A Basement Root Cellar — Putting Up Below Ground
A modernistic-twenty-four hour period homesteader keeps garden crops fresh through winter using one-time-time techniques and a basement root cellar.
Root Cellar How-To Wisdom
"Preserve everything" is the homesteader'due south mantra during the months of plenty. Traditionally, this was the only way people had food to swallow during the winter. Even today, you'll see farm women working over the stove, canning their precious peaches, dehydrating their crop of cherries in the sunshine or bundling upward herbs to dry. Just peradventure the easiest way to put upwards for wintertime is to store the produce in a cold-storage root cellar.
Even for a lawn gardener, this tin can exist a peachy mode to comport over a surplus of root vegetables with very little planning or prep work. Frankly, it'south much easier to throw a bin of apples in the cellar than it is to tin all that fruit. That's not lazy homesteading— it'due south smart homesteading.
Your vegetables
Certain crops lend themselves improve to root cellar storage and wintertime eating than others. Such crops equally potatoes, onions, shallots, beets, garlic, squash, carrots, cabbages, parsnips and turnips are at the top of the list. Among these crops, there are particular kinds that tend to store very well, and so select varieties that are practiced for long-term storage if this is a road you lot'd like to explore.
I call back existence young and venturing downward to my grandpa'southward root cellar. Information technology sat in the basement of his home, built erstwhile in the 1940s when root storage was still regularly practiced. His was lined with shelves of produce, flower bulbs and canned goods. There were heavy cobwebs hanging from the ceiling and the smell of moist earth in the air. I hated going downwards there because —hello!—cobwebs and nighttime, dank cellars are super creepy to a half-dozen- year-old. But now that nosotros've got a large root cellar ourselves, I can't wait to pitter-patter my own children out with the same memories. (I'1000 such a proficient mom.)
The root cellar
If you're aiming to do the aforementioned, or if you lot just take a bumper crop of something to put upwards this year, the following tips may help with your own root cellar. The storage principles can vary always then slightly from crop to crop, but for the sake of simplicity, let'due south focus on the basics:
Keep it Cool
The idea ofroot cellar storage is to continue the produce in a cool, damp surroundings, much like a fridge. Dorsum before refrigeration existed, this was the way people kept much of their produce from decomposing besides quickly. Ideally, the root cellar volition concur the produce at an average of 52 degrees.
Keep it Moist
If the airin the root cellar is too dry, information technology will depict moisture away from the produce and will result in shriveled produce all too quickly. The style to prevent this is to keep the humidity at effectually 90 percent. Yes, that's pretty high. But a true root cellar will have a dirt floor, which naturally holds moisture, keeping the humidity elevated. Gently wetting the floor tin can be a peachy manner to increase humidity. You can besides place damp towels over the top of the produce bins to maintain good moisture in the air.
Keep it Dark
Producestores much better out of directly sunlight, which will pause it down speedily. Sunlight also encourages the roots to send upwardly shoots, which renders the food inedible. For optimal storage, root cellars should be windowless; if yours has windows, be certain they are sealed and well-covered.
This essay is from Shaye Elliott'due southWelcome to the Farm: How-To Wisdom from the Elliott Homestead. A witty and personal guide to living off the land, information technology is available wherever books are sold. This story appeared in Land Adult female Magazine.
Source: https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/putting-up-below-ground-a-basement-root-cellar/
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