Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables

by Mike Bubel, Nancy Bubel

Stretch the resources of your small backyard garden further than ever before, without devoting hundreds of hours to canning! This informative and inspiring guide shows you not only how to construct your own root cellar, but how to best use the earth’s naturally cool, stable temperature as an energy-saving way to store nearly 100 varieties of perishable fruits and vegetables.

Genres: Gardening, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Cooking, Cookbooks, Sustainability

297 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Ami]

If you have ever wondered how Ma in "Little House in the Big Woods" kept all her produce and harvest bounty so that Laura had good things to eat in January and never developed scurvy, this book answers all your questions. I can't believe there are so many methods to storing produce, besides canning and freezing, and I can't believe that I didn't know them before my 37th year. I did, after all, live in Iowa for the first decade of my life. Genetically I'm programmed to understand agriculture and eat corn. Right?

Quite simply, this is one of the best organized, informative, well written gardening reference books I have ever read. Be warned: Reading it makes one consider (however fleetingly) living off the land in some remote place and attempting to become self sufficient. Merely reading it once will not be enough for the farmer at heart. I will be buying my copy off Amazon soon.

[Frances]

A good book for building a root cellar. Includes information on what temperate and condition to keep numerous vegetables as well as many options for creating space both inside the house and out to keep those vegetable through the winter. There are excellent suggestions on where and how to build a storage facility to leave our home grown or locally grown produce in good shape for eating right through until spring.

[Sherri]

Great resource for the home library. Various fruits, vegetables and more are discussed. Various styles for creating are shared.

[Miriam Axel-lute]

Has almost as much about how to plan, grow, and harvest food for root cellaring as it does about making a root cellar (makes sense, of course). Pretty awesome. I like that it has very detailed fancy options, but also descriptions of people doing things much more simply. And that there are plenty of options that work if you're not out in the country. Looking forward to trying some of this ourselves next season!

[Claire]

Very comprehensive book on root cellaring--truly the bible it was claimed to be. It made me mourn the dirt-floored section in our basement that we covered over with cement. Why? Oh why? How will we ever achieve 90-95% humidity now. Wail.

[Sandra]

Such a good reference book and very informative. As someone who's very interested in being more self sufficient and independent from the current mass produced food system we have, it's very comforting to know there are these well preserved methods, which have been thoroughly tried and tested and proven to work. I am enjoying learning about all the old traditions our grand parents and great grandparents used in a life before convenience foods and large supermarkets existed. Becoming more self reliant on your own two hands and having a stock pile of produce you yourself grew is true food security. The winters here are long and having another way to extend the growing season and putting away all the excess to have access to fresh veggies and fruit will be very convenient. I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn more about natural ways to store food.

[Bargain Sleuth Book Reviews]

Borrowed this book from the library's Libby app. Much of this information is stuff my mother taught me regarding the storing of food, but it was a nice refresher to remind myself of what produce likes drier or more moist conditions when stored. I always have an issue with potatoes sprouting and I think I need to change up where I store them.

If you want to build a root cellar or food storage space in your yard, there's instructions for that as well, including the idea of digging a hole and dropping in an old fridge, essentially creating an outside chest freezer.

This book was published in 1991, and most of their source material was from the 1970's. I wonder if some of the material in the book could be updated with more modern technologies and methods. I was happy to see that the ebook does have links to various seed and plant resources.

[Alex Shrugged]

I live in Texas so this book has limited (meaning zero) relevance to my situation. Any root cellar I might build here would not reach the temperatures required for a root cellar to work. The authors live in Pennsylvania, so most of their suggestions would only work for people in the Northeast, Northern Midwest and Northwest. Nevertheless, I found the book interesting because they provide information about how long foods might last in refrigeration, the issues with humidity and what makes certain foods spoil.

I might return to this book for information on food storage... particularly regarding nuts.

[Rebecca Roush]

This book is instructive and detailed. There is a lot of information in here from crop lists to plans to construct your own root cellar/storage facilities. I was in for how to store carrots in sawdust and got much more. I am always excited to learn more about gardening and this has inspired me to add summer and winter radishes, cabbage and a winter squash to the veg list this season. I can't wait to grow and eat it. I was also happy to have read something that was written by folks in my garden zone, and state.

[Wolf Fortenberry]

As someone who has never even been in a root cellar, but has wanted one of her own for years, this book has been perfect. Not only have I learned what crops are good for cellaring, but what varieties, when to plant and harvest, how to store them, specific temps and humidity levels, how to build a variety of root cellars, and the most important components of root cellars to achieve the best results. This is an excellent book for someone looking to gain insight into the world of root cellaring.

[Aleksandar]

I picked this book up hoping to find detailed plans and technical requirements for constructing a long lasting root cellar. I got that and so much more! The user experiences of different homesteaders were particularly useful, as was the growing guide and storage tips for various root cellar friendly crops. No wonder that many decades later, this is still the go to guide for root cellaring.

[Telisha]

If you want to build a root cellar/cold storage this is 100% the book you want.
Detailed information, drawings, details allows for different types of lands, different climates and location so that you can build the best root cellar for your land and your needs.
I am so very happy that they understand that one size doesn't fit all.

[Heather]

Highly actionable

I wish there were more updates but the advice is generally good. A few things like suggesting porcelain electrical fixtures could stand updating but that shouldn't stop people from getting this book.

The growing info on veggies, harvest and storage instructions, as well as how to build or create your own storage areas are really simple and clear.

[Julia]

5 Stars

A wonderful book that includes a bit of everything needed to start your self sufficiency. The information is clear with excellent diagrams. I especially appreciated the recipes included in the back of the book to use the produce you have saved.

[Kali]

An interesting read with lots of detailed information that I will revisit on my second pass through the book. They cover a lot of different food storage techniques as well as tips for growing vegetables for storage.

[Felicity Fields]

Thorough, concise, and detailed. I learned so much about how root cellars work - and discovered we have the textbook old farmhouse cellar in our basement! I'm not yet at a point to need a root cellar, but now I know what's involved. And, when I am ready, I'll probably re-read this book!

[Steven Ulatt]

Very clear and concisely written.. A very practical book on how to keep your hard work from "spoiling".

[Eva Muhlhause]

A must have book if preserving food is a passion.

[Jason]

Pretty authoritative book on building and using a root cellar. There's enough detail in here that you will probably want to consult it as a reference (which means I should probably buy a copy).

[Michelle Becerril]

I love this book. Lots of good information. I lost my copy of this book in a wildfire in Northern California. I am going to re-purchase it again.

[Walkeo]

A handy guide about a timeless practice. Easy to read, helpful diagrams. It even includes some recipies. Has me musing aboit how we can set up a root cellar at home!

[Belle Meade School]

641.4

[Juli Anna]

There aren't very many books on this topic, which makes this thorough volume a truly necessary guide for anyone looking to improve their crop storage.

[Angie]

Full of useful information…remains to be seen how much I will manage to put into practice!

[TaylorJoC]

A little out dated but the basics still hold up very well. I used many of these methods while building my new root cellar.

[Kait Doud]

Very helpful and inspiring.

[Anjanette]

The only one on this subject you’ll need

[PottWab Regional Library]

SM

[Cloey Lee]

So much great information!

[Anna]

Any book that shows something as innovative as driving a truck into a hole in a hillside for use as a root cellar is a-ok with me.