How About Those Root Cellars?

[Farmertam]

Looking to get info on building a root cellar. My farmhouse's cellar isn't that cold in the winter to be able to keep root veggies all that well.

[Diesel]

talk to beebop he's working on one right, he posted pic somewhere too

[Farmertam]

Awesome, I'll do that!

[kenno]

Well I have some experience building root cellars. I am susprised that Tam's cellar is not cold enough, that makes me think that heat is leaking down from her living space into the cellar, that happened to me once, after I insulated the floor the basement became so cold that the pipes froze!
In my presant area the water table is way too high to dig a cellar so we build em above ground. They look like quanset huts with dirt on top and sides we store tons of seed spuds that way and all it takes is some crafty ventilation to stave off mildew and rot.
If you are dealing with just a few hundred pounds of root veg, washing and drying the critters before storage reduces rot as well.

[Jeffro]

kenno,

Do you have a picture, diagram or plans for how to build an above ground root cellar? I am considering building one under my porch, but there is going to be a considerable amount of labor in that plan. I would be open to any suggestions.

[kenno]

Well like I said it is just a quonset hut type shell piled-up with earth. I would suggest you Google for Earth Sheltered Buildings/potatoe storage. Several websites should come-up. Also check Mother Earth News archives and maybe even Foxfire magazine.

[oly]

Check this out. ventilation is important to get rid of methane gas unless you wont to go boom.

http://waltonfeed.com/old/old/cellars.html