How The Root Cellar Technique Can Help You Preserve Your Harvest

The many modern day technological advancements have made our lives easy. You can imagine how hard life could have been without televisions, computers, microwaves and telephones. Despite all that, there are still people who have made the decision to live off the grid.

These people are questioning the modern day advancements and each day are finding a way of coming up with “minimalistic” solutions of living. That goes as far as coming up with options of living with things like refrigerators, freezers, microwaves, televisions and many other conveniences.

Even before the invention of refrigeration, the winter months could enable our ancestors store the different vegetables required to maintain a healthy lifestyle. They did that through the help of a root cellar. The technique can still help you preserve your harvest without relying on canning.

How to Build a Working Garbage Can Root Cellar

What you need: a metallic garbage can

1. Make a hole whose diameter is slightly larger than that of the metallic garbage can. The depth of the whole should allow the lid to sit around 4 inches above the soil’s level.
2. Now return the displaced dirt back into the hole and ensure it firmly packs around the barrel.
3. It is time to straw the root cellar with the harvest as you place them into the barrel
4. When it is time to close the root cellar, use mulch or straw to insulate the cover, and place some plastic sheet over the top to make sure everything remains dry

You can be sure the method is working perfectly by incorporating a hygrometer and a thermometer to measure both humidity and temperature.

Some of the vegetables you can effectively store using the root cellar technique include:

• Turnips
• Beets
• Sweet potatoes
• Cabbage
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Parsnips
• Cauliflower
• Leeks
• Celery
• Dry beans (ensure the containers are dry and fitted with tight lids)