Root cellars?

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Permalink Reply by Michelle W. Flannery on November 13, 2008 at 10:51pm

What a great topic for discussion! My family had a root cellar when I was very, very young, and I have longed to have one of my own for many years.

If you could describe with more detail what you are thinking of doing "between the bulkhead and the cellar door" my husband might be able to help. What is the bulkhead?

In the meantime, please visit this website: http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-5-19-173,00.html

They describe very simply and very thoroughly how to convert an area of basement into a root cellar. They include details of why certain choices are made in chosing location, etc. For instance, a damp, high humidity area is of primary importance for the longevity of stored vegetables. It's a good website. Please do visit.

As for the right veggies: root crops, apples, and some squashes. Some plants, like Chinese cabbage, escarole, and leeks can be replanted in buckets and kept in a root cellar, even celery. I haven't had any first hand experience in this, but the information seems good. I'm sure others on this site will have great personal experience to draw from in advising you. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Skip on November 16, 2008 at 10:51am

If you are talking about the basement of your house, is it where your furnace is? This would keep it too warm.

The root cellars I remember were usually dug into the side of a hill, and made of poured concrete or blocks, and a floor or gravel. The top was usually concrete also, and the whole thing was buried in the ground. If the top was above ground, it was heavily insulated. some were made into two rooms, one for root crops, and the other for canned goods.

Grandpa had a simple one to keep pears.He cut a door in a 55 gal barrel,buried it halfway,rolled the pears in newspapers, and put them in. He then covered it with straw and dirt. You could keep the pears all winter.

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Permalink Reply by Randy Archambault on December 5, 2008 at 8:56am

Hello Janice: When we lived in MA we too had a bulkhead. We used to keep squash, potatoes, and other root crops in wooden boxes on the stairs of the bulkhead. Covered with old blankets, they kept quite well. We did have mouse problems occasionally and some of the squashes were nibbled.

Randy

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Permalink Reply by Maya on December 5, 2008 at 10:54am

It depends on which way your bulkhead faces. Ours is separated from the rest of the basement (the furnace/big part) by a cold room, and then there's another door between that room and the bulkhead, so it seems it would be a cold space. However, it actually gets quite warm during the day, even in the middle of winter, as it faces southwest. I tried forcing bulbs there the first couple of winters we were here but it didn't work out. The snow would be insulating, but you can't count on that cover in an open winter. Your best bet might be to buy or borrow a max/min thermometer and put it in there to see what temperature range the space has over the course of the winter. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by ilex on December 9, 2008 at 10:51am

A terrific book about all kinds of root cellars is "Root Cellaring" by Mike and Nancy Bubel. They explain, quite in-depth, external venting and cooling options for basement root cellars, and offer many ingenious tricks. It's a great book to add to the gardening library.

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