root cellar?
okay, I know its not on topic of canning, but it is on topic for preserving. Does anybody have one? I might be moving to SC, where I think they might actually have basements! my question is would that be a good place to start w/ a root cellar? I want one so bad! any info would be usefull
jalUt simply digs a hole in the ground if I recall correctly. After the hole is dug, he places his vegetables in it, covers it and lets the snow of winter help keep things nice and fresh.bwhite829 wrote:okay, I know its not on topic of canning, but it is on topic for preserving. Does anybody have one? I might be moving to SC, where I think they might actually have basements! my question is would that be a good place to start w/ a root cellar? I want one so bad! any info would be usefull
You in Pensacola and me in New Orleans couldn't do that. I'd run into ground water about 3 ft. under the topsoil.
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jal_ut
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At one place I lived, I made a root cellar with concrete blocks for the walls and put a cement cap on it. I dug a hole with a backhoe. The walls were 80 inches tall, so there was room to stand. I put some hooks in the ceiling for hanging things. It was a sturdy cellar to last a man's lifetime, then I left it. I was just figuring up the other day what it would take to make another like it and it came up to around $700. Seems like too large of an investment for me at this point to store a couple sacks of potatoes.
I have been digging a pit for storing root crops, but this type of pit is hard to get into. I am thinking of digging the hole out a bit larger and making some concrete block sides 3 blocks high then back-filling around the blocks and putting a heavily insulated lid on top so it would be easier to get into. This would be a permanent pit and the cost would be justifiable.
I have been digging a pit for storing root crops, but this type of pit is hard to get into. I am thinking of digging the hole out a bit larger and making some concrete block sides 3 blocks high then back-filling around the blocks and putting a heavily insulated lid on top so it would be easier to get into. This would be a permanent pit and the cost would be justifiable.
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CharlieBear
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Where there really is a winter, you can simply sink 50 gallon trash cans up to their rims and use those as root cellars. It is still best to put straw between layers of potatoes and put the produce you want to use first closest to the top. They are small enough that you can sink several. As for the basement, if it is unheated it should work fine for onions, potatoes (as long as they have no light from a window) and root crops, assuming that it is not damp and you are in the part of the Carolinas that actually have a real winter.
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GardenGnome
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Ohio Tiller
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Grandma had a real nice root cellar that I would go down into during the summer.
It was always around 54 degrees winter or summer.
She would store all her canned good down there and onions and a whole bunch of potatoes.
They never bought a potato form a store in their whole life. I really wish I had one my house is on the small side and storing canned goods is difficult at best. I went down there one winter to get some potatoes and green beans she had sent me for and found 4 rattle snakes sleeping the winter away.
It was always around 54 degrees winter or summer.
She would store all her canned good down there and onions and a whole bunch of potatoes.
They never bought a potato form a store in their whole life. I really wish I had one my house is on the small side and storing canned goods is difficult at best. I went down there one winter to get some potatoes and green beans she had sent me for and found 4 rattle snakes sleeping the winter away.