Root Cellar.. free or under 10 bucks. City or country. :)

I had to move to a city due to a job transfer and my middle daughter needing to be close to the hospital that she received her transplant. I did have the money to buy the actual double brick century old farm house smack dab in the city, but I want to share over the next few weeks thinsg I did.. in the city.. that are more of a homestead thing. Not everyone can live on land, some are in the city, some even in apartments who are survival ( thrival) minded. I do hope you will add to this!

I do things to see if I can do them.

We were driving down the road and saw a fridge sitting at the trash. I asked the owner if we could have it, he said sure.. PLEASE take it, returned with our truck and got the junked fridge. Motor was shot and it was an older fridge. We did something similar to this.. voila.. free ( cheap) root cellar. I have a huge stone basement and an indoor cellar, but wanted to see if this worked. It does. LOL!

I havent done this, but I can tell you that you can get these cheap and by barter on Craigslist. I have probably 15 of these barrels I bartered for.... have some with long term water storage ( we lose electricity here in the city a LOT with storms) and food storage.. might try me some root cellar barrels to see the longevity of them. I got some smaller ones with locking lids for other food storage and dog food. Im using several of them as rain barrels.. as in whole roof water catch next yr. Ill video, pic, or youtube it eventually.

I'd love to make one of those. But in the Texas clay soil... It once took me HOURS to dig a hole 11 inches in diameter and 3 feet deep. I once saw some neighbors installing fence posts and they literally had to use a jackhammer!
Digging holes here is a tough proposition and can't be done without serious help.

CANADA!! PLOT OF LAND FOR 10$...

Because of the sudden oil boom.

ca.news.yahoo.com...

O.k... tell a city boy.. why would I need a root cellar if I move to the sticks to get off the grid?

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


for longer storage of fruits and vegetables
the cellar keeps them cold and preserves them longer

reply to post by sirhumperdink


Thanks but.. better than a refrigerator? If so, why?

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


no not better than a refrigerator usually but they dont have a cooling unit and require no electricity to keep the food cool if you live in areas where its generally pretty cool you can maintain temperatures that are as low or lower than a refrigerator (the idea is to keep it just above freezing) and if that is the case then yes it is just as good as a refrigerator
if you live someplace exceptionally hot then nowhere near as good as having a refrigerator

reply to post by sirhumperdink


I understand. Thanks for the explanation. :-)

Originally posted by JohnPhoenix
O.k... tell a city boy.. why would I need a root cellar if I move to the sticks to get off the grid?

It's a great place to hide your moonshine! Other than that obvious reason you can store vegetables and some fruits for extended periods of time without electricity. It can also be camouflaged to hide it in plain view.
I don't have one but the idea is appealing.