Root cellar considerations

I’ve been growing and preserving more food, but storage is a problem. A root cellar is a natural solution, but I was hoping to get more input from those who have used them.

First, I do not have any good hillsides or slopes, so a large, in-ground root cellar would be difficult.

Second, cost is of course a factor. Cheaper is always better.

Are the metal trash can ones preferable to the fridge ones? How do they hold up over time? I would think they would both rot and rust over time?

I would like to store a variety of items—potatoes, winter squash, canned items, etc. Would these work for these trash or fridge root cellars? Mostly I've seen people doing potatoes.

Are the smaller projects worth it? It just seems like a trash can doesn’t hold that much food overall. Is it worth the effort?

Any better ideas or suggestions. I’d love to have a nice beautiful, walk-in one, but I don’t know about either the cost or the practicality without a hill.

The old fridge buried in the ground is pretty popular for good reason, mostly because the insulation is already built in and you get the seal for free. Main thing I'd watch is drainage - if water can pool around it you'll get rust faster than anything. Metal trash cans work but need more checking. Either way you're looking at a decade or so before serious rot issues if the drainage is sorted.

If trash can vs old fridge, I would do the trash can method because I am lazy and see digging a hole labor intensive.

A trash can might be easier to come by and easier to haul.

Becky Wiese wrote:I’ve been growing and preserving more food, but storage is a problem. A root cellar is a natural solution, but I was hoping to get more input from those who have used them.

It would be helpful to know what your temperature extremes will be - particularly for the times of year you plan to use this.

Air flow is important in many situations.

What Jaoa says about the danger of water getting in is important. It isn't just the rust aspect. Water pressure is a thing. Going from "dry dirt" to "wet dirt", depending on the type of dirt, can create huge pressure, as people on my Island discovered when their foundations started cracking.

West Texas, highs of 104+ in summer. Winter lows in the 30s and 20s, occasionally lower. I'm new to this, but my initial thought was that storage wouldn't be confined to a particular season. Clay soil. We would probably rent machinery to do the digging, so the amount of digging for a trash can versus fridge is not really a major consideration.

Becky Wiese wrote:West Texas, highs of 104+ in summer. Winter lows in the 30s and 20s, occasionally lower. I'm new to this, but my initial thought was that storage wouldn't be confined to a particular season. Clay soil...

So, you have 2 different situations you need to plan for. They may, or may not, be mutually exclusive!

Keeping things cool when in extreme heat needs shade and insulation from above. Evaporative cooling might help, but may be a problem if water is a really scarce resource.  Installing the box in the ground, then planting trees and shrubs that will eventually shade the spot is the idea coming to mind. Having something like a kids wading pool on top of the lid that you can put a few inches of water in, would evaporatively cool that patch of ground, and when it needs dumping to stop algae, it will water the trees (assuming it doesn't evaporate so fast that none is left.)

No matter what you plan, if you can't easily get into it to add and remove veggies, you may find it isn't used enough to have been worth it.

Adding extra insulation on top to stop the food from freezing in the winter is fairly easy. Many people use bales of hay/straw if it grows locally. But it won't insulate if it gets wet, so planning some sort of cover is critical.