Nancy Curtis of Price, Texas, is a life-long country woman and mother, who vividly recalls her grandparents’ root cellar.
"I remember Grandma Davis having russet potatoes and new potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, heads of cabbage, apples, eggs and crocks of sausage packed in fresh lard," Curtis says. "All of the vegetables were from Grandma and Granddad Davis’ garden."
Curtis’ grandparents lived when root cellars were common. The ice boxes of the time didn’t have much room in them, and most small towns and rural areas didn’t get refrigeration until the 1920s or later. A root cellar wasn’t just a convenience, it was a necessity.
Today, with the cost of everything on the rise and growing food-security concerns, ever more folks are growing their own food. Storing some of that bounty in a root cellar will make your family less vulnerable to energy shortages, and you get to control the food’s quality.
Root cellars can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make them. If your house has an especially cool crawlspace or basement, you are all set. For a fast and dirty cellar, bury a 55-gallon drum or other suitable container in the yard. If you have sufficient space, you can build a proper root cellar, complete with shelves, drain and ventilation.
Keeping it cool
Temperature is your first big concern for food storage. Ideally, you want to choose a site or depth that will make it easy to maintain optimal temperatures between about 32 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit during the winter.
If you are inclined to dig your cellar into a slope or bank, selecting the right location can make a good root cellar great. For example, in warmer climes, situating your cellar so that the entrance faces north will minimize exposure to the winter sun and offers an opportunity to make use of prevailing (and cool) north winds. If it gets too warm inside, you can open the door or vent to take in some cool evening air. Where winter temperatures are typically below freezing and stay there, you might orient your cellar’s entrance to the southeast to help keep temperatures above freezing.
Humidity is good
A relative humidity of 90 to 95 percent is ideal to keep your fruits and vegetables from dehydrating. A cellar with a floor composed of a layer of sand or gravel over earth is ideal. If it gets too dry, just sprinkle water on the floor. If the cellar is made of stone or concrete, regularly wetting the walls will keep the humidity up.
Let it breathe
Ventilation is the final key to creating a successful root cellar. No matter where or how you install the cellar, there needs to be some means to allow cool air in to chill it and excess humidity out to keep it from getting wet. If yours is a bank cellar, a vent or window, low on the outward-facing wall, will allow cool air in if the cellar also has a vent pipe in the ceiling that allows warmer air to escape. If your cellar is completely underground, you will need two vent pipes – one that extends from outside to the cellar floor and one that extends from the ceiling to the outside. You can adjust air flow (and therefore temperature and humidity) by opening and closing the vents.
Plan ahead
With a root cellar, gardeners can plant with the entire year in mind. Planning ahead gives the option of having root vegetables in late winter and early spring, lettuce with your Christmas dinner and crisp apples in January.
Nongardeners interested in keeping fresh foods through the winter can stock their root cellar with high-quality locally grown produce in season. All you need to do is visit your local farmers’ market to find the freshest fare for eating and for storing.
Worth the effort
Just like most other good things in life, root cellaring takes some effort and planning to work well. There are storage containers to collect, shelves to make, vegetables to can and records to keep. You will need to monitor each crop’s health routinely and cull fruits and vegetables that are getting close to spoiling. Some spoilage is bound to occur, even in the best planned cellar. Expect it, toss it and grab something else for dinner.
MaryAnna Clemons writes and root cellars vegetables at her farm near Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Read more: http://www.grit.com/food/root-cellars-in-the-21st-century.aspx#ixzz2k63TX0Px
How To Build a Basement root cellar!
The two vents (#1 in the illustration above) create a siphon effect that lets you regulate the flow of cold outside air into the insulated cellar room, allowing the temperature to remain near freezing through the winter months. As you custom-cut your wall studs to length, make them short enough to leave an eighth- to a quarter-inch gap between the top of the wall and the joists above when combined with the top and bottom plates (#2). Basement floors are often damp, so consider using composite deck material instead of wood for the bottom wall plate (#3). Insulation is your next challenge, and good reasons exist to consider using rigid sheets of foam (#4) instead of traditional fiberglass batts. The most important is moisture resistance.
The great thing about cabbage, carrots and all the other crops, as David Cavagnaro and Nancy Bubel describe in the two previous articles, is all you need to store them for months is a cold, well-ventilated space. A spare refrigerator works pretty well, but even better and more spacious is a real root cellar. A basement root cellar is convenient and useful.
Traditionally, this cold room was an underground space built under or near the home, insulated by the ground and vented so cold air could flow in and warm air out in the fall. Then when winter temperatures arrived, the vents were closed, and the cellar stayed cold but not freezing.
Most modern basements are too warm for long-term winter storage, but you can create an indoor version of the cellars that have long served homesteaders well by walling off a basement corner and adding the vents, as shown in the drawing above. The two vents (#1 in the illustration that can be seen in the gallery) create a siphon effect that lets you regulate the flow of cold outside air into the insulated cellar room, allowing the temperature to remain near freezing through the winter months.
Fred Matlack of Vera Cruz, Pa., developed this nifty design, and the basement root cellar he built in his basement has worked just as he planned. “You just need to watch the temperature to be sure you close the vents before the temperature drops below freezing, which would damage some crops,” Matlack says.
Several universal truths remain constant that will help you create an optimal root cellar, even though every basement situation is unique. The first is location. Because you’ll need access to the outdoors for fresh air, choose a cellar position that includes a window. It’s possible to bore holes through a basement wall for the 3- or 4-inch vent pipes you’ll need to install, but it’s a whole lot easier to simply remove the glass from a window, replace it with plywood and then run your pipes through holes in the wood. In cold regions, you can create an insulated panel to replace window glass. Laminating a layer of half-inch-thick exterior-grade plywood on each side of a piece of 1- or 2-inch-thick extruded polystyrene foam is a terrific way to make an insulated panel for vent pipe access. Polyurethane construction adhesive is perfect for holding the foam-and-wood sandwich together.
When it comes to any basement root cellar, the exterior walls create ideal interior temperatures. This is what delivers the cooling action, and the more masonry surface you’ve got, the better. That’s why you’ll want to choose a corner location for your installation if you can. This offers maximum exposure to exterior walls while minimizing the need to build and insulate interior walls. And if you’ve got a choice, select a spot with the highest soil height outside. Does one of your possible options include northern exposure? Terrific! That’s great if you can get it.
Traditionally, this cold room was an underground space built under or near the home, insulated by the ground and vented so cold air could flow in and warm air out in the fall. Then when winter temperatures arrived, the vents were closed, and the cellar stayed cold but not freezing.
Most modern basements are too warm for long-term winter storage, but you can create an indoor version of the cellars that have long served homesteaders well by walling off a basement corner and adding the vents, as shown in the drawing above. The two vents (#1 in the illustration that can be seen in the gallery) create a siphon effect that lets you regulate the flow of cold outside air into the insulated cellar room, allowing the temperature to remain near freezing through the winter months.
Fred Matlack of Vera Cruz, Pa., developed this nifty design, and the basement root cellar he built in his basement has worked just as he planned. “You just need to watch the temperature to be sure you close the vents before the temperature drops below freezing, which would damage some crops,” Matlack says.
Several universal truths remain constant that will help you create an optimal root cellar, even though every basement situation is unique. The first is location. Because you’ll need access to the outdoors for fresh air, choose a cellar position that includes a window. It’s possible to bore holes through a basement wall for the 3- or 4-inch vent pipes you’ll need to install, but it’s a whole lot easier to simply remove the glass from a window, replace it with plywood and then run your pipes through holes in the wood. In cold regions, you can create an insulated panel to replace window glass. Laminating a layer of half-inch-thick exterior-grade plywood on each side of a piece of 1- or 2-inch-thick extruded polystyrene foam is a terrific way to make an insulated panel for vent pipe access. Polyurethane construction adhesive is perfect for holding the foam-and-wood sandwich together.
When it comes to any basement root cellar, the exterior walls create ideal interior temperatures. This is what delivers the cooling action, and the more masonry surface you’ve got, the better. That’s why you’ll want to choose a corner location for your installation if you can. This offers maximum exposure to exterior walls while minimizing the need to build and insulate interior walls. And if you’ve got a choice, select a spot with the highest soil height outside. Does one of your possible options include northern exposure? Terrific! That’s great if you can get it.
After you’ve picked your cellar location and replaced the window glass with a solid panel that accommodates the vent pipes, turn your attention to the walls. Find yourself a helper, grab a sheet or two of plywood or wafer board, and get ready to use your imagination. It’s amazing how temporarily propping up sheet materials can help you imagine the floor plan of a new room, leading you to better finished results. How long should your cellar be? How wide? Is a 3-foot-wide door big enough? These kinds of questions are much easier to answer when you’ve got something to hold up, look at, move around and tweak.
With the footprint and door location of your cellar finalized, mark the relevant outlines on the floor with a big felt-tipped marker. Although you’ll need to build some kind of wood frame for the wall and doorway, it needn’t be as beefy as a typical load-bearing wall for a house. You can extend stud spacing beyond 24 inches on center if you need to economize, but regardless of the wall design, you’ll have to secure it at the top and bottom. A few tricks can make this happen.
As you custom-cut your wall studs to length, make them short enough to leave an eighth- to a quarter-inch gap between the top of the wall and the joists above when combined with the top and bottom plates (#2). That way, you’ll have no trouble tilting the wall up into position (be sure to check that it’s plumb by using a level), yet you still can secure it with 3½-inch #10 screws driven up through the top plate and into the bottom edge of the joists. Drive a softwood wedge dabbed with glue into the gap before driving the screws home.
Basement floors are often damp, so consider using composite deck material instead of wood for the bottom wall plate (#3). Choose a brand that’s solid all the way through, then cut and nail it just like regular lumber. Composites are rot-proof and won’t contribute musty smells to your cellar, even if they get wet. Anchor the bottom of your cellar wall to a concrete floor with construction adhesive and concrete nails or screws driven into pre-drilled holes.
Insulation is your next challenge, and good reasons exist to consider using rigid sheets of foam (#4) instead of traditional fiberglass batts. The most important is moisture resistance. Any basement is likely to get damp from time to time, and fiberglass has almost no ability to resist mold growth and deterioration when water is present. Foam, on the other hand, tolerates moisture much better. It’s also easier to use than fiberglass, and it’s non-irritating. Extruded polystyrene is especially good in this regard. It’s also a highly effective thermal insulator. Just be aware that some jurisdictions require foam to be covered with a fire-resistant sheet to meet code specifications. As you plan your insulation strategy, be sure to include the ceiling of your cellar. Warmth coming down from heated areas above could raise cellar temperatures too high for the food.
A key feature of the basement cellar is the two-vent design. To function optimally, space the interior ends of the intake and exhaust pipes as far apart as possible. Also, you’ll need to plan your shelf layout to allow as much top-to-bottom air movement as you can achieve. This is where ceiling-mounted shelves can really help (#5). The best idea is to use hanging metal wire frames that support shelves made of 2-by-12-inch lumber you cut yourself. Cover the vent openings with screen to keep out insects and mice, and if you want to really cool the room down quickly, add a little exhaust fan to supplement the natural flow of cool air down into the room.
Steve Maxwell lives and gardens with his family on Mount Island, Ontario.
Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/basement-root-cellar-zm0z04zsie.aspx#ixzz2k64E4zgR
Cross section of Roberts' root cellar.
ILLUSTRATION: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF
ILLUSTRATION: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF
A refrigerator in spring and summer, a safe-from-freezing pantry in fall and winter, and a man-made cave dug into a hillside and sealed shut with thick double doors ... root cellars were all of those things.
Not long ago, just about every family living in the world's colder climes had one of the harvest keepers. Nestled in the earth—and away from the heat of the kitchen—a root cellar maintained a temperature just above freezing and provided a practical storage bin for root crops, apples, meats, cabbages, and other goods ... throughout a long winter.
Of course, the heyday of the homestead food storer ended a good while ago. When folks gained access to refrigerators and supermarkets, the root cellar was pretty much forgotten. In fact, by the time I was a lad, all the food houses in our area had long since been abandoned. The deteriorating structures were used only by us youngsters ... as "secret" forts.
Nowadays, though, there's been a revival of interest in practical, inexpensive ways of putting up food. More and more people are rediscovering the wisdom of constructing a place to store unprocessed, homegrown edibles. And, even though building a cellar requires a fair investment in labor and materials, the finished shelter uses absolutely no operating energy and demands no maintenance or upkeep.
My father, Ted Roberts, recently built a root cellar in Three Lakes, Wisconsin. Dad started the project by excavating an 8' X 8' X 20' cavern using a backhoe.
The bottom of the cellar was lined with sand for drainage purposes. When building the walls, though, father laid a concrete base that had an upwardly protruding inner lip. The L-shaped foundation would both support the weight of the cedar log walls and brace the base of those rounds against the tons of sideways "cavein" pressure the earth-banked structure would be exposed to.
Every cedar log was peeled, and then cut square (on each of two opposing sides) in order to make sure that the vertically stacked timbers would all fit snugly in place. The ceiling cedars were notched where they rested atop the wall logs so that—like the concrete base lip—the horizontal beams could help brace the cellar's sides.
Father outfitted the front of the root cellar with double doors, which were separated by an air space to keep out the cold. The storage house is also wired for electricity. When especially cold nights bring temperatures as low as 40° below zero, the cellar's incandescent light warms up the inside temperature a few degrees ... to make absolutely sure that the put-back food doesn't freeze.
With the assistance of Dad's "emergency" heater, the finished cave stays a few degrees above the ice-up point throughout the entire Wisconsin winter. And it holds its even coolness during warm March thaws—when mourning cloak butterflies migrate over gray snow—and through surprising and stark May blizzards. Around midsummer the earth-sheltered space warms up to about 55° ... but winter-stored crops are gone by then, and there are fresh vegetables in the garden
A root cellar will eventually pay for itself by allowing its owner to store up food that is either homegrown or practically free for the picking at harvest time. For just one example of economical food hoarding, let's consider apples. If you gather five or ten bushels of unblemished red fruits late in the growing season (when they'd otherwise only fall and rot on the ground), the inexpensive edibles will keep for months in the cellar and provide you with a winter's worth of fresh fruit for juices, eating, and cooking.
A root cellar is also a good place for storing your game, smoked meats, and cheeses. Such food shelters offer complete protection from basement mice, marauding raccoons, and other pests. (I know of Alaskan homesteaders who find root cellars to be their only sure protection against food-stealing brown bears!) My mother even uses her cellar to store the huge potted ivies which decorate her patio in warmer months but cannot live through Wisconsin winters. The plants survive the cold season in the root cellar ... in a naturally dormant state. The crop holders are useful in summer, too ... for storing wine, live fish bait, and other products that profit from a cool, protected environment.
All in all, it's plain to see that folks who want the independence of being able to eat their own fresh, home-stored food will find that the notion of building a root cellar is an idea whose time has come ... back.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Additional information about root cellaring can be found in Root Cellaring by Mike and Nancy Bubel (Rodale Press). This comprehensive, 297-page hardbound book covers all aspects of storing unprocessed foods.
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