Annalisa Hultberg Extension Educator, food safety While not all produce should be washed during postharvest handling, many items need to be washed to remove soil or to hydrocool. It is a best practice use a food-grade sanitizer in bulk tanks of wash water to reduce the potential to spread microbial contamination via the water. If one leaf of lettuce has some bird poop on it, for example, the water will spread it to all the others. The sanitizer prevents that from happening. We know that sanitizers are very effective at inactivating bacteria such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7 that may be present in the water and brought in from the field, hands, compost or other sources. They also can increase shelf life, since the sanitizing agents inactivate bacteria, viruses, spores, fungi and other microorganisms that can lead to degradation of fresh produce in storage. Read below for instructions on using sanitizer in wash water. If you are looking f...
Madeline Wimmer- UMN Fruit Production Extension Educator Apples Growth stage: Fruits between 3.5–5 cm wide Pest highlight: Identifying codling moth symptoms Grapes Growth stage: Berries ranging from peppercorn to pea size Optimal timing for basal leaf and lateral shoot removal Honeyberries Growth stage: Nearing end of harvest Stay tuned: 2025 Upper Midwest Honeyberry Academy Recap Zooming in: Insect pest and disease management photos Raspberry spur blight on primocanes Phylloxera leaf galls Apples Growth stage: Fruits between 3.5–5 cm wide Images: Apple varieties were measuring between 3.5–5 cm at the widest point. Pictured: First Kiss (left, 5 cm), M\cIntosh (middle, 3.5–4 cm), and Honeycrisp (right, 4–5 cm), a variety also known for showing mottled chlorosis on its leaves as seen here. Photos taken at Seekap Orchard in Olmsted County, MN (Zone 5a). Many apple varieties in SE Minnesota range between 3.5–5 cm measured at their widest point, width-wise. It’s been around six weeks sinc...