root cellar

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Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables

One of my biggest frustrations as a gardener, is that I just can’t can or freeze enough vegetables. There are things that I wish I could keep longer to get us through the winter months, but I’m just not sure how, because they don’t fall into the freezing or canning category. Things like Spinach and squash. You can freeze them but I just don’t like the taste. Things like beets and onions and potatoes. . . I knew there was a way to store them and extend their life, but I just wasn’t sure how to do that. My attempts this past winter just resulted in mushy onions and potatoes that got rotten.

While combing the internet one day I found Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables. I wrote the publisher who graciously gave me a review copy (as well as a giveaway copy) and I devoured what the book had to say. Not only did it make me more knowledgeable about how to store veggies into the winter, it made me more excited about gardening as a whole!

There is a treasure trove of information in this book!

Section I: Starting Right with Storage Vegetables

Chapter 1: Planting Crops for Fall Storage

Chapter 2: Good Keepers (includes an extensive list of vegetables that work with storage)

Chapter 3: Growers Keepers: How to Raise Top-Quality Storage Vegetables

Section 2: Bringing in the Harvest

Chapter 4: How to Harvest and prepare Vegetables for Storage

Chapter 5: Life After Picking

Chapter 6: Spoilage

Chapter 7: Food Value in Winter Keepers

Section 3: All the Winter Keepers and How to Treat Them

Chapter 8: Vegetables

Chapter 9: Fruits

Chapter 10: Underground Garden

Chapter 11: Other Good Foods to Keep in Natural Cold Storage

Section Four: Food Cellars for Everyone

Chapter 12: Trenches, Keeping-Closets, and Other Vegetable and Fruit Hideaways

Chapter 13: Planning Your Root Cellar

Chapter 14: Keeping Things Humming in the Root Cellar

Chapter 15: The Basement Root Cellar

Chapter 16: The Evacuated Root Cellar

The book then wraps up with a section on different root cellaring experiences, as well as recipes for using your root cellar supplies. I truly think that nothing was left out of this book for those that want to pursue root cellaring. From comprehensive lists to detailed instructions and art-work diagrams for creating a cellar, this is the book to have on hand!