Earthy veggies

It's a wonder there's any dirt left in California, where our store-bought veggies come from. All the grit and dirt that is lodged in celery, chard, leeks, spinach and other greens when they arrive in my kitchen, multiplied by all those in this store and other stores, might amount to several inches of good soil.

I don't know where it goes - whether into sewer settling tanks or my plumbing traps. I just know my veggies need to be free of it or we're going to have a miserably crunchy experience at dinner tonight, and I'm going to fear for my teeth.

Which is where H2 comes in. This is the old veteran workhorse cleaner Basic H in a slightly modified form. It still works on veggies to release the grit.

Here's what I do: fill the sink or a large bowl with cold water, measure in exactly 1 drop of H2, and then add the veggies (either in batches or all together, depending on quantity). I remove them immediately and rinse them. A satisfying layer of dirt is usually visible on the bottom of the container.

For many-dimensioned veggies with deep crevices like celery and leeks, separating the stalks before washing them only makes sense.

When I first started doing this, decades upon decades ago (in 1971), I did an experiment. I took a bag of triple-washed spinach and shook it into a large bowl of cold water, shook it around a bit, and looked in the bottom. No grit - of course not, since this was already-washed spinach.

Then I added a drop of Basic H, shook the spinach in the water some more, lifted it out - and was delighted to see a layer of silt in the bowl.

That's when I took up the practice of washing all the produce that comes into the house in Basic H, whether it seems dirty or not. Cold water, rinse quickly, dry, and refrigerate. It works for fruits too - what you can't see (pesticides?) can hurt you.

A warning about H2: it is as concentrated as it can be. There's no water in it. ONE DROP is all you need. I don't want to strip the vitamins out of the produce, so one drop, cold water, a quick rinse, and done!

Another comment: H2 is not a veggie wash, it is a cleaner. You can use it to clean everything, but again, be frugal - a small amount goes a long way. The literature that comes with it will explain that. It's not toxic, not dangerous, just undiluted.

To order Basic H2, visit this Shaklee website.