Root cellaring, as many people remember but only a few people still practice, is a way of using the earth's naturally cool, stable temperature to store perishable fruits and vegetables. Root cellaring, as Mike and Nancy Bubel explain here, is a no-cost, simple, low-technology, energy-saving way to keep the harvest fresh all year long.

In Root Cellaring, the Bubels tell how to successfully use this natural storage approach. It's the first book devoted entirely to the subject, and it covers the subject with a thoroughness that makes it the only book you'll ever need on root cellaring.

Root Cellaring will tell you:

* How to choose vegetable and fruit varieties that will store best

* Specific individual storage requirements for nearly 100 home garden crops

* How to use root cellars in the country, in the city, and in any environment

* How to build root cellars, indoors and out, big and small, plain and fancy

* Case histories — reports on the root cellaring techniques and experiences of many households all over North America

Root cellaring need not be strictly a country concept. Though it's often thought of as an adjunct to a large garden, a root cellar can in fact considerably stretch the resources of a small garden, making it easy to grow late succession crops for storage instead of many rows for canning and freezing. Best of all, root cellars can easily fit anywhere. Not everyone can live in the country, but everyone can benefit from natural cold storage.

Anyone can learn to store fruits and vegetables safely and naturally with a cool, dark space (even a closet!) and the step-by-step advice in this book.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 283-286).

A Poland native, Mike Bubel grew up with his family using many of the techniques in their book. He and his wife Nancy have been gardening and root cellaring in Philadelphia, in small towns, and on their one acre non-working farm in Wellsville, Pennsylvania.

Preface

Introduction

Section One: Starting Right With Storage Vegetables

1. Planting Crops for Fall Storage

2. Good Keepers

3. Growers Keepers: How to Raise Top-Quality Storage Vegetables

Section Two: Bringing in the Harvest

4. How to Harvest and Prepare Vegetables for Storage

5. Life After Picking

6. Spoilage

7. Food Value in Winter Keepers

Section Three: All the Winter Keepers and How to TreatThem

8. Vegetables

9. Fruits

10. The Underground Garden

11. Other Good Foods to Keep in Natural Cold Storage

Section Four: Food Cellars for Everyone

12. Trenches, Keeping-Closets, and Other Vegetable and Fruit Hideaways

13. Planning Your Root Cellar

14. Keeping Things Humming in the Root Cellar

15. The Basement Root Cellar

16. The Excavated Root Cellar

Section Five: "Here's What We Did...."

17. Root Cellaring Experiences

Section Six: Recipes

18. Cooking Sturdy Keepers

Bibliography

Sources

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