For years, I wondered how our ancestors survived without refrigeration
….yet the answer is far more logical than I ever expected!
It’s referred to as a “root cellar” and is making a huge comeback among homesteaders and off-gridders today!
And why not? It makes all the sense in the world! Taking advantage of cooler underground temperatures is not only reliable, but free!
After researching through books, websites and even workshops, I’ve come to learn that ideal conditions needed for a successful root cellar vary tremendously, even from town to town. We will be discussing that in this week’s posts, so stay with me.
A few weeks ago, I attended a “Root Cellar Workshop” given without charge by “New Liberty Farms”. There was also a “Root Vegetable Cook-Off“, where participants brought yummy recipes to share with the group. Talk about building community through the sharing of information and food! I thoroughly enjoyed myself! Don’t worry, I’ve included a couple of the recipes at the end of the post!
What’s the point of a root cellar if you don’t enjoy root vegetables?
Me with Amy Magnus, writer for YSNews.com
Beth, from New Liberty Farms, showed us the difference between potatoes stored at room temperature in her home (left) as opposed to potatoes stored in a plastic container with lid in her garage during the cooler months (right). What a difference! Her garage possessed conditions that made this possible, not all garages do. By experimenting on a smaller scale, you can discover what will work for you.
Here’s another way to store root veggies in a cooler space during the winter months. Wrapping them in newspaper can preserve your root veggies for months. Once again, these had a lid as well.
Certain fruits and vegetables fair better in a root cellar environment than others, this will be discussed in more detail in tomorrow’s post. This is a big topic and will take a few days to unpack!
For those of you who might struggle to enjoy root vegetables, many shared that day that ‘roasting’ is the key to making root veggies delish!
Honestly, I can say that I’ve ever eaten a turnip, parsnip or rutabaga, but this recipe was wonderful!!! Must try!
Roasted Root Vegetables Scented with Apple and Mustard
3 cups apple cider or juice
1 cup fruity white wine such as Gewurztraminer (don’t ask me what that is, just copying the recipe)
2 tbls. smooth Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons of butter
4-5 pounds root vegetables, both sweet (carrots, parsnips and/or yams) and savory (turnips, rutabagas and/or celery root) peeled and cut in to 1/2″ cubes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
In a saucepan, reduce the cider or juice, wine and mustard over high heat to 1 1/2 cups. Whisk in the butter and pour over vegetables, tossing to coat. Season with salt and pepper and place the veggies in a single layer in a large roasting pan in a preheated 375 degree oven. Roast for 1 hour or so, or until the vegetables are lightly browned and tender. Stir the veggies 3 or 4 times during the roasting process to promote browning on all sides. ~from “Your Organic Kitchen” by Jesse Ziff Cool, Rodale Press
This soup was so good that I felt like I had been healed of something after eating it! Not kidding!
Eve Jacobs’ Magic Chicken Soup
4 quarts water or fat free chicken broth
1 large cut up chicken
2 whole onions, unpeeled
4 parsnips, peeled and left whole
1/2 cup chopped celery leaf
2 stalks celery
1 rutabaga, peeled and quartered
1 large turnip, peeled and quartered
1 kohlrabi
6 carrots, peeled and left whole
6 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
6 tbsp. snipped fresh dill
1 tbsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 zucchini
In a large pot, bring the chicken and broth or water to a boil, add:
Onion, parsnip, celery
1/2 rutabaga
turnip, kohlrabi
4 carrots
parsley
4 tbsp. dill
salt and pepper
Cover and simmer 2 1/2 hours. Strain and remove chicken, discard veggies. Chill broth and remove fat. Bone meat, re-heat. Cut zucchini, remaining rutabaga and carrots into strips and add. Simmer 15 minutes and serve with dill.
Unbelievably good!
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Do YOU have a root vegetable recipe that your family loves? Please post it here so that we can all benefit!! 
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About kmorris
LOVE the school bus! Any ideas on a root cellar for a small city lot?! We are looking to move to some property when God shows us when and where but for now we have tiny city lot. We don’t have A/C either so storing canning and roots is difficult. LOVE your blog!
Bury an old chest freezer
Thank you for this series! I have a root cellar in my basement of our old farmhouse we bought last year. It needs some major TLC but I have been looking for resources as I am completely clueless!! I will be following for sure!!
We eat a lot of root veggies here. Mainly because that is what our winter CSA provides us
Last week I came up with a great one to use the abundance of parsnips in my fridge. You can find it here http://www.townsend-house.com/2012/02/honey-balsamic-glazed-carrots-and.html I would love to find a way to store root veggies…well for when I grow some in my garden and actually have enough to save for the winter 
We tend to process everything and either freeze or can because we have a lot of root veggies available locally. If we ever move out to land that we own and actually build our homestead, I am thinking I will have to have a special set up specifically for a root cellar.
I have a built in root cellar to our house. It’s accessed via a trap door in the kitchen. Guess I should start learning how to use for food and not just storage.
Mmm, root veggies.
My favorite way to cook them is to chop them all up in roughly equal sized pieces and roast them with salt/pepper/olive oil/herbs. I eat with mustard or barbecue sauce or both. Sweet potatoes are key to be included.
HI,
This was really interesting! I hope you come on by to my Fat Tuesday carnival to share this post! (I found you at Sunday School).