Storing Vegetables in a Cellar

Mike

Mike

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Location
North Texas
First name
Mike
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8a
My mom recently purchased a house with a cellar so I've been curious as to whether, or not, we could use that to store our potatoes and canned veggies in throughout the year. I do have a shed outside I could use for storing potatoes, similar to what @Meadowlark suggests, but my thinking is there's less chance of rodents and insects in the cellar, if that will work. I'm not sure why it wouldn't, but I wanted to ask in case anyone here has tried it before.
 
If you could make sure it was rodent proof a cellar would be good. Ventalation would be needed though as stuff would go moldy. I had a pill box in Dorset that I stored potatoes in which was great as it stayed cool in summer and it held the warmth in winter (it had very thick walls)
 
Meadowlark said:
I would definitely use a cellar...if I had one. The only reason I don't have one is because we get such high rainfall totals around here.

In spite of that, I think I will build one anyway. Might need to be made of fiberglass or something waterproof. Looking for ideas.
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You could tank the masonry, that is put several layers of a bitumen paint on before rendering. But build a sump into the floor in case you need to pump water out. (Had to do that with my pill box as it was built at ground level in World War 2 but successive floods since then mean that the floor is now below the outside ground level so when it floods outside the water came up thru the floor 🙄)
 
Zigs said:
Ventalation would be needed though as stuff would go moldy.
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Ventilation is one of my primary concerns. I'm wondering if maybe I can just put a fan down there and let it circulate air around the potatoes/onions.

Because of the way the cellar is built, flooding isn't a concern, and the vent already has a rodent screen built into it. Insects might can still get in around the door, but I don't believe it'll be that big of an issue. The house was empty for several months in the summer last year and there were very few bugs in there when we got into it.
 
1715847204279.webpI think these would work. I've used some a bit smaller with tight fitting lids to store mylar bags in, primarily to protect against spike damage. One like the one in the picture would take a fair few spuds I think. The cellar is cool, so seems like a decent combination.
 
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