Houseworks: Home root cellars keep garden produce fresh 

Published Sep 10, 2024  •  3 minute read

Root crops are some of the best kinds of produce for storing in a root cellar. 90% relative humidity and temperatures just above freezing are ideal conditions.  Photo by Canstock photograph

If you want to preserve fruits and vegetables as long as possible over winter, then home root cellaring is something you should know about. There are basic principles involved that lead to success, and though this knowledge used to be mainstream, modern people everywhere are rediscovering it. 

With sharply rising food costs, root cellaring makes more sense than ever. Whether you have a vegetable garden or buy produce in bulk at low harvest prices at farmer’s markets, there’s exceptionally good eating out there and money to be saved. 

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Root cellar basics 

A root cellar is any cold, moist space for preserving fruits, vegetables and even cheeses. Back in 2010 I co-authored The Complete Root Cellar Book, covering the design, construction and management of several kinds of root cellars, including basement options. In all cases the ideal cellaring conditions involve two main parameters. 

Temperature and humidity 

90%+ relative humidity and a few degrees above freezing yield longest storage life, and though no root cellar can maintain these conditions year round, it’s surprising how close you can get. Depending on the effort you want to invest creating a cellar space, there are a range of options. The simplest of these involves nothing more than a hole in the ground that extends below the frostline in your backyard. 

I call this a “cellar pit” and it’s a especially good for storing carrots, beets, potatoes, turnips, and parsnips. There’s no easier way to get the ideal mix of temperature and humidity. Your produce will still be in great condition until spring.  

Making a cellar pit 

Dig a hole about 48 inches deep and 24” to 36” in diameter in a well drained location in your backyard, place a few inches of straw, dry leaves or sawdust on the bottom, then lay your best root crops on top, not touching each other. Place additional straw on top of this first layer before laying down more produce, more straw, then more produce until you’re a foot below the surface. Fill this space with more straw or sawdust (to act as insulation), then a piece of plywood on top as a lid with a stone to weight it down. 

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Beware the apples 

Here in Canada apples are some of the best things to store in a root cellar, but apples pose an obscure challenge. Unlike most produce, applies give off ethylene gas. This is completely non-toxic, but there’s still a problem. Ethylene speeds the ripening of other fruits and vegetables, and speedy ripening works against your hopes of long-term food storage. This is why it’s essential to store apples completely separated from anything else you’re storing.  

“Replanting” vegetables 

Last fall I co-hosted an online workshop about preserving garden produce in a root cellar, and cellaring cabbages was one of the topics that came up during the Q&A section.  

Cabbages can keep for a long time in storage, but the best technique is a surprise to many gardeners. Instead of cutting the head from the root at harvest, take extra time and dig out the root with the head, then transplant the whole thing into soil in a tub or wooden box. Soil from your garden is perfect. Think of the process like continuing your gardening season indoors in your root cellar and you’ll get the picture. This process works well for carrots, beets and other root crops, too. 

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Since these re-plants are still alive, with all biological functions continuing, they’ll resist rotting and stay firm well when planted indoors like this. Just remember to keep the soil moist in the same way you would with any house plant. Cabbage, beets and carrots won’t continue to grow, but they will stay alive and hydrated, making for snapping-good eating when the snow flies again.  

Steve Maxwell’s favourite vegetable is a plate of freshly boiled beets. Visit him online at baileylineroad.com for thousands of articles and videos on successful hands-on living from a Canadian perspective. 

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