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When storing produce of any sort the first thing is get it out of that plastic bag, and contrary to opinion, do not wrap it in foil....... The moment produce is cut it begins a decaying process, and one of the key elements of that process is the natural production of nitrous-oxide gas (commonly called laughing gas). The gas expidites the decomposition process and if you keep the produce in a bag or in foil it traps that gas in, thus expiditing the decomposition. Taking this to the next step, I used to drive an 18wheeler hauling produce from Calif to Boston. All produce shipping containers are waxed cardboard boxes with air holes in them for ventilation. The boxes are loaded in the truck and they then blow in a layer of chipped ice on top and we set the refer unit at 34-36degF. The ice would slowly melt and keep a trickle of water going down through the load. Notice in the grocery stores most of the produce is in loose in coolers that have water jets to occassionaly mist the product, then the customers come by and make their selections, which they place in a bag. Tomatoes are the worst. If you grow your own you know that you can bring a vine ripened tomatoe in the house and keep it on a counter or window sill for 5 to 8 days, but if you bring them home from the grocery store they are still half green and hard as a rock, but still only last 3 or 4 days in the fridge. That is because when they pick tomatoes commercially they pick them green as grass, and after they are loaded in the truck they set a tank of nitrous-oxide gas in the truck and open the valve just before closing the doors. Three days later when we arrived at the wholesale produce market in Boston we used to laugh our butts off watching the guys unload the trailers. The trailers still had the nitrous-oxide gas (laughing gas) inside and no matter how tired or sore those handlers got, they could not help but laugh themselves silly. I even saw a guy drop a carton on his foot and broke a bone, yet he was laughing his fool head off and couldn't stop....LOL. We could make the trip from Calfornia to Boston in 3.5days and when we arrived the tomatoes were still green, but just starting to show a little yellow color. From the wholesale market they go out to the grocery stores the next day and by the time they reach the store shelves they are just showing a nice pale pink to red color. Take them home and leave them in a plastic bag and they will be mush in 4 days. The best way to keep celery is cut the bottom of the stalks and stand them in water. As the exposed portions start drying out they will absorb more water into the stalk keeping a nice firm texture. It is important that you cut a bit off the bottom before placing it in the water because when it is cut the end of the stalk will dry and form a skin, but cutting that back a bit exposes the stalk to absorb water.

Lemon juice in water will keep them from browning for awhile. I think I would slice the apples just before leaving for work at home, and as I slice them throw them in a Tupperware bowl of lemon water. Then I would take bowl, water and apples to work and drain the apples there on paper towel before putting them out.

Vinyl siding it not waterproof, is simply sheds most of the water off of your building. The gaps around the J block are necessary for the vinyl siding to expand and contract. J blocks are ideally flashed similar to a vinyl window with a nailing flange and it's brick mold cut out. 1. Take your vinyl siding back off around it and buy some membrane flashing tape such as blueskin or the one 3M makes. The 4" width tape should do fine for most J block installations. 2. Cut the building paper so the membrane flashing tape can stick to your wall sheathing and the top side of the nailing flange. 3. Use the appropriate primer if necessary on any surfaces the tape will be sticking to. 4. Run the tape on the left and right side of the j block nails flange. This should overlap onto your building paper. 5. Run a piece of tape over the top nailing flange and onto your wall sheathing. This will ensure that any water that happens to get behind the building paper will find it's way back out. Use a building paper tape to tape the building paper back down if necessary, but be sure to tape it in a way that the water will not get trapped between the membrane flashing tape and the building paper Do not caulk or spray foam around it. Just make sure water has a path to get back out when the water does inevitability get behind it. This is no different from the j channel, outside corners and inside corners that the vinyl siding on the rest of your building is slid into. I hope this helps. It is a bit hard to explain without pictures or video.