Fruit and vegetables

Keep tomatoes on the counter until ripe, then eat them or refrigerate them for a few days. Fridge or counter, green tomatoes before frost, freezing, and when to toss.

Fresh mushrooms keep about 3 to 7 days in the fridge in a paper bag. How to store them, why plastic makes them slimy, how to freeze them, and when to toss.

Apples keep 2 to 4 weeks on the counter and a month or more in the fridge. How to store and freeze them, why one bad apple matters, and when to toss one.

Bananas keep up to a week on the counter and 5 to 7 more days in the fridge once ripe. How to store and freeze them, why the peel turns black, and when to toss.

Fresh spinach keeps 3 to 7 days in the fridge, and an opened bag about 2. How to store it, freeze it, and when slimy leaves mean the bag goes.

Whole peppers keep 4 to 14 days in the fridge and 6 to 8 months frozen. Why green outlasts red, how to store cut and hot peppers, and when mold means cut or bin.

Potatoes keep up to a month in a cool, dark cupboard, not the fridge. How to store and freeze them, and when to cut away sprouts and green or throw them out.

Strawberries keep 1 to 3 days in the fridge, unwashed, and 8 to 12 months frozen. How to store, wash and freeze them, and what to do with a moldy berry.

Whole garlic keeps up to 8 weeks in a cool, dark place, not the fridge. How to store and freeze it, when garlic in oil is unsafe, and how to spot bad garlic.

Whole onions keep up to 4 weeks on the counter and cut onions up to 7 days in the fridge. How to store, freeze and judge sprouted or moldy onions.