Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["art corbit" <art_c@cox.net>]

Hi Nancy,

Some of these articles on the internet may sound good but a lot of them are
only people repeating what they have read. When you have actually done that
you will see that a lot of this stuff doesn't work exactly like some are
saying. If you ever dig a cellar close to trees you will learn very quick
why they are called "Root Cellars".

First of all for about anything to keep for any length of time without being
canned or frozen it must first be air cured (dried) to some degree. This
goes for veggies, meats, fruits or anything else. You can dry just about
anything and it will keep a long time. You cannot keep anything in a damp
root cellar that is not sealed from the moisture. Potatoes, carrots, sweet
potatoes, and a lot of other things are not sealed from the moisture. Water
melons, and some of the other tough skinned veggies and fruits are sealed as
long as the skin is not punctured.

A lot of these people that publish some of this stuff simply do not know
what they are talking about. A root cellar is to protect foods that are
protected from moisture from freezing and that's it. Here in Arkansas they
are very often use to get out of the way of these stupid tornadoes.

Art in Arkansas


----- Original Message -----
From: "Nancy Babbitt" <nbabbitt2003@adelphia.net>
To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing"
<livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2006 7:18 AM
Subject: [Livingontheland] storing fruits and vegetables


> I understand that root cellars are a way of storing ROOT crops that
> need to be kept moist such as potatoes and carrots.  Here's a link
> about storing fruits and vegetables.  There are many more just for
> googling.
>
> http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1326/eb1326.pdfOn Jul 21,
> 2006, at 4:27 PM, art corbit wrote:
>
> nancy
>
> > Any root cellar, even concrete lined have a moisture problem. You
> > can't
> > store potatoes or anything like that in them. The dampness causes
> > the stuff
> > to rot a lot easier and sprout real quick.
> >
> > Root cellars were normally built to protect canned food from freezing.
> > Seeds, dried fruits and stuff of this nature can be kept in a fruit
> > cellar
> > but must be kept in air tight containers. At one time most people
> > would let
> > their wood stoves burn out at night and in real cold weather the
> > temp inside
> > the house would go below freezing. Anything canned in glass jars would
> > freeze and burst. Not only did you loose the food you also had to
> > clean up a
> > big mess.
> >
> > Art in Arkansas
> >
> >
> >> Root cellars generally need to be down in the ground, like a storm
> > shelter,
> >> with airtight covers. I can't say if that would stay cool enough
> >> in your
> >> summer, but I'm sure the cover itself would need shading. And only
> >> open it
> >> at night maybe?
> >>
>
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