Whether visiting an orchard to pick ripe-and-ready apples is your annual autumn ritual, or you just happen to *love* a good farm-share, you’re bound to get saddled with way more apples than you can feasibly eat at some point this season. And while, yes—you could make a bounty of vegan pies to gift everyone in your immediate circle, there’s also a way to hack your produce to make it outlive even the end of apple season in mid-October.

According to Mental Floss, fall’s star fruit keeps the utmost freshness in 30–35 degree climates with a relative humidity of 90–95 percent. So to recreate an atmosphere that’s as ideal as possible for your galas, red delicious, or Granny Smiths, wrap each one in a damp paper towel, and place them in your fridge (ideally in the crisper drawer which is a bit more humid than the rest of the fridge).

No matter which method you choose, be sure to store the apples solo so that the ethylene gas doesn’t end up ripening the whole bounty of seasonal goods in your refrigerator.

Alternatively, you can stick your bunch in a large, plastic bag. Just make sure to punch holes in the material to let out the ethylene gas, which has a ripening effect on the fruit. Both methods will increase the fruit’s shelf life for months, but no matter which one you choose, be sure to store the apples solo so that the ethylene gas doesn’t end up ripening the whole bounty of seasonal goods in your refrigerator.

Now, you can stick with your “apple a day” ethos well into sweater weather. Who knows? The pie you serve up at Thanksgiving might even owe its delicious, cinnamon-sprinkled filling to the very last of 2018’s apple crop.

These refrigerator storage mistakes are shortening the life of your groceries. And you can keep your veggies crisp for so much longer with this hack.