Hey, vinegar. And it's got nothing to do with Michael Douglas!

Disclaimer: I have not tried this but it sounds sensible to me. This
was sent to me via email from the Dataw listserv. Sometimes these folks
actually have something useful to say. It was this:

"The key to preventing moldy berries... Berries are delicious, but
they're also kind of delicate. Raspberries in particular seem like they
can mold before you even get them home from the market.

There's nothing more tragic than paying $4 for a punnet of local
raspberries, only to look in the fridge the next day and find that fuzzy
mold growing on their insides. Well, with fresh berries just starting to
hit farmers markets, we can tell you that how to keep
them fresh!

Here's a tip I'm sharing on how to prevent them from getting there in
the first place: Wash them with vinegar.

When you get your berries home, prepare a mixture of one part vinegar
(white or apple cider work best) and ten parts water. Dump the
berries into the mixture and swirl around. Drain, rinse if you want
(though the mixture is so diluted you can't taste the vinegar,) and pop
in the fridge.

The vinegar kills any mold spores and other bacteria that might be on
the surface of the fruit, and voila! Raspberries will last a week or
more, and strawberries go almost two weeks without getting moldy and soft."

Okay, I haven't tried this because I don't buy berries. But given
everything else vinegar is good for it makes sense to me.

Jill