Food shortages and price increases have caused many people to reconsider traditional home gardening, canning, and root cellar storage methods as potential sustainable solutions for refrigeration needs. Due to increased interest in these ancient practices, prefabricated root cellars have come back into favor as an efficient storage option.
Building a root cellar can not only save money over commercial refrigerators but also provide you with self-reliance in an emergency. From fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, eggs, meat, etc. stored safely, building one will give you self-reliance that could last throughout winter.
Root Cellars Can Reduce Food Bills With demand for homegrown and preserved foods increasing, root cellars are becoming increasingly common across urban and rural communities across the country. These underground structures are designed to protect harvested crops from harsh weather conditions while providing you with fresh fruits and vegetables all year round.
Root cellars can save both time and energy by decreasing your need for grocery shopping – not only is this environmentally friendly, but having access to stored food gives you control over your food supply even in times of emergency.
Prefabricated root cellars can be built quickly using low-cost and easily available materials like bricks, concrete blocks and cinder blocks. To ensure its stability over time, footers poured with concrete should also be installed around its walls to help ensure stability of construction.
Once walls have been constructed, insulation of the cellar becomes essential in protecting it against heat escaping from below the earth in summer and cold air entering during winter. To monitor temperatures more accurately, thermometers should be strategically positioned throughout. Ventilation will help avoid food over-ripening due to excessive levels of ethylene gas; air movement helps decrease mold and mildew growth as well.
Your cellar should be located in a cool, dry environment with easy access for loading and unloading items. Label shelves and bins to quickly identify what items are stored there, while marking entrance and exit doors allows you to find what you need quickly in times of an emergency.
Root cellars should be constructed at least four feet below the frost line and insulated to maintain optimal temperatures for food storage. When designing your cellar it is essential that you understand its climate as this may influence its design as this will have an effect on soil temperature, which will have an impactful influence on its design.