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I've been daydreaming about storing root crops for winter food. Around here a conventional in-ground root cellar would just fill with water - that won't work. We have a dry crawl space that might do but access to it is only for extreme contortionists. I'm pondering the possibility of a small, rainproof, insulated structure above ground in a deeply shaded area of the yard. It could be made of wood & fiberglass with mesh for protection from critters. Anybody have experience with this sort of thing?

I have the same problem a root cellar will be a swimming pool in a few weeks.

I was looking at online videos I found 1 where they showed laying potatoes on the garden soil surface then cover them over with 4" of soil. Any time you want a potato reach into the soil pull some out. I tried that and it works summer & fall. We get lots of rain so I made sure garden soil was up a few inches above swamp water level covered potatoes with 4" of soil they lasted all winter. I dug them up a month ago we ate them for dinner. LOL it worked. We had a mild winter a colder winter might need more than 4" of cover soil.

I put 80 lbs of potatoes in a refrigerator once. About 2 weeks or so later water was running out of refrigerator onto floor. Humidity inside was so bad water was dripping of refrigerator ceiling like rain and water was running down walls. Most of the potatoes rotted.

Above ground root cellar will probably work. Build a small one large enough for 3 lbs of potatoes see what happens. It can not be air tight or it will do like my refrigerator did. You could probably build a small cellar with bricks 10" square for a test. Cover with 6" of soil.

In Japan, it’s common to have trapdoor access to a storage bin in the crawl space.

If you can, try copy-pasting these Japanese characters in Google search box and look for images

台所床下貯蔵庫

It means

Kitchen underfloor storage

But when I tried searching in English, I didn’t get the same results that I was looking for (though almost similar)

If you can’t get the results from the Japanese phrase, I’ll post a screenshot or something.


...I wish I had the option — my current house is on concrete slab. Haven’t been able to get hubby to entertain idea of jackhammering a hole in the middle of the kitchen floor ....

The above ground potato storage is known as a "potato clamp," VanIsle.

It may still be done on a commercial farm scale but is meant for temporary storage. If you do a search for the term, there appears to be both the old-time illustrations and modern farming. YouTube videos may be helpful for garden application.

Structures are more complex, of course. If cooling, humidity and ventilation are accounted for, construction would require some research and should be location specific.

Steve

VanIsle, try this as a Google search:

"storage practices and structures" "chapter 7" site:ucanr.edu

It's a quick pdf file from the University of California. There are plans for several storage schemes.

Steve

Thanks for all the input. My AGRC (Above Ground Root Cellar) is likely to remain a Thought Experiment. Einstein was into those, but unlike mine, his TEs often led somewhere; even somewhere important!

I don't think I have the energy to follow through on deciding the design & location, acquiring the materials and assembling the project - not to mention growing enough excess produce to make it worth while.

"Ah but a man's reach (or dreaming?) should exceed his grasp (or resolve)" .....

I found these Hungarian above ground cellars. I would like to have 1 of these, it will make a good tornado storm shelter too.

Now you’ve done it — UNDERHILL (underground) food pantry ...I just couldn’t resist! (although I’m mixing up 2 generations of Bagginses)

Okay now that is just neat! I want one! But don't think I have a hill that big, even if I did it'd be a horror to try and dig out in this rock hard clay!

As for being a tornado shelter, I think I'd feel a wee bit safer if I were underground in a basement. That's why I envy my uncle. He's living in my great-grandparents old home and he's got a nice huge, cool basement he can store tons of stuff in not to mention the perfect place to be during a tornado....unless the house caved in I guess... But once I recall that basement being flooded. It was quite deep once and I joked to my cousin that could get himself an inner tube and float around in there like a swimming pool, lol!
as for me, the only storm shelter I've got is the little closet next to the laundry room, which gets hot and stuffy if I'm closed in there for too long. I need to remember to put a small, battery operated fan in there next storm.

TomatoNut95 wrote: ↑

Tue May 19, 2020 12:07 pm

Okay now that is just neat! I want one! But don't think I have a hill that big, even if I did it'd be a horror to try and dig out in this rock hard clay!

As for being a tornado shelter, I think I'd feel a wee bit safer if I were underground in a basement. That's why I envy my uncle. He's living in my great-grandparents old home and he's got a nice huge, cool basement he can store tons of stuff in not to mention the perfect place to be during a tornado....unless the house caved in I guess... But once I recall that basement being flooded. It was quite deep once and I joked to my cousin that could get himself an inner tube and float around in there like a swimming pool, lol!
as for me, the only storm shelter I've got is the little closet next to the laundry room, which gets hot and stuffy if I'm closed in there for too long. I need to remember to put a small, battery operated fan in there next storm.

Do google search for, outside cellar photos, there are 100s of pictures. People have lots of good ideas. You can build a small cellar that is not walk in and you can build one in a flat yard. Cover with soil so cellar is cooled by ground temperature. Build it so it is not air tight so humidity can escape. If you live where it rains too much build it above water level. You could probably use an old kitchen stove for a small cellar just cover it up with soil.

I love that one in the second photo that looks like it's going into a cave. I'd be too leery about that tin can one with the man down in it...somebody could sneak up and trap you down in there. Either way, I'd have to bring a bulldozer out here to dig out all the concrete clay to actually dig a cellar. And I'd want some sort of bracing inside it to make me feel better about a cave-in. (Sorry, I'm bad about trying to thing of everything that could go wrong with stuff. I'm a pessimist on most stuff)