How to Build a Detached Root Cellar

Build your own detached root cellar to store your produce the old-fashioned way. Root cellars have been in use for centuries to keep vegetables cool and well preserved through every season. Because root cellars are dug underground, they take up little noticeable space but provide lots of storage room. Produce will remain fresher in a root cellar much longer than it does in the refrigerator or pantry. Building your own detached root cellar gives you a handy place to store all your vegetables fresh from the garden.

Shovel
Metal garbage can
Sand
Straw mulch
Sheet of plastic

Instructions

- 1
  Locate a treeless slope or hillside on your property if there is one present. Otherwise, locate the northeast corner of your property; this is where you will dig your detached root cellar because this is the coolest side of your property. Find a spot that is several feet away from surrounding trees, the roots of which may damage your root cellar.
- 2
  Dig a 3-foot hole vertically into level ground or horizontally on a sloped hillside, approximately 4 feet long, using a shovel.
- 3
  Bury a metal garbage can in the hole, allowing 4 inches of the top to protrude from the ground.
- 4
  Build a mound of dirt around the exposed rim of the can to create a snug fit into the hole.
- 5
  Fill the bottom of the can with sand to provide drainage for the vegetables. The vegetables should be placed so they rest in the sand, not on the metal.
- 6
  Place the lid on the garbage can.
- 7
  Cover the lid with straw mulch and surround this with a sheet of plastic to keep the cellar dry.

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