Building An In-The-Ground Food Storage

[EverythingPrepared]

Have you seen Ted Wright's "Wood Pallet Root Cellar?" It is in his book Complete Disaster Survival Manual . Or his food torpedoes?

Pallet root cellar: 4'6"Deep, 4'x4'
6 pallets. bottom, sides, and top
Line with plastic

 

[keljonma]

It actually needs to be underground, because the temps a few feet down stay at a steady 50 or so degrees. Insulating a basement room prevents heat from the mechanicals or windows from warming up the root cellar area, keeping it at the steady temp. So I don't think an above ground closet would work.....perfect for canning jars full of goodies, not so good for root crops. Pumpkins might to well upstairs, though.

Our kitchen pantry stays between 45 to 50 year round.

 

[big brown horse]

Have you seen Ted Wright's "Wood Pallet Root Cellar?" It is in his book Complete Disaster Survival Manual . Or his food torpedoes?

Pallet root cellar: 4'6"Deep, 4'x4'
6 pallets. bottom, sides, and top
Line with plastic

Hi and Thanks for the info!

 

[freemotion]

Our kitchen pantry stays between 45 to 50 year round.

Seriously??? How do you manage that? Insulation? Shadey side of the house? I don't think Ohio is too much different than MA in climate......I'm intrigued now, dish, girl!

 

[keljonma]

Our kitchen pantry stays between 45 to 50 year round.

Seriously??? How do you manage that? Insulation? Shadey side of the house? I don't think Ohio is too much different than MA in climate......I'm intrigued now, dish, girl!

First buy yourself a really old farmhouse in the coldest, windiest spot of your favorite state. Make sure the pantry has access to cool/cold air from below. Oh, and it helps if there is a pine tree almost as tall as the 2 story house and about 16 feet wide blocking the eastern sun.

Seriously... The one outside wall is on the east side of the house and completely in the shade of a huge pine tree. Some insulation on two inside walls, but not much because they are the original plaster/lath walls. The pantry is built under the stairs to the second floor. No insulation underneath the pantry. We have an old 1880 farmhouse - there is just rock/stone pillars and dirt about 2 feet below the floor at that end of the house.

It probably helps that we live in a cold spot of Ohio... average annual temp is 45 and the wind almost never stops.


edited for typos

 

[dragonlaurel]

There's was a good article on building a small outbuilding. They said it could be used for a root cellar. Hope it helps.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/Earthbag-Building-Garden-Shed.aspx

 

[SimplyForties]

I've read about a similar style of spring house. Except the water was plumbed and it flowed into a large holding tank, and also had some kind of runoff system. I read about it in a book about the dust bowl written at the same time that Grapes of Wrath came out, but wasn't published b/c the publishers said the market wouldn't support two books of the same kind at once. The name of the book is Whose names are unknown. Great book. Gives a few small insights on life back then.

I have a spring house like this on the farm where I just moved last week. The spring no longer flows into it but is being piped into the creek that runs behind the house. I'm hoping to resurrect it at some point. Even without the spring, it's very cool in there. It's a masonary building all lined with styrofoam. There is a concrete basin that the spring would flow into and then circulate back out. The shelves are currently full of fairly ferocious looking 20+ year old canned goods from the previous owners, which need to be cleared out. There are also bins for potatoes and onions.

It's located just outside the kitchen door. Very convenient. Can't wait to get it cleaned out and back in action!

 

[big brown horse]

That sounds really cool!