In northern Minnesota, a second-generation farmer “is putting a modern twist on an old-fashioned idea that could help scale up the local food economy in the region,” says Civil Eats. The idea is a 3,700-square-foot root cellar with the potential to keep vegetables fresh and available for sale all winter long and at a low operating cost. “Not even pushing it, we should be able to store about 300,000 pounds [of produce],” says Janaki Fisher-Merritt. The farm already has a 1,250-square-foot root cellar that is crammed with goods. With the new, larger cellar, there will be room to rent storage space to local farmers, allowing them to stretch their marketing seasons.
Root cellar were common years ago. Says Civil Eats, “A room dug into the earth will maintain a remarkably stable temperature range, even during the winter. It will rarely get cold enough to freeze your potatoes or hot enough to spoil your parsnips. Little, if any, extra energy is needed to keep vegetables edible for months.”