When we wrote our earlier post about storing apples for the winter we hadn't yet read the piece in today's New York Times on the root cellar. Seems like gardeners, CSA-advocates, and other cooks interested in eating locally have returned to a very, very old-fashioned way of storing their food.
posted originally from: TheKitchn
Cynthia Worley and others like her are trying to continue to eat locally throughout the winter by storing homegrown or CSA-provided fruits and vegetables in cold storage. They are trying to get their local produce to last all winter and feed themselves without resorting to, say, tomatoes from California. They do this by storing potatoes, apples, squash, onions, and other long-lasting produce in sand in their basement or outside cubbyholes.
Have you read the article? What do you think of this?Just this year we've been thinking about trying to preserve a couple dozen squash (so cheap at the market!) for reasons of practicality and economy. We'd never even considered a root cellar or this kind of long-term storage until very recently. Is it the economy? Is it a natural outgrowth of the local food movement? What do you think? (And have you ever maintained a root cellar?)
• Get the article - More good tips on root cellars and cold storage of food in general at the New York Times: Food Storage as Grandma Knew It
Related: Gumdrop Coffee Jars and a DIY Root Cellar: Delicious links for 10.27.08
(Image: Leah Nash for The New York Times)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
We wanted to try root cellaring crops this year but found out the ground doesn't freeze in the winter here in Philly so our basement will actually be warmer then the rest of our house. Not the best situation for storing food.
view http://badhuman.wordpress.com's profile