Root Cellars

If you have a root cellar, count yourself blessed. Here in Bakersfield, CA, root cellars and basements are rare. You see them from time to time in the older houses (my grandma had a large root cellar), but rarely in the newer homes. When I lived in Wyoming, almost every home had basement space and many had either sectioned off space in the basement for storing canned goods or they had hand dug root cellars in a corner of the backyard somewhere.  

Why do you need a root cellar? It’s like a refrigerator for your produce and greens. Temperatures just a few feet underground hover around 55°F. That is great for potatoes, carrots, onion, lettuce, etc. They can last for months over winter or summer in that type of environment. It can also be used as storage space for you “back-up” food if you are the forward-thinking prepper-type.

You really don’t need a ton of space. An unused corner of the lot or an unused RV area would suffice.  It may even add to the value of your home if installed properly.

I recently downloaded and read a great little tome on building your own root cellar. It is old and probably outdated, but the information is solid. Using the book Building Your Own Underground Root Cellar, you can build a 8 foot by 12 foot root cellar by hand-digging a hole, lining it with cinder block, creating a cement floor and placing a reinforced roof covered in sod over the top. A couple of weekends would be enough to get it done. Be warned, it was written in 1983 and the cost of some of the materials has increased. Also, it may not jive with local ordinances and may require a permit. And for crying out loud, careful where you dig, right? There may be gas or sewer pipes down there.

“But that cellar is ugly!” “I have kids and they would play in it!” True, but what if you built a small shed over it? You could very easily disguise the cellar or the entrance so no one would even know it was there. How about digging out from underneath an existing shed?

If you have the money and the time, a root cellar can be a great benefit. You can store your produce. You can make your own cheese (cool, right?). You can store all the food you’ve canned. You can store your “just in case” food. It really can be a valuable asset.