# DIY root storage bins



## LivinGreen (Mar 26, 2013)

Anyone have some suggestion for winter root storage in some homemade root storage bins? Im gonna have lots of carrots potatoes and beets coming.


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## stanb999 (Nov 14, 2011)

Just a few things..
Unless you can get and keep them very cold, but not frozen they wont last forever. This is really fine tho. If they are kept less than 40 they will still keep 2 months or better.

Any box that can breath is fine. it shouldn't be air or moisture tight. 
Remove all the top on the veggies. If you read up on proper storage of root crops in the US they all say to leave the tops and put them in the fridge, LOL. But if you read old information on root storage. They say to remove all tender vegetation it causes mold. 

That's what I got. Good luck!


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

I am all for a proper root cellar, that is the way to go if all possible. However we have done a few experiments with the most basic ways and saw amazing results. Climate will play a factor, is moisture/mildew a problem in your area or is drying out the major issue? Either way sand can be very useful it acts as a thermal and moisture "buffer".

Just last year (well it would have been 2 years at the start) we put up a rubbermaid tub of beets in sand. We laid them in layers not touching each other and with the tops cut off, not washed. They were not kept in a cellar, just a cool room in a house where the temperature doesn't fluctuate too much. We didn't add water to the sand, just what it had when we dug it up, and we only left the little holes under the handles for ventilation however this would be very humidity depended I would suspect. Moisture can be added to the sand or more ventilation can be provided. 

The results were, beets went in after harvest in the fall and lasted till NEXT FALL Was not expecting such good results outside of the root cellar but they were just getting soft when the new crop was being harvested. It was sure convenient to have them so accessible as well.


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## LivinGreen (Mar 26, 2013)

Im fascinated by root cellars but they seem tricky to get and keep at the right temp & humid. I thought about trying in-ground storage but being in Iowa	we can get deep freezes so Im leary of that approach.


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## LivinGreen (Mar 26, 2013)

I like the sand storage Cowboy. What temp was that room in your house?


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

LivinGreen said:


> I like the sand storage Cowboy. What temp was that room in your house?


Not as cold as it should have been but they were also positioned against a cool wall with a lot of solar mass and on a floor above a non heated space, we also are in a very cool climate. As far as I know the room was never over standard room temperature for any length of time but much of the time it was probably considerably colder, especially for the first 6 months, around 15C or 60F with the container being slightly cooler.

I haven't tried it often enough to know if we could expect such great results on a regular basis and even then I am sure people in other situations might have more difficulty due to temperature fluctuations and higher overall temps. I just bring it up so that people see what is possible, even with very little investment in time or money. 
Personally I feel having root crops (and squash) last even half as long is pretty amazing, getting through the winter is the main thing


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## camo2460 (Feb 10, 2013)

You could try burying an old fridge with the door side up. Put your root crops in with sand and close the door. Make sure that children cannot be trapped by removing the door locking mechanism or adding a pad lock.


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## momof3 (Oct 19, 2013)

I read an article in mother earth magazine about this topic. It said you could do laundry baskets lined with newspapers and layers of roots then more papers. I have heard of the sand tubs. Also an old chest of drawers you can put them in. I can't remember exactly but if you look up mother earth news you can probably find the article. I haven't tried anything yet but am leaning towards the sand or or laundry baskets.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

The book- Root Cellaring _ is great.
A) garden row storage, first put down hardware cloth or screening over root crops in the row then mulch 8" or more of mulch & mark the center end of the row with a wooden stake.
B) a temporary on-site cold frame, stack bales of hay two high, inside corner of bales touching & leaving a square hole in the middle.
Put loose hay in the hole then vegetables, when full Lay a old window on top.
C) a potato mound with a vent in the center of straw as you build the the mound, cover the outside with straw then soil.
D) the Buried Frig. as explained in another post is in the book too.
E) Trench, is the same the bale of hay, but you dig a trench/hole in the ground, layer it with straw/dry mulch, add vegetables more straw then cover with plywood, cover with 6" of soil.
F) Barrel or drum storage, covered with straw, a board & soil.
The book talks about air flow patterns,cold & very moist,cool & dry, Moderately warm & dry, what vegetable do well in what temperature.


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## GaryS (Nov 15, 2011)

When my dad lived in Montana, he left his root crops in the ground and covered them with several inches of hay. When he needed some, he just peeled back the hay and dug what he needed. The ground never froze, even when the temps were below zero.

In Washington, the winter rain made everything in the ground rot by early December. I tried cutting most of the tops off carrots and parsnips and placing them in food grade plastic buckets and then filling with damp sand. I stored them in a shed and was able to use most of the crop before they went bad. 

I later dug a small root celler in the side of a hill and was able to store potatoes and apples along with the root crops which were packed in moss.

None of those things worked as well as the old fashioned unheated cellar under the house I grew up in.


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