qUESTION ??

[mlynd]

oK I got this idea from reading about Blue rock station is it possible to build a above ground root seller using the same techniques??

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

I have plans around here for a double walled root cellar.
It will not work anywhere that frost heaving is an issue though.

You put up an interior log wall, with an exterior log wall leaving a 2-3 foot space in between.
Dirt is the filler, and the roof is high on one side, lower on the other, and about 2 foot thick dirt/sod.
You do a two doors with a straw bale insulator between them.

I found this in an old book,and have never seen it online....

 

[moolie]

Sounds cool BB, too bad something like that wouldn't work around here with all the Chinooks we get throughout the winter.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Sounds cool BB, too bad something like that wouldn't work around here with all the Chinooks we get throughout the winter.

Yeah, we can't build it either. We are going to wall off one in our massive crawl space, with a cold air inlet from the outside.

 

[moolie]

We had a lovely cold room in our basement (exterior concrete walls, room insulated from rest of basement) in our old house but the basement in this house (been here 2.5 years) is totally finished.

The guest room down there is pretty cold however because we keep the door closed to keep the cats off the bed, so that is where my canning shelves are.

I've been reading up on root cellars and would so love to have a real one of my very own, but since we don't for now we have plans to keep this coming summer's harvest of carrots and potatoes in 5 gallon buckets of sand in that cold area, and shoehorn the rest of the keeping veg in wherever it will fit in that room. We kept two boxes of apples in there from mid-September till we made the last of them into apple sauce in early December so I'm fairly positive that we'll have good results.

 

[Kala]

Some websites I've come across have referenced above ground root cellars using straw bales, etc. But none have had specific plans. I think Blue Rock actually has a root cellar they added using this technique. Something about it being an area that they were gonna use as a cistern but then didn't need maybe... I'll have to check the site again to see.

 

[Cindlady2]

moolie.... when we were looking at houses we saw one like that! awwww the dreams of keeping food it induced!

We too only have a crawlspace and since we live in Wisconsin we also get way too cold for an independent cold room outside. I'm trying to think of something I can put in the garage. It too freezes in the winter but I'm hoping I can insulate an area well enough to keep most "keeping crops" in. I tried putting some carrots out there in a foam cooler this winter, but they froze.

 

[Marianne]

I wish I would have bookmarked a page that I read a long time ago on this. Seems like some people dug a hole maybe 3-1/2' deep and wide, put a metal trash can in it. Put straw all around the can and some inside with the veggie's. They covered the top with more straw and then a piece of plywood.

I think they tried using just the hole with straw, but little critters decided to move in. Even with hardware cloth lining the hole, making a basket, I think they still had some mouse problems once in a while, so they went to the metal cans. But my memory is rather vague on this...

Maybe in some areas of the world you could use an old freezer (unplugged) to store veggies. If you had it in a garage or fully enclosed outbuilding, that would be better than the back porch.

 

[Cindlady2]

I wish I would have bookmarked a page that I read a long time ago on this. Seems like some people dug a hole maybe 3-1/2' deep and wide, put a metal trash can in it. Put straw all around the can and some inside with the veggie's. They covered the top with more straw and then a piece of plywood.

I think they tried using just the hole with straw, but little critters decided to move in. Even with hardware cloth lining the hole, making a basket, I think they still had some mouse problems once in a while, so they went to the metal cans. But my memory is rather vague on this...

That would still be above the "freeze line" for some of us. True root cellars around here are at least 5' and double doored. Some of us also have to consider SNOW!

Maybe in some areas of the world you could use an old freezer (unplugged) to store veggies. If you had it in a garage or fully enclosed outbuilding, that would be better than the back porch.

I thought about that. My concern is mildew and molds.... they seem to thrive in old fridges and freezers no matter how well you clean them. I would like to know if anyone has tried it.

 

[Marianne]

Yes, they had a picture of about 8" of snow that they had to remove before they could remove the plywood. And the hole sure could have been deeper than that. They had a pretty good layer of straw over the top of the can, too. Worked for them, but obviously wouldn't be for everyone - including me. I wouldn't want to lay on the ground to get something out of it.

I'd have to agree with you on the mold/mildew possibility. I knew a gal that was given a horrible, filthy refrig, full of moldy food. I helped her empty it out, rinse it with a power washer, scrub, bleached etc, She left it in the sun with the door open for several days, then used it. She had been using it for about three months without any problem when I left her employment, so I don't know how it did overall. You surely would have to disinfect it and leave the door open when the weather was nice.

Could you build a 'closet' or small cold room in your garage, and insulate it with 2" dense foamboard (including the door), then put your styrafoam coolers in that? I'm guessing you'd still have to keep them raised above the concrete floor, too.