Preparing Vegetables - Best Practice?

So ... I get the veg from the garden to the kitchen - parsnips, leeks, Jerusalem artichokes, Celeriac ... we have heavy clay soil, so they are covered in soil; I bring them into the kitchen in a large bucket, and set about cleaning them in the sink.

There is then a large quantity of mud trying to block the sink (which I could put back on the compost heap if I could "catch" it), and once rinsed off I stack the veg on the draining board, ready for pealing. The resulting little river of muddy water is not well received by my DW.

And then the whole pealing operation tends not to go brilliantly. We have a half-height swing-bin for the compost heap; pealing on the chopping board makes further mess ...

... anyway, if you were designing the ideal kitchen, or vegetable-staging-post (utility room?) how would you solve this problem? or what gadgetry do you have that works well?

I've got a few thoughts:

We have a double butler sink. I think its disappointing that the base is pretty flat - something more sloping would help all the grot gravitate to the plug.

Previously we had a nifty plug that you could turn 90 degrees which would let the water out, but filter back the grot.

I think a spray tap (which I've always thought of as a luxury) would help me rinse-down the sink after I've finished [I think they are sold on the basis of fresh-rinsing the dishes]

Perhaps I should rinse everything in a bucket outside, but I have very bad circulation and my hands freeze pretty quickly. Maybe there are ways around that?

Hmmm ... perhaps we should move to somewhere with sandy loam that just "falls off the veg as you harvest them" ... I'm dreaming again, sorry!

 

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(Perhaps I should rinse everything in a bucket outside)

You know it makes sense !

 

You could try using one of those old fashioned netting shopping bags to hold the veg whilst you are dipping it in a bucket outside.

 

Sadly I don't think our soil would come off just by dipping :( I have the rub our root vegetables between Thumb and Forefinger ...

 

Oh dear, you`ll have to be in the dog house then Kristen-sorry, I do feel for you-I have to wash my hands in the cold rainwater before I come in and thats bad enough. Got clay soil myself so not looking forward to the scrubbing part either.

 

I plonk the veg into a garden sieve sitting on top of a big plastic bucket and blast the soil off with a hose. I usually leave the veg to drain for an hour or so before taking them indoors for Mrs W to deal with.
I drilled small holes in the bottom of the bucket and it drains into a flower bed, but most of the soil is retained and I then empty it on the veg plot.
Next to no muck gets rinsed down the sink and my paws don't get wet and cold either!

 

I agree with Dave on this one. Best idea by far...

 

Dave, that sounds like a marriage-winner - thanks!