Tour visits a pair of root cellars

DEXTER — A short workshop on root cellars piqued the interest of 10 local people on Saturday morning May 13 (enough to overcome the many temptations of the first warm sunny day of spring) in order to learn and share the basics of this old and energy-efficient food storage method.

Dexter Dover Area Towns in Transition (DDATT) sponsored the workshop, as part of its monthly rural skills series, starting with a brief overview at Dexter’s Abbott Memorial Library and then carpooling to examples of cellars in Cambridge and Harmony.

A root cellar can be very simple or quite complex, but basically it’s some sort of compartment that is well drained, properly ventilated, adequately insulated by the earth, protected from pests and dark.

The workshop participants, from Norridgewock, Dexter, Sangerville, Cambridge, Medford and Harmony, shared successes and failures in food storage attempts. Root crops (such as carrots and potatoes) need different humidity and temperature levels than other vegetables (such as squash or onions). Fruits (e.g., apples, pears) give off ethylene gas as they age, which can adversely affect potatoes if ventilation is not good.

Cellars are a good cool place to store canned goods but caution should be taken to account for possible rusting of lids because of higher humidity. Frequent inspection of stored foods was stressed, to find and remove (eat them!) any that are “going by.”

The June 10 DDATT workshop is scheduled to be on small scale haymaking with hand tools.

DDATT’s mission is to help our area reduce our use of fossil fuels and create a more stable rural economy. For more information on DDATT and future events, email info@ddatt.org to get on the email news list or call 277-4221 or 924-3836.

Photo courtesy of DDATT
ROOT CELLAR DWELLARS — Carol Gardner of Cambridge explains how her 7- by 15-foot root cellar helps store garden produce and other food to participants in a recent DDATT workshop.