Storing Your Vegetables in the Root Cellar you Built – How Exciting
The traditional method of keeping vegetables fresh without using electricity. This preserves the nutrients as-well. Vegetables can stay firm and crispy and is naturally insulated against the weather. Cool during the summer and prevents freezing in the winter. This is really an excellent way to keep fruits, vegetables and preserves. See how you can build your own root cellar, it’s not really that difficult!
This How to Build a Root Cellar
Where to Put the Root Cellar?
Usually it is placed in a slope, making a small cave in the earth and covering the walls on the inside with wood or other materials. Then, a door is put in front of it, or sometimes two doors. If you don’t have a slope handy, the cellar can also be dug into a flat ground, or prepared inside the basement of your house.
Build it with two doors. One is used to enter from the outside. Then you close that one before opening the second door. In that way the cold doesn’t come inside and the vegetables don’t freeze. The same goes for hot weather, it is a way of keeping a constant temperature on the inside.
Making it in the basement
Potato Recipes If you are preparing your root cellar in the basement of your house, try to choose the coolest, dampest spot. If possible, use a wall that is underground and facing north.
You need two ventilation holes in the wall, both with fitted valves. One should be high up, close to the ceiling, the other about a foot from the floor. This will create a circulation of air in your cellar. Whenever the temperature outside is cooler than the one inside, the hot air will be drawn out and cool air in. If the temperature drops below zero, close one valve. This will allow air to circulate a bit, without destroying the food. If it gets really terribly cold, close both valves temporarily. You can also close them partially if the cold weather continues since it is necessary with ventilation.
How to Build a Root Cellar
A Cool Spot in Your Garden
Apple Recipes If you are making a root cellar in your garden, it is best to put it where there is a natural slope. Otherwise, dig about 20-40 inches down, making sure it is drained well. Then, prepare the structure with steel rods, wooden planks and mesh or other strong materials, covering it with earth. The layer next to the cellar should be earth, but further out it can be mixed with stones, if that’s what you have. You will always need to prepare the ventilation tubes.
When choosing materials for the walls, bear in mind that it gets very humid. Therefore, rot-resistant wood or gypsum boards are good, or stone.
Use an Old Fridge to Make a Root Cellar
Quick and Easy
Putting Your Stuff in the Root Cellar.
Inside a root cellar there should be shelves. The shelves closer to the ground will be damper and cooler, so it is good to consider what should be where. Fruit should be kept far away from vegetables as they transmit a substance that makes vegetables age quicker. If you live in a dry climate, it could be advisable to increase humidity by putting a bucket of water on the floor or covering the vegetables with a damp blanket.
You can also keep your veggies covered with sand in your root cellar. This works especially well with roots like carrots and beets.