This question has probably been addressed in one of the threads, but I don't have the time to look through them all.

I like to grow leafy veggies like lettuce, kale, and spinach in the winter here in central Florida. I grow them in a typical raised dirt bed, not hydroponics. My question is:
How do you safely clean your edibles before eating them? Especially for veggies you eat raw, such as veggies used in a salad?
My concern is bacteria that can be toxic and very dangerous to ingest. Such as listeria, botulism, salmonella, etc.

Thanks in advance for educating me on how to safely clean the food I grow.

I just rinse them off. Leafy greens, good to submerge in big bowl so stuff floats off, then drain well. Get all the water off before storing, or store with pair towel.

If you are truly concerned -- rinse them in a large amount of water with a small amount of bleach, then rinse off again in plain water, but chance of disease is small unless you ae susceptible to such things.

https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety....

I use this, you can buy here. https://www.youngliving.com/us...

beckygardener said:

I like to grow leafy veggies like lettuce, kale, and spinach in the winter here in central Florida. I grow them in a typical raised dirt bed, not hydroponics. My question is:
How do you safely clean your edibles before eating them?

Really scary stuff happening in the commercial food industry...

If I have my information correct... I think the contamination occurs from the crops being exposed to water from contaminated sources after harvest & irrigation from contaminated wells.

There is so much contamination going on in the world today... from the factory farm discharge that ends up in the groundwater to the city sewage overflows...

Personally, I can't imagine that any of us home gardeners should have trouble... although... I've seen articles that say otherwise...

I just did a search of contamination and the home garden...
The suggestions included knowing where the irrigation water came from, not using fresh poop in the garden, not being located near a factory farm where the nasties could blow across the garden from next door...

Washing hands before handling produce... rinsing with safe water...

Common sense recommendations, really.

From the article that Sally referenced, I'm curious as to why the CDC does not recommend using soap or bleach to clean vegetables - particularly since I regularly put a couple of drops of Dawn dish soap in the water when I wash tomatoes and peppers ... and I always use a very mild bleach solution to clean winter squash before storing them.

"Washing fruits and vegetables with soap, detergent, or commercial produce wash is not recommended. Do not use bleach solutions or other disinfecting products on fruits and vegetables."

@Stone, do you know why this isn't recommended? (or anyone else, of course.)

Hmm - may have at least partially answered my own question when I looked back at the article from Sally's link...

"Washing fruits and vegetables with soap, detergent, or commercial produce wash is not recommended. Produce is porous. Soap and household detergents can be absorbed by fruits and vegetables, despite thorough rinsing, and can make you sick. Also, the safety of the residues of commercial produce washes is not known and their effectiveness has not been tested."

I use dish soap on store cucumbers, apples, and tomatoes to remove the wax.

Weedwhacker said:
"Washing fruits and vegetables with soap, detergent, or commercial produce wash is not recommended. Produce is porous. Soap and household detergents can be absorbed by fruits and vegetables, despite thorough rinsing, and can make you sick."

Can't really get clearer than that...
Really grosses me out, getting the taste of soap in the consumables.
I had to stop letting people bring me a glass of water, the taste of dish soap left from the dishwasher was too overwhelming to my tastebuds.

On tv they make out how the dishwasher is so much better than hand washing... but they aren't comparing with my methods where I wash and rinse in a couple pans of rainwater....
And then toss in the garden...

Annnnnddd, we all make our risk assessments. I'll never stop eating some tomatoes right off the plant, nothing better than the first ripe one each year right there in the garden. I also nibble greens and eat berries- and chuckle about the possibility of 'ant feet germs.' Of course I check for visible bugs or dirt. I "MAY" have gotten sick from that once- I think slugs are pretty nasty vectors.

I do scrub cantalopes- that rough skin could hold a lot which the knife would transfer in.

I think some salt in your rinse water may help get bugs off. (?)

Another article https://www.fda.gov/consumers/....

And more about main organisms.
A major risk would be
>> Cross contamination from raw meats or 'dirty' human contact
combined with
>> Improper temperature storage
(most organisms have to grow to a larger number or produce a toxin to make healthy people really sick)
https://aggie-horticulture.tam...

I wash everything using Dr Bronners peppermint Castile liquid soap. And on the lettuce and other greens I rinse them in hot tap water and let them stand in the hot water for a few minutes. Then I use a salad spinner to remove excess water. I also store it in the spinner in the frig. It makes the crispest, great tasting lettuce in this manner. My dear MIL was an excellent cook and gardener who taught me that.

By the way, to prevent soil from splashing on the greens you can mulch. I use a thin layer of pine straw.

I use pine straw too, in fall I get plenty from next door.

Kristi, that's a very interesting way to do the lettuce - I would have thought the hot water would "cook" it!

Here's an article that I found a while back about "how to store salad greens so they last for 2 weeks or more" -- I haven't actually tried it with lettuce and other greens from the garden as of yet, but I store sprouts this way and it has definitely worked for them.
https://www.ruralsprout.com/st...

My MIL would always say "if you will only listen to me". She knew how hardheaded I am. I thought the hot water would wilt the lettuce too but it doesn't. I've used her method for many years and on iceberg where she would remove the core and fill the whole head with hot tap water. I prefer romaine and soak loose leaves in hot water. It also works well on leaf lettuce that I grow every winter.

On the link, I would say not to let it sit in moisture in the refrigerator but I leave some water under the spinner basket. I personally think the humidity keeps it fresh.

Seems to me that when there is contamination in produce, it is not surface contamination but rather absorbed through the roots or leaves. If that is the case, all the washing in the world won't help. Contamination recalls commonly happen in winter and make me happy I can grow my own lettuce and greens in winter.

Thanks to everyone who replied. That was a surprise to me the numerous answers. Thanks also for the links! Very interesting all of it.

The main reason I even asked was because I have birds, raccoons, and rodents who sometimes help themselves to some of the edibles I grow. I worry about the germs they might carry if they have touched (or worse) my garden edibles.

Weedwhacker said: Hmm - may have at least partially answered my own question when I looked back at the article from Sally's link...

"Washing fruits and vegetables with soap, detergent, or commercial produce wash is not recommended. Produce is porous. Soap and household detergents can be absorbed by fruits and vegetables, despite thorough rinsing, and can make you sick. Also, the safety of the residues of commercial produce washes is not known and their effectiveness has not been tested."

Wash them off with Vodka.

Are we talking cheap vodka... or the good stuff?

SedonaDebbie said: Are we talking cheap vodka... or the good stuff?

Cheap, unless you will consume what is left, then good Potato водка.