Roots in your cellar

Basement Root Cellar

What is it?

A simple to build basement root cellar!

Not exactly something beautiful to look at and construction isn't done yet either - but we started on this simple project back in late January and never got around to posting information about it.  Basically it's a small 6'x6'x6' cube built of 2x4's and 1" foam insulation.  It sits against two outside basement walls and over the crock in the basement (over the crock keeps the humidity high).  you can see in the photo the external walls still have the builders insulation on them - and I think that's not a bad idea...  as the summer warms up that should keep the warmer soils from heating up the interior too much while the exposed walls and floor are in contact with the constant "cool" earth.  I guess time will tell.

After construction of the frame and the insulation boards were nailed up on the inside we then taped all the seams to make it air (and moisture) tight.  Adding a layer of fiberglass insulation on the outside makes it have a better insulation factor than most home walls (obviously we need to get something up over the insulation).  The ceiling is the same simple construction - insulation board and fiberglass.  It's really a non-technical structure that anyone can build.  The 2x4's can be hand cut or use a circular saw - the insulation board cuts with a utility knife.

The door - as you can see - is the same design of insulation boards and fiberglass with the addition of some plywood on the outside (could just as easily have been foam board there too).  I did opt to build the door in two parts so you can open the top half, grab something quickly from a shelf and not loose all the cool air.

Why did we build a small root cellar in the basement?  Well - when it's completely done there will be an air exchange system in place (just a couple of PVC pipes that go outside).  That will let us bring really cold air in and vent out the warmer "stale" air.  With a constant supply of cool air this will give us the perfect environment to store all sorts of harvested goodies this season.  Carrots, cabbage, winter squashes, turnips, beats and of course potatoes and onions - all store very well...  but in an environment like a root cellar - you can get from one grown season harvest all the way to the next if you manage things correctly.

There are several good books out there on techniques to store things in your root cellar (visit our Amazon store in the right sidebar) - like carrots like damp sand, potatoes like cool, not cold conditions...  there's a lot of "needs" of each item you want to store - but from the floor to the ceiling you get a temperature gradient (like a wine cellar) and you have different regions of higher or lower humidity with the crock in the corner.

It's a lot like everything we do - a bit of experimentation - but we hope the pay off is eating fresh potatoes next spring when I'm also planting the new crop!

Comments

[Jeph Remley]

I see this was posted almost two years ago - how did I miss it!? Now I'm curious to hear how it turned out, if it did the job, what it looks like now, if you love it, etc...

[Andy]

It works really really well. We added a small PC fan onto one of the air pipes to ensure good air turnover but it keeps things really well. Lots of plastic shelving around the edge and then crates in the middle. Potatoes, garlic, onions, winter squash, carrots, parsnips, cabbage... you name it - we have it down there.

[Marilyn]

What is the crock in the basement? I'd like to build this but was wondering about using the basement window for airflow. Marilyn

[Andy]

The crock is where the water from the floating slab drains. The nice thing about putting our root cellar over the crock is it provides a constant source of humidity.
As for using the window for your vent I'd be afraid that it might offer too much air and cool things off too much (freeze). What we did was pull out the window and replace it with a sheet of plywood that we then ran the 6" PVC pipes through it. You want a little airflow... Not a lot.
It's been a great project for us and we love getting fresh stuff out all year! Best of luck and if you have more questions you know where to find us.