Root Cellar - A Great, Self-Reliant Investment (2024)

FAQs

Is it worth building a root cellar? ›

Building a homestead root cellar is an investment of time and money, but, particularly if you live in a colder climate, a worthwhile one. We saved hundreds, if not thousands of dollars by planning and planting a root cellar garden and storing food for the winter, rather than purchasing it from the grocery store.

With a good in-ground root cellar, potatoes can be stored for 5-8 months. As a sustainable alternative to refrigerated or electrically cooled storage for crops needing cool damp conditions, traditional root cellars are a good option.

Normal range: $2,600 - $11,500. Building a root cellar will cost about $7,000 or between $2,600 and $11,500 based on its placement, size, and your region.

Root cellars remain cool in summer but warm enough in winter to keep foods from freezing. Aside from temperature regulation, root cellars keep light levels low and humidity levels high, which extends the shelf life of many homegrown fruits and vegetables.

Some good options to consider include: Under basem*nt steps, especially those leading from the basem*nt to an attached garage; In an extra room with the heating vents closed (where plumbing is not dependent on the vents to keep from freezing);

Underground root cellars should be at least 10 feet deep with 10 feet of space around the perimeters for most projects. Root cellars in colder climates need to be under the permafrost level or your produce might freeze.

To do so, we made another hole near the top of the root cellar ceiling to evacuate warm air from the cellar. This hole is on an interior wall and covered with a vent. Cold air is heavier than warmer air, so cooler air will flow inward and downward from the outside and force warmer air out the top vent.

Thin skin produce, including beets, kohlrabi, turnips, carrots, parsnips, radishes and cucumbers, is harvested leaving a ½-inch stem and stored to retain moisture. This can be done with packing material or perforated plastic bags. Layer vegetables in packing materials such as moist sawdust, sand and peat moss.

A simple, inexpensive way to store small quantities of vegetables is to use a trash can as a root cellar. You will need to dig a hole deep enough to fit nearly the entire trash can. Buy a galvanized steel trash can and drill holes into the bottom of it (to allow moisture from the surrounding soil into the can).

What is the best floor for a root cellar? ›

For outdoor root cellars, packed earth is the preferred flooring. Concrete works well and is practical for a cellar in a basem*nt. Every root cellar needs a thermometer and a hygrometer (to measure temperature and humidity, respectively), which should be checked daily, if possible.

Whether you need planning permission to build a cellar depends on the specification. If you are renovating your existing cellar which is currently just full of dust and cobwebs, you may not need planning because you simply give it a 'change of use.

Make Your Own Root Cellar — With a Trash Can

Here's a homemade, inexpensive, and (once the hole is dug) easy way to store root crops. Potatoes, carrots, parsnips, kohlrabi, turnips, rutabagas and beets are excellent candidates for this type of storage.

Using a shipping container as a storm shelter or root cellar is a great cost-effective way to build either of these structures. Shipping containers are sturdy and structurally sound at all four corners and can support a significant amount of weight on top.

First, you'll need to choose a location that provides the ideal conditions for root cellar storage. This location should have a cool, consistent temperature and high humidity. Additionally, it should be well-ventilated to prevent the buildup of ethylene gas, which can cause produce to spoil faster.

Although root cellars have been used since pre-historic times, people these days are renovating their homes or building new root cellars from scratch. There are three main types of root cellars, plus several methods of preserving produce right in the garden over winter with no cellar at all.

With modern refrigeration, root cellars seemed obsolete. However, with a renewed interest in gardening, food security, and even sustainable living, root cellars have returned! Here are some advantages of storing root vegetables in a root cellar and a look at a few types of root cellars.

While you might not be able to preserve meat, a root cellar or cold room offers a cool enough temperature to preserve most types of produce, cool your wine, and keep fruit fresh and crisp. In cooler zones, you might even be able to keep milk, yogurt, and cheese for several days before they begin to go sour.