Permies Poll: Do you maintain a root cellar?

A root cellar is loosely defined as "an underground or earth-sheltered structure designed to store vegetables, fruits, and canned goods at low temperatures and high humidity to prevent spoiling and freezing."






I will admit, I don't know a lot about root cellars. Please share your system in the comments for all of us to learn from!

I have a small room in my basement that I use, but I do not have anything I am satisfied calling a root cellar.

We have the obligatory "Fraidy-hole" storm shelter here in Oklahoma, for when rotary weather stops being a spectator sport and gets serious.  We squeezed a little more out of the budget and bought what amounts to an oversized unit for two people and a dog.  It's nominally rated for "12 People," though I would want the other 11 to be very good friends.  It's big enough for a set of shelves and a stack of milk crates for cabbage and potatoes, and a few apples.  So, I guess we're "stacking functions."

We buried ours, although it's rated for 1/3 exposure for critical storm performance.  It has two vents, so we put a 4" PVC DWV tube for a convection ventilation system.  Doesn't freeze in the winter, but the steel door, set at a 40º angle, does tend to bake in the sun, even though the rest of the structure is under at least 10" of soil.  I'm going to build a shed roof over it all this summer and put an insulated door on the front.  Should work quite well.  

My "cellar" is a roughly 7.5 x 3.5 foot room made by building two concrete block walls against the outside of the foundation wall, hammering a hole through to the basement, and capping it with a concrete slab that became a porch. It has two walls and a floor in contact with the earth and two walls the other side of which are my basement and a flimsy door that admits a lot of temperature and air. It stays cool and humid but isn't perfect. It also has an old sand-point well contaminated by lead, and the admittance hole from the new drilled well, and some of our water-works like filter and pressure tank. I keep some potatoes, onions, garlic, canned goods, and most dominantly -- jars of seeds in it. There are mice though and it's a constant battle.

Maybe there could be a poll response for "I wish!" Because I wish I had a root cellar. But, my ground is wet and digging by hand is hard.

I wish, because with our being on a rock with a cave system (Missouri Ozarks) all around us, it's just not doable.

I had plans when we first bought our house. There was even a “pantry” of sorts in the basement that could have been modified rather simply. However, after a few years I realized that our yard is not large or sunny enough to produce enough root crops to make such a cellar worth the effort. If I had an acre, or half acre even, I think I would want one.

Carla Burke wrote:I wish, because with our being on a rock with a cave system (Missouri Ozarks) all around us, it's just not doable.

Pardon me, but are you messing with us? You have the world's largest root cellar under your feet and yet ... ?

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:

Carla Burke wrote:I wish, because with our being on a rock with a cave system (Missouri Ozarks) all around us, it's just not doable.

Pardon me, but are you messing with us? You have the world's largest root cellar under your feet and yet ... ?

Lol! I'm not risking everything (OR paying for the explosives it would take) to gain access to one. 🤣

No need for long term storage here in Hawaii. Plus the ground temperature doesn’t get very cool. And no need to protect against a freeze.

Having said this, I had a root cellar before I moved to Hawaii.

Carla Burke wrote:

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:

Carla Burke wrote:I wish, because with our being on a rock with a cave system (Missouri Ozarks) all around us, it's just not doable.

Pardon me, but are you messing with us? You have the world's largest root cellar under your feet and yet ... ? :-)

Lol! I'm not risking everything (OR paying for the explosives it would take) to gain access to one. 🤣

It shouldn't be too long before a sinkhole opens up and gives you access! ;-)

Yes.  We wardened off the northeast corner of our basement, insulated it against the rest of the basement and added an in-line fan to vent out the gases released by the crops to prevent spoilage.  It’s our deep pantry, cannery, and our cold storage for food we harvest and keep overwinter.  

Yes, the northwest corner of my house is separated from the rest of the basement. Its ceiling is under the ground. Room size roughly 13x13 feet. with 6 feet height. There is a ventilation shaft in it, which lets enough air flow in and gas out throughout the year. It is cool in summer and cool in winter. No freeze possible and also no spoiling in the hot summers we have.  Air quality is perfect, so even flour and other dry goods keep well for a long time
Throughout the years i have experienced that everything i keep above ground level in a pantry spoils within app. 3-5 months due to moisture and heat.
In the root cellar all my preserved foods easily keep for 1-2 years , so for one cycle plus whatever you need more. Because I do not produce the same things every single year.

If it is a great berry year I want to do jams worth 2-3 years. If it is a great vegetable year I .... and so forth.

I can recommend getting a root cellar , in some sort of way. Of course an external root cellar , build into the ground , dug out , fixed with large stones, maybe even natural water flow cooling, covered with earth and natural growth - that is the dream. And it works best. But there many good alternatives , all of them better than keeping all your inventory above ground level, within your actual living area.

Last vote in apple poll was on June 29, 2026