Vegetables going into the Root Cellar, an old idea with some new Twists

Everyone wants the harvest to last as long as possible. In a good root cellar, many vegetables easily will keep 5 or 6 months. You don’t have to process vegetables going into the root cellar. It’s a true low-energy food preservation system. A steady cool temperature (35°-45° F.) is the main requirement.

If you have a basement, you may be able to partition off one corner and turn it into a root cellar for vegetables. The soil outside the house foundation remains at a fairly even temperature all year long—about 50°-55° F. degrees. It will provide some warmth on winter days when the air temperature is way below freezing. This even temperature of the soil is the reason why you don’t have to insulate the root cellar floor or the two outside walls.

Because the northern part of the cellar is the coolest zone in the house, it’s best to put your storage area there. The two inside partitions and the ceiling of your root cellar must be insulated. Regular 31/2-inch building insulation is adequate. A solid door that seals tightly is also important. It is not a bad idea to insulate the inside of the door. A root cellar works by keeping warm air out.

In most cases, it is not necessary to have an outside window in the root cellar. If your basement is particularly damp, though, it may be a good idea either to build your partitions in a corner where there is a window for ventilation, or to add a vent. If you have a window, keep it blacked out. You don’t want sunlight streaming into the root cellar. That will only heat things up and cause vegetables to spoil more quickly.

My system to maintain Cool Temperatures

I’ve rigged up a ventilation and temperature control system to bring cold air in from outdoors if my root cellar gets too warm. It’s been a lifesaver in early fall and in spring when the root cellar temperature ordinarily would vary quite a bit.

Here’s how it works: I have a 6-inch duct running from the outside wall of the house into the root cellar. There’s a low-energy fan positioned in the duct. The fan is controlled by two thermostats located on the outside wall of my root cellar. One thermostat has a capillary tube running into the root cellar; the other has a tube on the outside of the house.

Generally my root cellar temperature is between 35 °-45° F. If the temperature inside the root cellar goes above 50° F., the thermostat signals the fan to bring in air. However, the outside thermostat (set at 50° F.) must also signal that the temperature out there is below 50° F. before the fan will kick on. Often, in the early fall, the fan will only run at night when it gets cool.

With this system I can rest assured that my root cellar will stay cool. In the middle of winter the fan hardly runs because the root cellar stays so cool. But in the first two months of storage in the fall, and the last two in the spring, it’s very helpful.

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