Tuesday 13 January 2015

How to make... updated to include link to Beechgrove Garden Factsheet!

Vegetable bags for your fridge!

I didn't take as many photographs as I meant to but this is an easy project to do. Now that everyone has received theirs as presents I can show you how they were made.

We change our tea towels either every year or every 18 months, depending on how good they were to begin with. I normally cut them up for rags but this year, they were still quite good so I made these bags.

Having watched my favourite gardening programme Beechgrove Garden (back in the Spring), they did a slot on how to keep your vegetables and fruit that you store in the fridge, as good as possible. The link to the page can be found HERE

Things stored in the bags they come in, even with slits for breathing, often end up with slime in the bottom that makes the food go off, not so with these little bags.

I use quite thick tea towels (terry towelling), if yours are a little sparse, rather than cut them in half, fold them in half then proceed as per the rest of the instructions.

First, take your tea towel, fold then cut in half across its shortest bit, the top of the picture in this case:

Then fold each half from left to right and sew around one short and one long seam to create a longish bag. After doing a few I found sewing the double thick ends and making them the bottom of the bag worked best:
Fold back the top, about 3/4" and sew around it but leave a 1" gap to pull through your string (shiny works best), tie a knot in the string to stop it getting lost:
Fill with your chosen vegetables, in this case peppers and pull the draw string:
Store in the bottom section of your fridge:
You can store all vegetables and fruit, except strong smelling ones such as leeks. I don't put cabbage or swede in as the bags aren't wide enough. When the bag is empty dry it out and re-use or wash if something has gone 'off' inside. I wash mine properly, every other use.


By the way, if you like celery, if you take it out of its bag and wrap it tightly in foil, put in the fridge and it will last far longer than normal!

Hope you can make sense of this:)

22 comments:

  1. What a good idea.

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  2. Jolly useful hints there. Funnily enough although I use vegetable bags I've never made my own. I think you have inspired me! And I didn't know about celery.

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    1. The programme was full of information like that, they might still have the fact sheet on their website.

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  3. Another great idea, I will have to make a dent in my pile of tea towels, I think they are breeding. Thanks for the tip on celery, it is often on offer and I never like to buy too much.

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    1. Someone who inherited some very thin tea towels, put one on top of the other then sewed them together to make thicker ones.

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  4. I only found 'Beechgrove' this year - it's a brilliant programme isn't it - that's a really good idea with the tea towels - I shall be making some of them xx

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  5. Can you give us a reminder when the program returns so I and others can watch it. It sounds good and your vegetable bags are very useful.

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    1. Trudie, I found it 2013 much prefer it to Gardeners World.
      Frugal in Essex, will do though no sign of a return date yet.

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  6. I brought a cloth potato bag in a Pound shop some time ago and it works well - but this is a good idea for the old tea towels especially those linen ones I got free with a certain tea product. The cloth is very good linen but the monkey is getting a bit faded.

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  7. \Great idea. I will deffo have a go at this.

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    1. TrishWish, Hope they are not too small otherwise the bags will be too little to get much in. Should be nice though.
      Frugal in Derbyshire, thank you, hope you make some, they are so handy.

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  8. I saw some "tea towels" at pound shop they are small and would be good for this. they come in a pkt of two for a pound.and are micro fibre. going to make some.

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  9. Thank you for sharing. I will be making some. Fed up of veg going off in plastic bags.
    Rosezeeta.

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  10. What a good idea and the tip about the celery is great xxxx

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    1. Phyllis, are the tea towels cotton, needs cotton preferably.
      Primroses Attic, so was I that's why I made them.
      Fran, hope the celery tip works for you.

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  11. Excellent way of using old tea towels DC and I've loads hanging around. I must admit I've not heard of Beechgrove so will definitely look out for it. P x

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  12. thank you for this idea..we love watching Beechgrove garden..i will definitely be making some of these..i just found a huge pile of old tea towels in my airing cupboard..brilliant
    sara

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    1. Patricia and flowertotmum - glad to hear it, happy sewing and watching when it returns?

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  13. I got. A free thermal bag which is 'foil' lined. I use it to keep celery in, in the fridge

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    1. Flowerpot - thank you and it does make a difference.
      Frugal Queen - what a good device, probably easier than wrapping and unwrapping foil.

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