![]() Also, because your basement is probably made from concrete, it creates a perfect place for mold to grow – and that mold will contaminate your food. These don’t work as well as dug root cellars because it is hard to control humidity and temperature. It is possible to use an unfinished part of your basement as a root cellar (though these are traditionally called cold cellars instead of root cellars). See instructions on how to make a “ground fridge” here. However, the fridge really works best because it is insulated. This can also be done by burying a garbage can or other container. When combined with the insulation from the refrigerator, you can store vegetables in the buried fridge for a long time. Ideally, you also add a vent to allow hot air and gases from food to exit the fridge. With this method, you basically dig a hole in the ground and lay a refrigerator into the hole horizontally. These methods employ the same basic ideas as root cellaring – using the ground to create a dark, cold, and humid environment – but don’t require as much space or effort. If you can’t build a root cellar (you are renting, can’t afford it now, or simply don’t want to commit…), there are some other off-grid refrigeration options. I’m happy for modern refrigeration! Alternatives Imagine how difficult it must have been to access this root cellar in the winter. There are huge benefits to moving towards an off-grid lifestyle by building a root cellar, but be realistic about how it will fit into your lifestyle. Modern refrigeration is a great thing and makes our lives much easier. I mention these downsides of root cellars because I don’t want to romanticize them. Many root cellars have dirt or sand floors, so you risk tracking dirt into your home with each trip to the root cellar. Even if the root cellar is in your basement or right next to the house, you’ll have to put on shoes, go to the root cellar (possibly through cold snow), maybe climb down a ladder, and then lug the food back. There is also the nuisance of getting food from a root cellar. Root cellars do require some maintenance, like keeping the floor moist, keeping certain vegetables wet, and controlling the temperature and humidity (such as by turning on fans or opening/closing doors at certain times). When you get started with root cellaring, you’ll have to figure out which areas of the root cellar are the coldest or moistest, and then figure out which foods to keep there (the temperature and humidity in a root cellar is rarely uniform). For starters, they do have a bit of a learning curve. Storing food until you have time for another preservation method (like canning or dehydrating)Īs great as root cellars are for storing food without electricity, they do have their drawbacks.A place to start seeds indoors before spring planting.Some of the reasons why root cellars have gained popularity include: ![]() Traditional skills like root cellaring are making a huge comeback. There’s no denying that people today are increasingly more reliant on the grid and very few of us know the skills that our grandparents knew.īut there is pushback. We overlook the miracles it offers because it is so simple and unpretentious.” “A root cellar will keep working through the deepest winter and the longest power failure. Despite their simplicity, they are very effective at preserving foods without any power at all. Root cellars are incredibly simple structures and fairly easy to make. An old root cellar built into a hill The interior of an old root cellar Why Would You Want One? You can see the door to their root cellar in the foreground. Check out this photo of a family from the 1800s. You can still find root cellars when you tour historic homes or even when driving through country back roads. They were an essential part of virtually every home in the 1800s in America. Root cellars have been used for centuries. However, it is possible to use a root cellar in the summer too. Usually crops were put in the root cellar after the harvest so they could be eaten throughout the winter. Vegetables can last for months when stored in a root cellar. This environment is perfect for storing certain types of vegetables (especially root veggies, hence the name root cellar). Filler Materials in Storage Containers (Sand, Hay, etc.)Ī root cellar is essentially an underground “cave” which is cold, dark, and humid.
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