My Sweetcorn Adventure. (homemade cooler)

seedspreader · #1 08/11/05, 10:01 PM

Some of you who go to (shiver) General Chat, may have read my adventures in buying sweet corn and cantelope at a local produce auction and then selling them. I have done pretty good so far. ALL of the melons are gone and out of the 100 dozen sweet corn I probably have 25 dozen left. I have noticed how the quality has went down in the last 3 days and found this cool homemade cooler. Check it out (it's a .pdf so you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader) But what a cool (pun intended) idea!

http://www.ams.usda.gov/tmd/MSB/PDFp...ortacooler.pdf

seedspreader · #2 08/11/05, 10:04 PM

Oh, meant to say... I would think an old small "reefer" box off of a small delivery truck with an air conditioner attached would work fairly well.

Ken Scharabok · #3 08/12/05, 04:40 AM

See if your local library can obtain a copy of Louis Bromfield's From My Experience: The Pleasures and Miseries of Life on a Farm. Read the chapter on The Roadside Market to End All Roadside Markets.

Essentially for a couple of years Malabar Farm did truck farming, selling the produce through a stand by the road. A spring above the road fed into troves in the stall, then under the road to a springhouse. Most freshly picked vegetables soaked overnight in the spring water. He noted how this quick chilling significantly extended the freshness and quality of the produce.

His theory was the water soaking chilled the vegetables completely, while refrigeration just kept them cool.

seedspreader · #4 08/12/05, 06:49 AM

Thanks Ken,

Malabar is actually about 40 miles from me. It is a very cool place.

Ken Scharabok · #5 08/12/05, 07:26 AM

For those not familiar with him, Louis Bromfield was a 'world famous' writer in the mid-1900s. He wrote a number of novels (with some made into movies) and several books on their experiences at Malabar Farm near Mansfield, OH. The farm is now a state park. (Humphrey Bogard and Laura McCall were married at the farm.)

His Malabar Farms books are well worth reading. However, keep in mind he wasn't one to do an experiment a number of times to verify the results. If it worked the first time, he proclaimed it a success others should follow. Some manufacturers/suppliers furnished items to the farm for the publicity. Thus, read the books with a grain of salt so to speak.

Your local library should be able to get loaner copies for you. They are The Farm, Malabar Farm, Pleasant Valley, Out of the Earth and From My Experience. (The Farm is actually about his growing up on his grandfather's farm in the general area.) Best read in order published, but can be done so separately.

#6 08/12/05, 09:09 AM

Ken, could this be the reason why they have mist sprayers above the produce in the supermarkets now? It is a good ideal to cool your veggies as soon as possible after picking. I comonally spray my veggies after picking more to clean them and then placing them in the crisper in the frig. So on a large scale it would be ideal to do this also.

Ken Scharabok · #7 08/12/05, 10:58 AM

Older vegetable coolers in supermarkets had small hand strayers rather than misters. Concept is to try to keep the vegetables from wilting in the display more than anything else IMHO.

seedspreader · #8 08/12/05, 11:41 AM

That's interesting, I wonder how long you can submerge them before they become water logged and if you lose any nutrional value because of that?

#9 08/13/05, 10:56 AM

Zeal guy, I kind of wondered that myself. The other day I soaked some corn in water before grilling and I noticed the water was kind of off cloudy looking after removing the corn.