by Catherine Haug, July 21, 2012
It’s that time of year again when we start thinking about preserving summer’s bounty. What can you keep in a root cellar?
- Many fresh foods can be kept through at least part of the winter in a root cellar; these include root veggies, fall cabbages, and apples. (I still have some honey crisp apples from last fall; they are getting a bit soft but still sweet and delicious).
- Home-canned foods can be stored there;
- Cured meats, such as from a fall hunt, can be cured and stored in a warmer part of a root cellar.
- Eggs that have been brushed (of bird poop) and rinsed but not washed. See ‘Egg Note’ below.
I’ve written on this topic before, but I just came across a couple links on other sites that might be of interest to you:
- Root Cellars: Safe and Secure from the Corporate Food Train by Cheryl Wilxson, from the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association website
- Mother Earth News: Root Cellaring by Mike and Nancy Bubel
- Drying/Curing Meat in Your Root Cellar from Rainy Day Root Cellars
Read on for links to articles and printable pdf files on these topics.
Food storage & preservation articles on the ESP website
Storage places (root cellars, etc.):
Meats, etc.:
- Food & Food Preservation (list of files and articles)
- Curing Meats at Home
- Corning Beef
- Rendering Lard – the Perfect (& Original) Shortening
- Gathering Summary: Fish Preservation by Smoking & Canning, Jan 27, 2010
- Gathering Summary: Putting Food By, July 22, 2009 (includes jerking, smoking of meats)
- See also Egg note, below
Produce:
- Food & Food Preservation (list of files and articles)
- Culturing, Fermentation (list of files and articles)
- Best crop varieties for winter storage
- Preserving Herbs with Salt or Sugar
- Optimal Storage for Fruits, Vegetables
- Food Preparation & Preservation Blog
- Cold Storage Info
- Gathering Summary: Putting Food By, by Fran Wade (pdf)
- The EssentiaList: Refrigeration without Electricity (pdf)
- The EssentiaList: Cold Storage of Vegetables (pdf)
- Winter Storage Chart (pdf)
Dairy:
- Culturing Milk: Yogurt
- Making Yogurt & Kefir at Home
- Cultured Dairy (Yogurt, Kefir, etc.)
- Cheese Making: Waxing the Round (see Cheese note, below)
- Cheese Making with Kalispell Kreamery Milk (pasteurized milk)
- Preserving eggs and cheese for long-term storage
- Gathering Summary: Cheese Making at Home, a Panel Presentation (pdf)
- ESP Gathering Summary: Making Cheese & Tofu (pdf)
- The EssentiaList: Yogurt & Kefir, from Powdered Culture (pdf)
- The EssentiaList: Using Kefir Grains (pdf)
Grains
- Long Term Storage of Foods (has link to another blog on storage of grains)
Canning & Dehydrating:
- Gathering Summary: Canning & Dehydrating Foods
- Sugar and Salt in Food Preservation
- The EssentiaList: Pressure Canning at Home: Info & Sources (pdf)
- The EssentiaList: Hot-Bath Canning at Home: Info & Sources (pdf)
- The EssentiaList: Home Canning Tables (Pressure & Hot Bath) (pdf
Cheese & Egg Note
Many people have been reading that you can keep cheddar and certain other cheeses indefinitely if you wax them with paraffin or cheese wax, and eggs if you rub mineral oil onto the shells. I would not recommend either of these methods, but you do have other options for these foods. See my post Preserving eggs and cheese for long-term storage.