Make a Deep-Freeze Root Cellar
Things You’ll Need
- Straws Bales
- Clear Plastic Sheeting
- Plastic Sheeting
- Shovels
- Old Deep-freeze Or Refrigerator
Step One
Remove motor, shelves and lock from door (so no child can get locked inside).
Step Two
Dig a hole large enough to hold the deep freeze where the top of the freezer is ground level or slightly below ground level.
Step Three
Place some rocks in bottom of the hole for drainage.
Step Four
Place the freezer into hole on its back. The door will open like a lid.
Step Five
Fill around freezer with soil.
Step Six
Place vegetables in freezer. Follow storage guidelines for vegetables just as if you were using a cellar.
Step Seven
Cover freezer with a sheet of plastic to keep water from freezing the lid shut.
Step Eight
Place bags of leaves or bales of hay or straw on top of the freezer to help with cold weather.
Tips & Warnings
- Apples, potatoes, beets, carrots, turnips, celeriac, kohlrabi and rutabagas work well in this type of storage.
- You may need to add a small vent pipe from the freezer to the outside to let in fresh air.
Alternative method:
You can also use the hard, heavy plastic containers (rubbermaid makes some good ones) to do this. Just insert ‘plastic container’ where it says ‘old freezer/refrigerator’ in the directions.
