Root Cellars in the 21st Century

By Maryanna Clemons
Published on August 8, 2008
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The pickin’s are easy in a well-designed root cellar.
The pickin’s are easy in a well-designed root cellar.

Nancy Curtis of Price, Texas, is a life-long country woman and mother, who vividly recalls her grandparents’ root cellar.

“I remember Grandma Davis having russet potatoes and new potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, heads of cabbage, apples, eggs and crocks of sausage packed in fresh lard,” Curtis says. “All of the vegetables were from Grandma and Granddad Davis’ garden.”

Curtis’ grandparents lived when root cellars were common. The ice boxes of the time didn’t have much room in them, and most small towns and rural areas didn’t get refrigeration until the 1920s or later. A root cellar wasn’t just a convenience, it was a necessity.

Today, with the cost of everything on the rise and growing food-security concerns, ever more folks are growing their own food. Storing some of that bounty in a root cellar will make your family less vulnerable to energy shortages, and you get to control the food’s quality.

Root cellars can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make them. If your house has an especially cool crawlspace or basement, you are all set. For a fast and dirty cellar, bury a 55-gallon drum or other suitable container in the yard. If you have sufficient space, you can build a proper root cellar, complete with shelves, drain and ventilation.

Keeping it cool

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