Use the root cellar for crops that keep and leave hardy crops standing in the garden or under covers, so that fresh winter greens and stored roots together cover the months when nothing grows. Eat in order of spoilage, with the least durable first, and store apples apart from carrots, cabbages and other vegetables, since ripening fruit gives off ethylene gas that can taint and spoil them. Open the cellar to cold night air in autumn to cool it, then close it when the temperature is where you want it.
Root cellar integration is the planning of what is stored, what stays in the field and what is eaten when, so cellar storage and winter garden crops cover the whole cold season.
Stored And Standing Crops Cover Different Months
The carrier guide (Four-Season Growing & Season Extension) describes November as the month of cold frame greens and stored crops, and December as cold frame harvest plus storage, and says to close cold frames at night in October. It does not describe cellar management; that is covered in Root Cellars and Root Cellars & Cool Storage, which give temperature and humidity targets and zones.
What Goes Where
| Kept | Where |
|---|---|
| Potatoes, beets, cabbages, squash, onions | Cellar or other cool store |
| Apples | Cool store, apart from the vegetables |
| Carrots, parsnips, leeks, kale | In the garden under mulch or covers while the ground is workable |
| Seed roots of biennials | Cellar, or in the ground under mulch (Overwintering Biennials) |
Different crops want different conditions. Storage conditions for onions, squash and roots differ; keep to the cellar’s zones.
What You Need
- A working cellar (Root Cellar Build).
- Crates or racks that allow air.
- A thermometer and a way to ventilate.
- A log of what is in the cellar.
Method
Step 1: Plan the order of eating. Soft fruit and damaged roots first; keepers last.
Step 2: Cool the cellar in autumn by opening vents on cold nights and closing them by day, until the temperature falls to the level your cellar guide gives.
Step 3: Sort the crops. Only store sound ones. A rotting root spreads rot to its neighbours.
Step 4: Keep apples apart from the vegetables. Ripening fruit releases ethylene, a gas that can make carrots bitter and hasten the spoilage of cabbage and leafy greens; store apples in a separate room or sealed crates. Folk practice also keeps apples from potatoes.
Step 5: Check weekly for rot and sprouting; remove any damaged items.
Step 6: Hand over to the garden. Use cold-frame and field greens in the first part of winter while the cellar holds, and plan the end of cellar stocks before spring greens return.
Common Mistakes
- Storing damaged crops — one spoiled item loses the neighbours.
- Mixing apples with the vegetables — ethylene taints and spoils them.
- Never checking — losses grow unseen.
- Closing the cellar tight when it is still warm — rot and sprouting.
Safety
Air in a closed cellar can be poor
A cellar closed with stored produce and rotting vegetables can hold carbon dioxide and little oxygen. Open and air it before you enter, do not go in alone if it has been shut for long, and get out at once if you feel dizzy or breathless. Do not use a flame to test the air.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Winter Gardening Techniques — the standing side of winter food
- Combine with: Canning — preserved food alongside the cellar