Root Cellers

I came across this article a while back about root cellers. I thought it was neat since I was starting to read books about them as well. We will be leaving for Az soon and I am wondering if I can make one out there. Below is the article. Tell me what you think.

Produce Bound Underground

Root cellars, the ancient technology that enables the long term storage of your farm’s bounty.

By Rick Gush

You stroll out into the garden, picking ripe fruits and vegetables, knowing that come February you’ll still be enjoying their freshness. For those of us attracted to the romantic aspects of small-farm life, this is an appealing scenario.

Root cellars, the ancient technology that makes such scenes possible, are currently experiencing a rediscovery, but not merely because of the pleasures of eating self-grown food, but also because of the actual possibility of reducing expenses and providing for significant food storage in times of potential trouble.

History

Build Your Own Root Cellar Read more about one person's experience.

Native Australians were the first people to take advantage of the cooling and insulative properties of buried foodstuffs in the earth. Records indicate that over 40,000 years ago they grew large amounts of yams and developed the technique of burying their produce in order to preserve it for future use. In the process they also discovered the phenomenon of fermentation, and ever since, alcoholic beverages have been a large portion of those products stored in underground repositories.

Underground storage facilities from the Iron Age have been discovered, and the Etruscans commonly buried their immature wine, but the actual use of walk-in root cellars as a means to prolong the freshness of fruit and vegetable crops was probably an invention that occurred in 17th century England. It might seem surprising that the great civilizations of China and Egypt did not develop root cellars, but the Chinese were the masters of food preservation via salting, pickling and the additions of spices; the Egyptians, residents of an arid environment, were the masters at drying food. It took the right combination of cool winters and hungry Englishmen to finally invent the concept of root cellars.

Certainly the most notable practitioners of root-cellar arts were the early colonists that arrived in North America from the United Kingdom. The eastern halves of America and Canada contain thousands of old root cellars, and the small Newfoundland town of Elliston actually claims the title of “Root Cellar Capital of the World,” and boasts of over 135 root cellars, some dating back 200 years.

Temperature
The basis of all root cellars is their ability to keep food cool. They were, essentially, the first refrigerators. A well-insulated root cellar can keep the food inside 40 degrees cooler than the summertime temperatures outside. This coolness also has benefits during the winter, as maintaining food at a temperature just slightly above freezing has the effect of slowing deterioration and rot. Temperatures inside the home, even in basements, are noticeably warmer, so food stored inside the house has a tendency to spoil much more rapidly than food stored in a cooler root cellar. Temperatures above 45 degrees F cause toughness in most stored vegetables, and encourage undesirable sprouting and considerably more rapid spoilage.

The temperature in a root cellar is never uniform. The temperature near the ceiling is usually 10 degrees warmer than elsewhere in the cellar, so the ceiling area is therefore appropriate for placement of produce that tolerates warmer temperatures well, such as onions, garlic and shallots.

Storing Food
What can you plan on storing in your root cellar once you build it? Certainly, many of us probably have visions of root cellars in the 19th century, packed with bushels of apples and sacks full of potatoes. Today’s root cellars are really not much different, and potatoes and apples are two eminently storable farm products. But the problem with that pair is that they don’t really go well together. Apples have a tendency to emit ethylene gas, which causes problems for potatoes stored nearby, and will also make any exposed carrots or other root crops bitter. As a matter of fact, many fruits, including plums, pears and peaches, and some vegetables such as tomatoes, cabbage and Chinese cabbage, are also notorious ethylene producers.

Legalities There is much ambiguity about root cellars when it comes to building permits. Though not usually listed among typical projects, they are nonetheless usually required to have building permits. However, in some rural areas they are considered “agricultural sheds,” and therefore not subject to building-permit requirements. Any addition of utilities, such as electricity or water, is likely to change any building-department nonchalance and cause the local agency to insist upon permits and inspections. Renovating an already existing root cellar can usually be accomplished without a building permit, provided no extreme expansion is planned. Hiring a contractor to build a root cellar will certainly necessitate building permits and periodic inspections of the work. Digging a root cellar into the exposed soil in a basement may allow for an unobserved and therefore un-permitted construction, but such illegal additions to a house can become problematic when it undergoes inspections prior to being sold. For you and your family’s safety, always consult knowledgeable professionals for sound building advice.

So, what is a dedicated food saver to do? Luckily, there are ways around this problem. A good root cellar has a variety of shelves, some higher than others, and some closer to the air vents. Placing the ethylene producers up high and nearer the exit vents has a tendency to move harmful gases away from produce stored on the floor below. Many root crops are also regularly stored in boxes of loose soil or sawdust, further insulating them from their neighbors’ emissions. Some produce, like cabbages and onions, often emit odors that can taint the flavors of other vegetables, as well as fruits, so finding high, remote corners for these pungent items is a good idea too.

In addition to raw produce, root cellars are excellent locations for a number of other foodstuffs as well. The previously mentioned beverages, like wine, cider, and beer, all enjoy the cool, dark environment of a root cellar. Cured meats like ham, bacon and other smoked meats store very well in temperatures below 40 degrees F. Milk, cream, butter and cheese all appreciate the environment of root cellars. Grains and nuts store very well in root cellars, but require extra precautions against insects, and must be sealed tightly to be secure. Dried and canned foods also keep well, provided they are kept either in less humid cellars, or in separate, drier compartments.

Fresh vegetables and fruits last different lengths of time when stored in a root cellar, but potatoes probably last the longest among vegetables; apples among fruit. Other good keepers include cabbage, beets, kohlrabi, onions, sweet potatoes, winter squashes, pumpkins and turnips. Beans, nuts and dried peppers are very long keepers.

Humidity
After temperature, humidity is the next most important feature of a typical root cellar. It is a good idea to equip your root cellar with a humidity gauge called a hygrometer. Most fresh fruits and vegetables require high humidity to avoid shriveling. A typical underground root cellar will naturally maintain a high humidity if it has an earthen floor, but depending on your particular environment and intended cellar use, you may wish to adjust the humidity level up or down by your management practices. Coolness is generally a desirable characteristic regardless of what you’re storing, but if you are storing a lot of canned goods, nuts or dried fruit, humidity can be your enemy because dried fruit can easily rot and metal canning lids can rust in humid environments. Once you make a list of the products you would like to store, the value of a root cellar with one humid chamber and another dry chamber might become more evident.

Humidity can be increased with an exposed dirt floor, sprinkling water on gravel floors and packing vegetables in wet sawdust. Humidity can be lowered by using concrete floors, barrels of rock salt or by allowing for more ventilation entering from drier air outside.
One problem with high-humidity environments is that sometimes the air will condense as it cools, and that condensation can be a problem if it drips off the ceiling structures onto produce stored below. Avoid placing storage barrels below potential drips. Pre-treating the ceiling with disinfectants like chlorine can also slow the potential spread of dripping diseases.

Hot and Cold Places
Root cellars serve different purposes depending on their locations, and cellars in regions with excessively hot or cold temperatures are modified to suit their purpose. If winters are mild, as in Arizona or Florida, low temperatures can be difficult to obtain, no matter how deeply a root cellar is buried. But even in these warm areas, root cellars can help keep produce as cool as possible, and some builders are particularly inventive in designing methods whereby water dripping across burlap sacks cools the air near the root cellar’s intake vents. Other warm-weather residents content themselves, like the Egyptians, with storing nuts, grains and dried foodstufs in warmer, low-humidity cellars. Arizona is a particularly good environment for producing sun-dried fruits, and those products will keep for many months without preservatives if kept dry and a bit cooler than the normal environment.

In very cold areas, the purpose of a root cellar is generally to prevent the stored food from freezing. Toward this end, such cellars are usually constructed to be extra heavily insulated, and with vents that allow some sun-warmed air to be conducted inside. Large barrels of water inside the cellars can act as thermal buffers; some builders even go so far as to build covered manure pits because the slow decomposition gives off a bit of heat. Other people use the more modern solution of hanging a light bulb from the ceiling, taking care to shield any potatoes, onions or other root crops from the light.

Smoke summer-caught Fish One novel but excellent idea is to keep dried and smoked fish in a section of your root cellar. This technique is a great alternative to keeping those old trout from your camping trip in your freezer. Smoke the fish over your campfire—just put the cleaned fish on a rack where the campfire smoke wafts by for a few hours—and then store them later in your root cellar. Far tastier than thawed fish, smoked souvenirs of your vacation are a novel mid-winter treat.

Air Circulation
One of the key control features of a root cellar is the set of air vents that allow air to enter and exit the cellar. These vents not only allow a greater amount of temperature adjustment than available to a static space, but the air circulation can also be a valuable tool to deal with the ethylene gases and odors produced by a mixed assortment of fruits and vegetables.

The minimum arrangement is one inlet vent and one outlet vent, although there are a variety of situations in which multiple vents would be appropriate. In general, inlet vents should be placed low, and exit vents placed high. This is conducive to a nice, passive air flow through the root cellar.

The outsides of the vents should all be sealed where they enter the structure with packed cloth, expanding foam or tight rubber gaskets. The vents themselves should be equipped with closing and opening valves, and it is convenient to make these valves operable from outside the root cellar. Closing vents in freezing weather and during summer heat spells will help keep the temperature inside the cellar more uniform. Vent pipes that can be twisted depending on the season to catch cooler or warmer winds are also a good idea. In the spring and the fall, cooling can be encouraged by opening the vents and possibly even the door at night when the temperature outside is dropping below the current temperature in the cellar.

Inside the cellar, the arrangement of shelves should allow for generous distances between them. The shelves should also be kept a few inches away from the walls to encourage greater air circulation. Materials placed on the floor should be raised a few inches by small blocks or racks.

Pests and Diseases
Rodents are the single most common pest problem for food stored in root cellars. Installing metal wire mesh in common entry points, such as open vents, is a good idea, as is a frequent trapping program. Poison baits placed away from stored food are fairly effective, and even some of the battery-powered sonic repellers can do a good job.

The next most vexing problem for stored food is plain old rot. The saying that “one rotten apple will spoil the lot” is quite true in this situation, so care should be taken to remove any spoiling produce or other foodstuff. In general though the lower temperatures will combat the mold and bacteria problems that are common in warm, wet conditions.

If there are nuts or grains stored in the cellar, insects may become a problem, but still, it is not a good idea to use insecticides, as they may contaminate the stored foodstuffs. It is better to seal susceptible foods in tight containers.

Building a Root Cellar
There are a number of different basic root cellar designs.

Certainly the most classic is that which is dug into the side of a hill. But many modern root cellars are dug down into flat ground, and feature a set of stairs that lead down to the door. Read more about one design>

In very cold areas, there may also be a second door at ground level to further insulate the cellar. Modern survivalists have been particularly inventive about constructing root cellars, and have made enormous root cellars from sections of metal culvert (these serving also in some cases as potential underground shelters in which people could live for long periods of time). In other cases, simple root cellars constructed from barrels, pallets or packing crates serve the purpose of creating an underground storage area for a quantity of emergency food.

Regardless of the specific style, the basis of any root cellar is the insulative value of the soil into which the cellar is dug. With only as little as one foot of earth above it, a root cellar dug into flat ground can create a temperature of 20 degrees less than the summertime temperatures above. Several feet of soil, optimally at least three or four, will suffice in most cases, but one must have a full 10 feet of soil above and alongside to ensure the maximum possible insulation and temperature stability.

An obvious rule of construction is to keep the doorway and any exposed parts of the structure in the shade during the day. Building on the north side of a hill or digging in the shade of your home or other building is one mandatory design principle.

The next consideration should be to design a structure that does not suffer from leaks or drainage problems during times of rain. This may require sloped doors, creating drainage ditches outside or positioning the floor level above the base level of the surrounding terrain.

As mentioned previously, the most flexible root cellar design will include two chambers, one colder and more humid than the other. This complexity certainly makes construction doubly difficult, but will also double the variety of foodstuffs that can reasonably be preserved in the cellar. Making the drier section essentially the foyer that leads to the entrance of the innermost area is the usual method of dividing the two sections of a root cellar.
When planning the size of your cellar, general wisdom holds that an eight-foot by eight-foot area should provide plenty of storage space for the average family. Larger structures are certainly more luxurious, but also may be more difficult to insulate and maintain at an even temperature.

It is a good idea to use waterproofed wood in any construction, but be cautious of the chemicals in pressure-treated lumber. Treating wood with waterproofing materials can result in an environment in which stored food picks up the undesirable odors of the treated wood. If you can use bricks or concrete blocks for some parts of the construction, you may avoid some of those problems.

Remember to design and install a good ventilation system, and run a few smoke tests to make sure the intake and outflow vents create a siphon between them that moves air automatically through the cellar.

Finish your new root cellar with a thermometer and a humidity gauge, and from there observe and adjust until conditions produce the desired results.

About the Author: Rick Gush is a freelance writer and small farmer based in Italy.

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This article first appeared in the June/July 2003 issue of Hobby Farms magazine.

Thank Hobby Farms for this article it is great.

Working from home

I have been busy for a bit getting the house here in Florida ready to rent out. So as many of you know I work from home and have been with the same company for the last 3 years. I have also been looking for other things to do in my spare time on the computer to earn some change here and there. I will be posting a blog later with someones that I came across and that have worked for me. Hope everyone is having a good day.

an anodyne makes you feel good

A company rooted in American history refuses to wither away

Passing this along for the wonderful Beekman Boys.....

A company rooted in American history refuses to wither away

Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell are the owners of Beekman 1802. Take a peek at life on their farm at beekman1802.com

When we first bought Beekman 1802 Farm, the only heirloom vegetables we’d ever heard of were heirloom tomatoes. But a welcome-wagon meeting with one of our neighbors changed all of that. Half-a-mile down the road from us lived the owners of Landreth Seed Company, and we soon learned that every kind of vegetable seed carries with it a little bit of history.

Before long our vegetable garden was sprouting with over 100 different varieties of heirloom seeds – peas, beans, lettuce, carrots, cabbages, and nearly any other kind of vegetable you’ve ever tried. Or haven’t tried.

There’s no set definition of what makes a seed “heirloom.” Some claim it’s the age of origin. Others insist that that the seeds must have been passed down through generations of a family. But nearly all gardeners agree that to even be considered for heirloom status, seeds must be open-pollinated – not commercial hybrids or genetically modified variants.

Heirloom seeds carry the story of America with them. Many were brought to this country by immigrants who could not bring many belongings along on their cramped ocean crossings. Tiny seeds could be tucked in pockets, and carried the most potent memories of their homeland: the cuisine.

When our neighbor’s company, Landreth Seeds, was founded, all seeds were “heirloom.” It is the oldest seed house in America, and the fourth oldest corporation of any kind in the USA. Founded in 1784, Landreth has provided seeds for every U.S. President from George Washington to FDR (yes, Presidents used to grow things themselves). And as our country grew, so did Landreth. By the mid-19th century, Landreth was distributing a seed catalog to every single household in America.

When Barbara and Peter Melera purchased Landreth eight years ago, it was barely recognizable as the powerhouse it had once been. With hard work and dedication, they trekked around the country to garden shows and fairs. They rescued valuable dwindling seed stocks from the dusty corners of the neglected warehouse.

But like many companies, the recession has hit Landreth hard. Recently, we logged into our e-mail to find a disturbing message from our neighbors stating that if Landreth didn’t raise enough operating capital within 30 days, 2011 would be their last growing season. After 227 years of continuous operation, Landreth Seed Company would see its remaining assets harvested by lawyers and bankers.

“For 8 years, Landreth has tried, unsuccessfully, to raise equity capital from financial institutions, wealthy individuals, cashed-out entrepreneurs, foundations and agricultural corporations,” Barbara Melera says. In this age of factory farms and genetically modified produce, they haven’t had any luck.

While chefs and food enthusiasts have made the surprising and diverse flavors of heirloom vegetables popular, there still is not the wide-scale demand necessary for large farms to switch from cultivating cheaper, commercially hybridized varieties. Which is why it’s still virtually impossible to find a tomato that tastes like a tomato in your local supermarket.

However, like the great American company that Landreth is, it isn’t going to fade away without a fight.

“Its become obvious that the only way Landreth will get out of this dilemma is the old fashioned way,” Barbara Melera says. “We have to sell our way out. There are 84 million gardening households in this country. We need 1/84th or less than two percent of all the gardeners in America to purchase a catalog from us to make this goal.”

That’s one million catalogs. If they can sell that amount before September 30th, they’ll raise enough funds to stay in business.

The rush has started. Garden bloggers across the internet have been called to arms. The initial response has been heartening. Seed-lovers can’t bear to watch the oldest piece of American gardening history fade away. The first weekend after the Meleras' personal e-mail plea, Landreth’s website was swamped. They’ve since increased the bandwidth to handle the volume.

But a million catalogs is a lot of sell. “There is no question that meeting this goal will be a great challenge,” Barbara says. “There is also no question that only in America would it be possible to achieve.”

Editor's note: Our Managing Editor is a friend and neighbor of Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell and has appeared several time on their TV show "The Fabulous Beekman Boys."

The date

Well we have set a date to leave Florida. We will be leaving on the 26th of this month and finally completely heading to Arizona to start out new life out there. I can not wait. I miss our girls so much!

Our trailer will be leaving that weekend and we will be pulling our bass boat and will have our 4 goats with us.

We plan on stopping a few places here and there and in between.

Wish us luck!

Updates

I have taken a minute and updated the blogs that I like to follow and also add apart where I can list websites that I find useful. Let me know what you think. Do you have any to add?

Thanks

Lay of the Land

So my wonderful hubby gets me a drawing pad, some pencils, and some color pencils the other day. Now I have been drawing out our property, the house, and the fence that is currently up. I have ideas for where I want to put some flowers (this deciding what flowers), where I want to put some fruit trees, and other trees. But we also want an out door grill (not one you buy at home depot), a clay oven, and a place for my solar oven.

We have decided that we will remove the shed that is currently to the left of our house over to the right side and make it into the girls club house. We will be building my hubby a garage that will run east to west of the north side of the house.

We are also still trying to decided where to put the goats pen up.

So any and all ideas are welcome!

Using Baking Soda

Today I was catching up on one of my favorite blogs and came across some uses for baking soda. I love using baking soda and vinegar when cleaning around the house so I thought it was so cool when I saw this and all of the different ways it can be used.

So just click here to go to the blog....

Or you can look below at the list. I want to say thank you to Lindsey C @ The Housewifes Weekly Journal for posting these.

Health Uses
1. Use it as an antacid. (Hmm... I've got to try this in addition to my Star Anise tea)
2. Use it as underarm deodorant by applying it with a powder puff
3. Mix half a teaspoon with peroxide paste and use it as toothpaste. (This sounds like a great alternative to regular toothpaste that contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate)
4. Use it as a face and body scrub.
5. Add a cup to bathwater to soften your skin.
6. Relieve skin itch from insect bites and pain from sunburn.
7. Remove strong odors from your hands by rubbing them with baking soda and water. (Love it!)
8. Put two tablespoons in your baby’s bathwater to help relieve diaper rash.
9. Apply it on rashes, insect bites, and poison ivy irritations.
10. Take a baking soda bath to relieve skin irritations.
11. Heartburn? Take a teaspoon of baking soda mixed with one-half glass of water.
12. Freshen your mouth by gargling half a teaspoon of baking soda mixed water.
13. Relieve canker sore pain by using it as mouthwash.
14. Use it to relieve bee stings.
15. Use it to relieve windburn.
16. Apply it on jellyfish sting to draw out the venom.
17. Unblock stuffy nose by adding a teaspoon of baking soda to your vaporizer.


In the Home
18. Keep cut flowers fresh longer by adding a teaspoon to the water in the vase. (I guess Fabian will have to go buy me some flowers, to try this one!)
19. Put out small fires on rugs, upholstery, clothing, and wood. (Glad I haven't had to use this one!)
20. Put an open container of baking soda in the fridge to absorb the odors.
21. Sprinkle it on your ashtrays to reduce bad odor and prevent smoldering.
22. Sprinkle it on your slippers, boots, shoes, and socks to eliminate foul odor.
23. Turn baking soda into modeling clay by combining it with one and 1/4 cups of water and one cup of cornstarch.
24. After feeding your baby, wipe his shirt with a moist cloth sprinkled with baking soda to remove the odor.
25. Wipe your windshield with it to repel rain. (Great idea for Floridians)
26. Improve the smell of dishrags by soaking them in baking soda and water.
27. Suck it in with your vacuum cleaner to remove the odor.
28. Freshen the air by mixing baking soda with your favorite perfumed bath salts. Put the mixture in small sachet bags.
29. Restore stiff brushes by boiling them in a solution of 1/2 gallon of water, 1/4 cup of vinegar, and a cup of baking soda.
30. Put it under sinks and along basement windows to repel cockroaches and ants.
31. Scatter baking soda around flowerbeds to prevent rabbits from eating your veggies.
32. Sweeten your tomatoes by sprinkling baking soda on the soil around your tomato plants.
33. Sprinkle it onto your cat’s litter box to absorb the bad odor.
34. Sprinkle it on your pet’s comb or brush to deodorize their fur and skin.


In Cooking
35. Use it as a substitute for baking powder by mixing with it with cream of tartar or vinegar.
36. Wash fruits and vegetables with it. (This supposedly helps remove pesticides!)
37. When boiling a chicken, add a teaspoon of baking soda to the water. Feathers will come off easier, and the flesh will be clean and white.
38. Soak dried beans to a baking soda solution to make them more digestible.
39. Remove the distinctive taste of wild game by soaking it in a baking soda solution.
40. Make a sports drink by mixing it with boiled water, salt, and Kool-Aid. (I don't know about the Kool-Aid)
41. Remove the fishy smell from your fillets by soaking the raw fish in a baking soda solution for an hour inside the fridge.
42. Make fluffier omelets by adding half a teaspoon of baking soda for every three eggs used.
43. Reduce the acid content of your tomato-based recipes by sprinkling them with a pinch of baking soda. (Got to try this one)


Cleaning Purposes
44. Add a cup to the toilet, leave it for an hour, and then flush. It will clean the toilet and absorb the odor.
45. Use it to scrub sinks, showers, plastic and porcelain tubs
46. Spray it on walls, mirrors, and counter tops.
47. Add a spoonful to your dishwasher to make scrubbing dishes easier.
48. Remove grease from pots and pans.
49. Dry clean carpets and upholstered furniture by sprinkling baking soda over the fabric and gently brushing it. Leave it for an hour or overnight, then vacuum.
50. Boost your laundry detergent’s cleaning power by sprinkling a handful on dirty clothes.
51. Combine it with water to make a paste for polishing stainless steel and chrome.
52. Remove scratches and crayon marks from vinyl floors and walls.
53. Clean your shoes with it.
54. Clean garbage cans with it.
55. Use it to wash diapers.
56. Clean the fridge with it.
57. Soak brushes and combs in a baking soda solution.
58. Mix it with water to wash food and drink containers.
59. Put three tablespoons of baking soda to a quart of warm water, then use the mixture to wash marble-topped furniture.
60. Absorb it with a damp sponge, then clean Formica counter tops with the sponge.
61. Use it to get rid of stale odors from cooling containers and thermos bottles.
62. Run your coffee maker with a baking soda solution, then rinse.
63. Combine with hot water to clean baby bottles.
64. Sprinkle it on barbecue grills, then rinse it off.
65. Scatter it on your greasy garage floor, scrub the floor, and rinse.
66. Remove burned-on food from a pan by soaking it in a baking soda solution for 10 minutes before washing. (I tried this one the other day to remove burnt milk from the bottom of a pan. I boiled it with about 2 tsp baking soda and all the burnt mess floated to the top!)
67. Clean your ashtrays with a baking soda solution.
68. Keep your drains clean by putting four tablespoons of baking soda in them each week. Flush it down with hot water. (This works and is so much more environmentally friendly than chemical drain cleaners)
69. Clean your shower curtains by soaking them in baking soda and water.
70. Put it on a small brush to rub canvas handbags clean.
71. Use it to remove melted plastic bread wrapper from a toaster. Sprinkle baking soda on a damp rug, then use the rag to clean the toaster. (Does everyone do that?!)
72. Use it to clean your retainers and dentures.
73. Make a thick paste of baking soda and water, and used it to scrub enameled cast iron and stainless steel.
74. Mix four tablespoons of baking soda with a quart of warm water, and use it to clean the inside part of an oven.
75. Use it to unclog gas stoves.