Vegetables keep longer when each kind is stored the way it likes. Unpack the box on the day it arrives instead of leaving it in the crate.
- Leaves and herbs: into the fridge in a bag or a lidded box, with a piece of damp kitchen paper for herbs.
- Roots (carrots, beetroot): twist off the leafy tops, which pull moisture out of the root, and keep the roots in the fridge drawer. Cook beetroot leaves like spinach within a day or two.
- Potatoes and onions: somewhere cool, dark and dry, in separate places and out of plastic.
- Squash: on a shelf at room temperature. Whole winter squash keeps for weeks.
- Tomatoes: out of the fridge, stalk side down, for the best flavour.
Plan the first meals of the week around the most delicate things, such as salad and soft herbs, and leave the roots and squash for later in the week.