Amazingly after a full year we are still eating fresh potatoes, onions, apples and eggs!
The AAD has introduced storage techniques that allow fresh produce to stay relatively fresh and edible for a whole year, on station from resupply to resupply.
This past season all boxes of fruit and vegetables were sent down with ethylene absorbers (little pouches containing mainly crystals of potassium permanganate).
Ethylene is an hormone associated with ripening that is produced by plants and released as a gas. By storing sensibly, and inhibiting the gas’s dispersion, fruit and vegetables stay fresher for much longer.
Keeping eggs for any length of time first requires good quality farm fresh eggs. These are coated in pure light mineral oil to stop air from penetrating the shell and subsequently spoiling the contents. The worst that can happen is that the egg yolk and white becomes thicker over time but they are still very edible. There is something about having a poached egg or eggs over easy with Wednesday hot smoko (cooked breakfast) and to tell you the truth, I don’t even think about the fact that they are over a year old now. After all, the Chinese eat 100 year old eggs and seem to survive!
Along with the variety of salad items produced in our small hydroponics facility we really don’t miss that much. I am craving a decent banana and a fresh succulent fejoa though (not long now until the ship is here!).
