How to make washing greens less of a pain

Hi David,
Glad to see you at permies.

My family of 5 loves eating greens. Salads are good, boiled greens are good too, nobody minds if they're a little bitter.

The other good thing is we have an almost endless supply of them. We started gardening a few years ago and greens are one of the things that are easy to grow, sometimes come back (we're on our 4th year with a particular chicory), and there's just a lot of it to eat.

The only problem we're having is that we don't eat enough simply because we aren't able to wash all the greens in a timely mannar. We have hectic lives and washing veggies somehow doesn't fit in. Plus 1 or 2 of us have a real problem with worms and slugs and snails, so for them it's a tough job. I'd love to juice the greens, but after growing and harvesting and a million other things, cleaning even more greens seems like a real chore.

Any thoughts on how to get more cleaned greens into our mouths? Other than doing it all at once, I don't see any way out...

Thanks,
William

I use salt and my standard 2 compartment kitchen sink.
Fill each compartment with halfway up water. I add about a half a cup of salt to one side, stir it up. Dump the greens into the salt side, let them sit there for a while, 15-20 minutes. I agitate them from time to time.
When I can't stand waiting anymore, I give them some agitation, lift a handful at a time, drop them in the other side. The salt helps irritate and dislodge the bugs. They'll usually float or sink.
Drain the salt sink, refill with fresh water, move the greens from the compartment they are in to this last rinse. In the last rinse they go in for a splash and good shake. Most of the dirt and debris is gone after the salt bath. The 2nd bath does not see much left in the water. If there is a lot of debris, I'll give them another dunking until I'm comfortable with their cleanliness.
Cleaned greens sit in a colander to drain.

I find mulching with hay, grass and leaves keeps the greens clean. Rain does not splash sand all over the place. I plant a polyculture so the bugs don't have a large enough environment for their numbers to get out of control.

I also know that you can put vinegar into the "bath".
I did this with little water, and then put it in a 2nd bath with just a lot of water, then drain.

I am lucky, I do not have this problem now...
I just do not wash my greens!

Some people say that we need things like the formic acid from ants and so on...
I reckon there is some sort of psychological barriers with bugs.
The only only ne I cannot cope with are slugs!

My big victory is to not look at meety fruits any more, except when too much and can be seen from outside.
But I still have to not watch. I assure you there is no taste problem, that is just a matter of changing what was just unthinkable... yuk and cheers! Salud! )

Anyone ever try rubbermaid tubs or large containers for doing a 2 or 3-cycle bath? If I could organize that at the field, maybe I could be bringing home pre-cleaned greens.

William

The mention of outdoor tubs made me think of this product sold by Gardeners Supply Company:


I use the bowl and basket of my salad spinner in a similar way inside the house with three rinses. I'll have to try salt and/or vinegar next time.