Filling The Root Cellar Fall 2010

This past Monday, our Pioneers filled their root cellar with vegetables to store until spring. We could hardly believe that it was time already, as it seems like they just opened it, opening weekend of the season this past May. 

 

 The Cellar. 

Our cellar has evolved over time from just a hole in the ground, to the current design which includes framed in sides and a french drain. 

 It's fairly deep.

Crating the vegetables for the winter.
We keep our vegetables in separate crates and insulate them with straw.

 This year's store includes giant turnips, potatoes & carrots.
All of these vegetables were grown at the museum this season.

Packing the cellar with the crates of vegetables.

After the crates are in, the entire cellar is stuffed with straw for insulation. 

All the way to the top!

A heavy tight fitting cover is put on top of it.
Notice how the cellar is slanted to let water run easily off of it.

And our vegetables are snug until spring!

Opening The Root Cellar at The Pioneer Farmstead

Before Opening

Want to see what we found in the root cellar?

On opening day at the museum we opened the root cellar at the Pioneer Farmstead after a long cold winter. We were excited and anxious to see how our vegetables had fared. This is our 5th year with a root cellar and each year our results have gotten better. The first year there was absolutely nothing at all in the cellar when we opened it. And no trace of anything either!

We've improved our technique over the years by adding wood walls and a french drain of stones in the bottom.

This year we had an impressive array of beets, turnips and parsnips but lost the carrots. In another cellar we had cabbages and onions. Those are separated from the other vegetables as they give off a gas that will break down the other vegetables quickly.

Each cellar would have provided vegetables for a family for about a month and a typical family would have 4 or 5 of such cellars around their property. The best ones would have been built into the side of a hill if possible.

Even in the 85 degree weather that we had last week, when we peeked into the cellar it was still markedly cooler than the air above it.

In the cellar

One thing to note that while the vegetables have stayed quite well over the winter, they need to be used immediately after being taken from the cellar or they begin to get soft very quickly.

Waiting to be used in the Pioneer Farmstead