Plan the root cellar before harvest by measuring how many kilograms a crate holds, converting the tonnage you expect into crates and floor area, and assigning each crop a zone that matches its needs: roots cold and humid, potatoes a little warmer, onions and garlic dry, apples apart from vegetables, and winter squash warmer and drier than roots. Load only sound, cured crops, cool the cellar first, and ventilate before anyone goes in.
A root cellar loading plan assigns crops to bins and zones, sets the order and dates of loading, and checks that the cellar can hold the harvest.
Why Plan In Advance
The carrier loads the cellar in September and October, with final loading in October before the hard freeze, and the community then eats from it until spring (July-September, October-December). Loading is rushed, and mistakes (too much for the space, damp crops next to dry ones, damaged roots in the bins) show only in winter. A plan on paper in August prevents most of them.
Size The Cellar From A Weighed Crate
Weights per cubic metre vary with crop, size and packing, so measure.
- Fill a crate or bucket of known volume with the crop as you will pack it. Weigh it.
- Divide the tonnage you expect by that weight to get the number of crates.
- Work out stack height (usually 3 to 4 crates) and the footprint of a crate.
- Add aisle space so that air and people can pass.
Worked example (invented numbers to show the sum): you expect 1,500 kg of potatoes, and a crate holds 13 kg. Crates = 1,500 ÷ 13 = 115.4, so 116. Stacked 4 high, that is 116 ÷ 4 = 29 stacks. A crate footprint of 0.4 m × 0.5 m is 0.2 m², so 29 × 0.2 = 5.8 m² of floor. Allow half again for aisles: 5.8 × 1.5 = 8.7 m². The cellar guide describes a small-community cellar of about 2 m × 3 m × 2 m tall, a floor of 6 m² (Cellar Construction). On these figures, the potatoes alone would not fit it, and nothing else would. Do this sum for each crop before you promise the cellar to all of them.
Zones: What Each Crop Needs
The cellar management guide gives root vegetables 0-4 °C at 90-95% humidity, potatoes 4-7 °C at 85-90%, and onions and garlic 0-4 °C at 60-70% (Temperature and Humidity). They cannot all share one room.
| Crop | Zone | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips | Coldest, most humid, often floor level | Trim tops; pack in damp sand or sawdust; do not wash |
| Potatoes | Dark, a little warmer | Cure first; keep from light, which greens them |
| Cabbages | Cold, humid | On shelves or hung; remove outer damaged leaves |
| Onions, garlic | Dry zone near ventilation, or a separate dry store | Cure in air until the necks are dry |
| Apples | Separate cool store or sealed crates | Ethylene from ripening apples taints roots and cabbage (Root Cellar Integration) |
| Winter squash | Warmer, drier corner or a dry room | Extension guidance puts squash at about 10-13 °C and moderate humidity; recalled |
The carrier lists winter squash among the cellar crops. Squash does not like the cold, wet cellar roots like, so give it its own warmer, drier place if you can.
Load Order And Method
- Cool the cellar first by opening vents on cold nights and closing them by day, until it reaches the target temperature (Root Cellar Integration).
- Cure crops that need it before they go in: potatoes for a short time in cool, dark, humid conditions; onions and garlic until dry; squash in warm conditions.
- Sort ruthlessly. Only sound, undamaged crops are stored; damaged ones go to the kitchen first. One rotting root spreads rot to its neighbours.
- Brush off soil; do not wash.
- Load the crops that keep longest to the back, and the ones you will eat first to the front, with each bin dated (First-in-First-out (FIFO) Systems).
- Leave air gaps between crates and walls.
- Write the loading record: crop, weight, date, bin (Storage Rotation & Inventory).
Check Weekly
Look for soft spots, mould, sprouting and condensation, and read the thermometer (Spoilage Monitoring and Response).
Air in a closed cellar can be poor
Stored produce and rot use up oxygen and give off carbon dioxide, which collects at floor level in a closed or pit cellar. Ventilate for some time before entering, do not enter alone, do not use a flame as the test for the air, and leave at once if you feel dizzy or breathless. Use a light that is not a flame, keep children out, and make sure a person outside knows you are inside.
Failure Modes
- Plan by volume, not by weight. Stacks are too high and the bottom crates crush.
- Everything in one temperature. Onions rot in a damp cellar; carrots shrivel in a dry one.
- Apples beside vegetables.
- Loading uncured crops. They rot.
- No record. You cannot tell in January what is where.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Storage Rotation & Inventory — using the stores in order
- Combine with: Root Cellar Build — building the cellar itself