How to properly care for a refrigerator/freezer? How to have veggies/fruits keep longer?

[TopHatFox]

Refrigerator/Freezer Maintenance

Of the mini-fridges I've owned and used, I've noticed that they tend to accumulate frost quickly in the freezer compartment (which is only separated from the refrigerator compartment below by a thin slice of plastic).

Turning off the mini-fridge and removing the frost using a blunt tool of some kind works, but drops excess ice (read: moisture) in the mini-fridge that does not re-freeze once the frost drops from the freezer compartment to the refrigerator compartment. This excess moisture causes food to mold and rot faster, which I would prefer to limit to the best of my ability.

The other method of eliminating the frost is to "de-frost" the mini-fridge by unplugging it, pulling the door ajar, and tilting the refrigerator downward at a ~45 degree angle, with some sort of absorbent material--like a towel--below it. This works, but it can be time consuming to do repeatedly, and might still leave moisture in the refrigerator.

Maybe simply removing the contents and wiping the fridge down with a cloth, then leaving it ajar for a few hours would remove most of the moisture? Is there any non-synthetic material I could conveniently place in the fridge to reduce the rate at which moisture accumulates?

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Veggies/Fruit Shelf Life

I've also been curious what the "produce" bins in refrigerators are for--do they exist to control moisture, and therefore to reduce the rate of decay of food sensitive to moisture?

Found a thing for those interested: http://www.thekitchn.com/what-to-store- ... chn-178094

[BlueNote]

Here is a small tip I got from Martha Stewart, wrap your celery in aluminum foil and it will last a long time in the fridge without going floppy. For me it usually lasts a few weeks like that, so I can buy celery on sales and store it in foil for a while. I imagine the same trick will work for other vegetables like lettuce and kale but I haven't tried it.

One day I hope to grow my own vegetables in a garden so they'll always be fresh but I am an apartment dweller now.