Finally got around to starting to sort out the spot for the root cellaring experiment. It’s in the basement of the house, against the north wall. I thought the floor was dirt, but it turns out to be cracked and rubbly concrete. Oh, well. It’s still fairly warm, around 60°F (15°C), but should cool down soon. I’m not doing much, other than clearing enough room for 8 or 10 bushel baskets. Monitoring temperature and humidity through the winter—a handy little digital min/max thermometer/hygrometer is already on duty—and seeing how the veggies hold up week by week is the main thing for this round. Some squash and beets are just out of sight to the left. The bulk of the veggies go in soon…
storage
Putting food by
With the farmers’ market over, time to turn to fall-and-winter things. This year, I’m for the first time organizing a proper veggie selection for storage (it’s about time I started…training for that future CSA root cellar!). Instead of the usual bushel baskets of this and that, casually left around the barn to take their chances with temperature and location, now, there’s a bit of plan. For a root cellar, the basement of the farmhouse, the side with a dirt floor that used to be filled with potatoes when this was a fully working, big family farm. For the veggies, today’s haul has a mix of potatoes, assorted winter squash and pumpkins, various carrots, onions, garlic, plus apples picked up at the market. It’s a first step, there’s still lots more in the field: beets, spinach, collards and kale, herbs, and more carrots to go… Harvesting isn’t history just yet!