Cellar wish list?

[Blaundee]

Ok, maybe this will work a little better if I give an example... MIL says if she had it to do over, she would build hers about 3 times bigger, & make brick walls. Mom would make hers deeper, wider, and wooden stairs instead of dirt stairs. Both would increase the insulation on the doors & have a bigger building over it.

 

[Britesea]

well, my dream- if I had the money and didn't have such a high water table- would be at least 15x15 room, with sturdy shelves set in rows rather than just against the walls, with earthquake bars to keep jars from falling out... cement floor with a drain... decent lighting so my old eyes can find what I'm looking for... shallow risers on the stairs so it's easier for me... with a separate area that has higher humidity for root storage

 

[Hinotori]

I want to put down a waterproofed raised slab and probably concrete walls and roof. Then I'm going to cover the thing with dirt to make a nice mound. The water is way to high here to dig down, but I can make my own hill. Our climate is very mild, so it would work great for winter storage and even for the few days of summer we have that get hot.

 

[~gd]

I want to put down a waterproofed raised slab and probably concrete walls and roof. Then I'm going to cover the thing with dirt to make a nice mound. The water is way to high here to dig down, but I can make my own hill. Our climate is very mild, so it would work great for winter storage and even for the few days of summer we have that get hot.

wOW Sounds really col d where you are. I assumeyou know about frost heaving. So what do you do to support the slab? What do you do about frost heaving in the mound? oops I should have read more carefully because I read mild as cold Sorry for wasting everyones time!.

 

[Hinotori]

I want to put down a waterproofed raised slab and probably concrete walls and roof. Then I'm going to cover the thing with dirt to make a nice mound. The water is way to high here to dig down, but I can make my own hill. Our climate is very mild, so it would work great for winter storage and even for the few days of summer we have that get hot.

wOW Sounds really col d where you are. I assumeyou know about frost heaving. So what do you do to support the slab? What do you do about frost heaving in the mound? oops I should have read more carefully because I read mild as cold Sorry for wasting everyones time!.

We don't get really cold. It is really mild here. It rarely does get really hot in the summer. That is why I'd cover it with dirt. I'm pretty sure that I could just do the concrete walls and it would be fine.

I'd love to move somewhere colder. I like the cold. I don't really like the heat anymore even though I grew up in the desert.

Water is more of an issue for us than anything else. We only get 60 some inches a year, but we are in a low spot up on the hill so we have the big ponds in this area.

 

[k15n1]

A root cellar should have a dirt floor covered with several inches of pea gravel. When humidity is low, you splash some water around. Root cellars need 80-90 % humidity to keep those roots from drying out. Also, you need ventilation---cold in, hot out.

I would want my cellar attached to the house and really easy to access. You'll have to check on it quite a bit until you get the hang of it. At least, I did for the first year. Then we moved, so back to square one. Still, checking on your precious vegetables is the only way to make it work. True, it's work, but nothing is free.

 

[Blaundee]

A root cellar should have a dirt floor covered with several inches of pea gravel. When humidity is low, you splash some water around. Root cellars need 80-90 % humidity to keep those roots from drying out. Also, you need ventilation---cold in, hot out.

I would want my cellar attached to the house and really easy to access. You'll have to check on it quite a bit until you get the hang of it. At least, I did for the first year. Then we moved, so back to square one. Still, checking on your precious vegetables is the only way to make it work. True, it's work, but nothing is free.

How we store our root veggies is burried in sand & straw, and never add water. Our normal humidity is about 9%, and it isnt much higher inside our cellars. Dehydration & canning are our main ways of preserving, including the root veggies. Winter squash stores fine over the winter just as it is, and pretty much everything else gets processed some way

 

[Britesea]

A root cellar should have a dirt floor covered with several inches of pea gravel. When humidity is low, you splash some water around. Root cellars need 80-90 % humidity to keep those roots from drying out. Also, you need ventilation---cold in, hot out.

I would want my cellar attached to the house and really easy to access. You'll have to check on it quite a bit until you get the hang of it. At least, I did for the first year. Then we moved, so back to square one. Still, checking on your precious vegetables is the only way to make it work. True, it's work, but nothing is free.

How we store our root veggies is burried in sand & straw, and never add water. Our normal humidity is about 9%, and it isnt much higher inside our cellars. Dehydration & canning are our main ways of preserving, including the root veggies. Winter squash stores fine over the winter just as it is, and pretty much everything else gets processed some way

yeah, we live in the high desert so humidity doesn't happen except just before and during one of our infrequent thunderstorms, and winter storms. After living most of my life within an hour's drive of the coast, it took me a while to get used to no frost on the windows on cold mornings
Since I don't have a root cellar, I can or dry pretty much everything, except peas-- those I freeze.

 

[k15n1]

A root cellar should have a dirt floor covered with several inches of pea gravel. When humidity is low, you splash some water around. Root cellars need 80-90 % humidity to keep those roots from drying out. Also, you need ventilation---cold in, hot out.

I would want my cellar attached to the house and really easy to access. You'll have to check on it quite a bit until you get the hang of it. At least, I did for the first year. Then we moved, so back to square one. Still, checking on your precious vegetables is the only way to make it work. True, it's work, but nothing is free.

How we store our root veggies is burried in sand & straw, and never add water. Our normal humidity is about 9%, and it isnt much higher inside our cellars. Dehydration & canning are our main ways of preserving, including the root veggies. Winter squash stores fine over the winter just as it is, and pretty much everything else gets processed some way

So there's 2 types of storage for long-keeping vegetables: cold/moist and cool/dry. The needs of root vegetables, cabages, etc are different from those of pumpkins, butternut squash, and garlic.

The atmospheric humidity is really not an issue for root cellars. You have to control the humidity or you'll end up with shriveled roots. And other stuff, like onions, will moulder if the humidity is too high.

 

[DeniseCharleson]

... other stuff, like onions, will moulder if the humidity is too high.

Moulder = to turn to dust by natural decay; to crumble; to disintegrate. Is that the word you intended?