit with vinegar water. I washed my butternut squash with vinegar water before storage. I dropped them into a bucket of vinegar water and let them soak for about 20 minutes and then let then air dry.
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Post by september on Sept 10, 2018 10:27:13 GMT -5
Home grown melons get rinsed with tap water before cutting up. Store melons might get a light dish soap scrub before cutting. carolyn, brownrexx, good tips on the vinegar water, I should do this with my squash. Usually I don't wash it before storage unless there is visible dirt.
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Post by brownrexx on Sept 10, 2018 10:33:36 GMT -5
september I usually figure there can be bacteria trapped under the stem which is still attached and that is why I give them a dip in the vinegar water.
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Post by carolyn on Sept 10, 2018 10:51:04 GMT -5
that is an excellent way to keep squash stored longer. thanks for mentioning it as it is squash season once again.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Sept 10, 2018 11:14:27 GMT -5
Yes, I Do. You don't know who has handled. They might scratch their bum and not wash their hands.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Sept 10, 2018 17:37:04 GMT -5
I always wash melons, and wash netted melons with special care. Like HM said, you never know who handled it.
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Post by spacecase0 on Sept 10, 2018 23:42:16 GMT -5
I never wash them then again I never buy them either, if I don't grow them, I don't eat them. and the water out of my faucet is contaminated... so washing things usually makes things worse I set tiles under them as they grow so they don't contact the dirt
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Post by pepperhead212 on Sept 11, 2018 0:22:36 GMT -5
I wash them, even home grown. A bird can always crap on them from the air, or a squirrel crawl over it, even the netted ones.
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Post by carolyn on Sept 12, 2018 7:55:00 GMT -5
I wash them, even home grown. A bird can always crap on them from the air, or a squirrel crawl over it, even the netted ones. and don't forget deer,skunks, raccoons,rats, mice.. etc. they don't care where they are going and its your garden... they nibble, defecate and urinate where they want.
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Post by brownrexx on Sept 12, 2018 8:00:31 GMT -5
and don't forget deer,skunks, raccoons,rats, mice.. etc. they don't care where they are going and its your garden... they nibble, defecate and urinate where they want. and rain pulling possible pollutants from the air and dropping them on your melons. It's not that I never eat veggies raw right in the garden but as soon as veggies make it to the house they get washed.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2018 14:41:21 GMT -5
I guess I am old and don't think about the pollution or mice or such at times if I am eating in the garden; probably been exposed to so much when young that much doesn't bother me, or doesn't make me ill easily. Store produce does get washed, because people are often careless with germ control, and geeeez, little kids in stores with runny noses and grabbing stuff really gives me the "icks".
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Post by carolyn on Sept 12, 2018 15:23:37 GMT -5
I only mention it about the rodents and such as deer can contaminate with e coli... I just shot a skunk last week that I am wondering if it had distemper... it was out in the middle of the day and flopping over then curled up then trying to move ... totally unaware of me being within 5 ' of it... it didn't even spray when I shot it... but I generally don't worry too much over trellised produce... usually only what is on the ground.
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Saltflower
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Post by Saltflower on Sept 13, 2018 19:39:46 GMT -5
I wash with dish soap and rinse well. Apples, oranges too. Just flush grapes under running water a minute. Berries also get a shower. Decorative pumpkins get a soapy wash, dried and then rubbed down lightly with Vaseline. I read somewhere that they'll last longer. And they look nicer with a shine.
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