Root Cellar Construction Handbook This book is for you if; 1. You want to preserve your home-grown fresh produce to last all year. 2. You want to sustain the security of your food in a grid-down situation. 3. You want to live off the grid and need to freshly preserve your foods. 4. You want a non-modern method of preserving foods should a natural disaster occur. Suppose you own a sizable garden or orchard or purchase additional farm fresh produce in season to consume throughout the year. In that case, you are aware of how time- and space-consuming it can be to store all those tasty vegetables and fruits. Although some foods, like broccoli and cherries, must be preserved by canning, freezing, or dehydrating, several vegetables and fruits can be preserved naturally by storing them in a cool, dark environment clear of rodents and other predators. To achieve this, the best solution is to have a root cellar considering the majority of us do not own an industrial-sized walk-in refrigerator to store things in (and don't wish to pay the electricity bill on one either). The root cellar was an essential element of the home in the era before supermarkets because it allowed the family to feed until the coming year's produce. Once again, root cellars are becoming important for the contemporary gardener and anybody striving for self-sufficiency as an energy-free, inexpensive alternative for storing produce to savor the tastes of the garden in the dead of winter and to preserve rootstock and bulbs for the next growing season. Of course, building a root cellar requires you to have sufficient knowledge on the subject to avoid making mistakes even before you begin, and that's why this book, Root Cellar Construction Handbook, was written; to serve as your compass and map to setting up a thriving root cellar. Below are some of the learning points covered in this book; 1. The pros and cons of having a root cellar. 2. The types of root cellar options available. 3. Tips for running a successful root cellar 4. Foods you can store in a root cellar, how to prepare and store them, and their storage conditions. 5. Root cellar construction requirements vis-à-vis the temperature, humidity, darkness, ventilation, size, etc. 6· Constructing an underground root cellar. 7· Constructing root cellar alternatives, e.g., sunken fridge or freezer and bucket root cellar. 8· Root cellar construction mistakes to avoid …and so much more! So, what more are you waiting for? Get a copy of this book RIGHT NOW to begin your root cellaring journey.

Fruits and vegetables are some of the most expensive parts of any regular menu in your home. With rising transportation costs, a food increase in the summer of 2008 of almost 2 percent, and continually shrinking supplies, the cost of maintaining a healthy supply of these necessary staples is becoming harder and harder for many families. However, with the right resources and planning, you can take advantage of an age old method of storage that will allow you to buy fruits and vegetables when they are least expensive or to grow your own and store them for future use. This book will walk anyone through the process of building and using a root cellar to store their fruits and vegetables for later use, through the cold winter months when even the most basic items can cost an arm and a leg. Before even starting your root cellar, you will learn the basics of choosing the right crops and planting them at the right time or buying them in advance for your root cellar. You will learn how to know which crops and which specific vegetables and fruits are good to keep and which ones should be left alone. You will learn how and when to bring in the harvest and how to prepare for storage effectively. You will learn the basics of spoilage and what to expect from your foods. You will learn what to expect each winter for multiple month storage and which vegetables and fruits to start expecting in your cellar. You will also benefit from interviews with the top experts in the field of storage and root cellaring and farmers who have been storing vegetables for years. You will learn how to start your own underground garden and what various types of cellars exist trenches, closets, and hideaways. You will learn how to start planning your root cellar, how to utilise your basement if you so desire and how to start excavating and preparing it for the first harvest. No matter your situation or your crops, you can benefit from this book and its take on the world of root cellaring and long term fruit and vegetable storage.

Tells how to use root cellaring, and gives instruction on both improvising a small root cellar and constructing a true root cellar

For most people, the term “root cellar” evokes an image of a brick or stone masonry subterranean structure tunneled into a hillside. These classic root cellars are only one of a number of different types of structures used to preserve root crops, vegetables and fruits over the past 400 years. The other structures include subfloor pits, cooling pits, house cellars, barn cellars, field root pits & trenches, and root houses. Root Cellars in America provides a history of all the structures, discusses their design principles, and details how they were constructed. The text is accompanied by period illustrations from the agricultural literature along with archaeological photographs.

Growing for 100 - the complete year-round guide for the small-scale market grower. Across North America, an agricultural renaissance is unfolding. A growing number of market gardeners are emerging to feed our appetite for organic, regional produce. But most of the available resources on food production are aimed at the backyard or hobby gardener who wants to supplement their family's diet with a few homegrown fruits and vegetables. Targeted at serious growers in every climate zone, Sustainable Market Farming is a comprehensive manual for small-scale farmers raising organic crops sustainably on a few acres. Informed by the author's extensive experience growing a wide variety of fresh, organic vegetables and fruit to feed the approximately one hundred members of Twin Oaks Community in central Virginia, this practical guide provides: Detailed profiles of a full range of crops, addressing sowing, cultivation, rotation, succession, common pests and diseases, and harvest and storage Information about new, efficient techniques, season extension, and disease resistant varieties Farm-specific business skills to help ensure a successful, profitable enterprise Whether you are a beginning market grower or an established enterprise seeking to improve your skills, Sustainable Market Farming is an invaluable resource and a timely book for the maturing local agriculture movement.

“Overflowing with invaluable tips and innovative strategies, this guide goes beyond the typical fast crops seen in most market gardens. . . I encourage all growers to study it and level up their farming game.”—Jean-Martin Fortier, author of The Market Gardener and The Winter Market Gardener Beyond the Root Cellar is the inspiring guide that proves that—with a little ingenuity—the savvy grower can successfully select, harvest, store, and sell vegetables throughout the off-season, providing their family and community the local food they need during winter months. Sam Knapp built Offbeet Farm, a winter storage farm in interior Alaska, from the ground up. For the last four years, his success at Offbeet Farm has been a testament to the many benefits of growing crops for wintertime sales. His methods continually prove that winter storage is an excellent way to diversify a farm’s offerings, spread the workload more evenly throughout the year, retain customers and employees during the off-season, and bolster local food systems. Beyond the Root Cellar is a compilation of insights, advice, and instruction, drawing on Sam’s experience and that of many other storage farmers Sam has met along the way. It is, Sam says, the book he wishes he had when he embarked on his own winter storage business, and that he hopes will pave the way for growers both new and established who are interested in storage farming. In Beyond the Root Cellar, you’ll find tips and tools for: Selecting crops and varieties that are best for storage Navigating the ins and outs of storage farm financials and planning Harvesting, processing, and moving crops into storage Designing, creating, and managing temperature- and humidity-controlled storage areas Also included are profiles of nine different storage farms, a crop compendium with in-depth information about eighteen storage crops, and full-color photography throughout that depicts a range of storage facilities, methods, and crops. Beyond the Root Cellar is the must-have, comprehensive winter storage handbook for a wide range of growers, from commercial farmers to market gardeners to homesteaders. “This is next-level market gardening. Knapp is practical and inspiring . . . If you grow vegetables, I recommend that you pick up a copy of this book.”—Ben Hartman, author of The Lean Micro Farm “A must-read for anyone who wants to store produce for any length of time. . . , Even if you don’t plan on storing produce all winter, this book will show you how to keep it as fresh as possible for as long as possible.”—Andrew Mefferd, editor, Growing for Market magazine, author of The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower’s Handbook

The Whole Building Handbook is a compendium of all the issues and strategies that architects need to understand to design and construct sustainable buildings for a sustainable society. The authors move beyond the current definition of sustainability in architecture, which tends to focus on energy-efficiency, to include guidance for architecture that promotes social cohesion, personal health, renewable energy sources, water and waste recycling systems, permaculture, energy conservation - and crucially, buildings in relation to their place. The authors offer a holistic approach to sustainable architecture and authoritative technical advice, on: * How to design and construct healthy buildings, through choosing suitable materials, healthy service systems, and designing a healthy and comfortable indoor climate, including solutions for avoiding problems with moisture, radon and noise as well as how to facilitate cleaning and maintenance. * How to design and construct buildings that use resources efficiently, where heating and cooling needs and electricity use is minimized and water-saving technologies and garbage recycling technologies are used. * How to 'close' organic waste, sewage, heat and energy cycles. For example, how to design a sewage system that recycles nutrients. * Includes a section on adaptation of buildings to local conditions, looking at how a site must be studied with respect to nature, climate and community structure as well as human activities. The result is a comprehensive, thoroughly illustrated and carefully structured textbook and reference.