Did you know that it is possible to preserve fruits and vegetables without fridge for months?
Very practical when you have a vegetable garden and you have too much harvest at once!
The trick is to store fruits and vegetables in a "root cellar".
It's one of the oldest ways to avoid summer waste and enjoy fruits and vegetables all winter long!
So, how to store fruits and vegetables for months WITHOUT A FRIDGE ? Discover the ancestral method:
As its name suggests, the root cellar is simply an underground room where fruits and vegetables are kept for several weeks or even months.
In many houses, the root cellars are in the basement, but there are also root cellars, built outside the house.
For over 40,000 years, Australian Aborigines and other early peoples have used shelters dug into the ground to store and protect food.
In Europe, root cellars have been used to store root vegetables since the 17th century.
To preserve fresh fruits and vegetables, a cellar must respect the following 3 principles:
1. A constant temperature between 0 and 13°C.
2. A humidity level between 85 and 95%.
3. Good air circulation.
The cold prevents fruits and vegetables from perishing because it slows the metabolism of ethylene gas and other enzymes that allow fruits and vegetables to ripen.
Thus, low temperatures reduce the rate at which food spoils.
This is also the principle of refrigerators and freezers.
The ideal temperature for a root cellar varies depending on the fruits and vegetables you want to store in it.
But as a general rule, the optimum temperature for storing food in a cellar is between 0 and 13°C .
The relative humidity of the cellar is essential for the preservation of fruits and vegetables.
The humidity level must be high for the optimal preservation of most fruits and vegetables:between 85 and 95% humidity.
Because they are in the basement, most root cellars are naturally humid.
However, it is recommended to install an indoor hygrometer, like this one, to measure the humidity level.
If the humidity level in your cellar is too low: you can increase the humidity level by sprinkling water on the floor (for cellars with an earth or gravel floor). Otherwise you can keep the vegetables in bins of sand or wet sawdust.
If the humidity level in your cellar is too high: install a ventilation system or use rock salt (also known as halite) to lower the humidity.
To discover: House Too Humid? How to Build an Effective Dehumidifier.
Good ventilation is also part of the optimal conditions for a root cellar.
When air can circulate freely, the temperature is easier to regulate.
But good ventilation also helps to evacuate the ethylene produced by the fruits and vegetables that you keep in the vegetable cellar.
Without air circulation, ethylene will accumulate in the cellar and cause any food stored there to perish much more quickly.
Your vegetable cellar must have at least 2 ventilation points:
- 1 opening for the air intake , about 1.50 m from the ground and with a fence to avoid rodents,
- 1 opening for the air outlet at a high point, for example at the level of the door at the top of the stairs that lead to the cellar.
When the external temperature conditions allow it, the openings form an air circulation (chimney effect).
These ventilations can be closed during periods of extreme cold and extreme heat, thus maintaining a constant temperature inside the cellar.
- Root vegetables (carrots, beets, potatoes, onions) can be stored for several months, in autumn and winter.
- Stored in a root cellar, apples stay crisp and tasty all winter long.
But that's not all!
Not many people know this, but with proper storage, the following foods can also be stored in a root cellar:
- tomatoes stored flat in a crate.
- cucumbers wrapped in baking paper or in a moistened wrapper.
- cauliflower keeping the leaves that surround them.
When you store your fruit and vegetables in a cellar, you must ensure that air can circulate freely .
Thus, fruits and vegetables should be arranged on the shelves in such a way that air can circulate freely around each item.
Above all, do not pile your fruits and vegetables like sardines! Instead, arrange them at regular intervals, with no contact between them.
Likewise, do not place your food directly on the ground.
Instead, put them on a pallet or cinder blocks to raise them a few inches, allowing air to circulate freely from underneath.
Apples, pears and tomatoes give off ethylene gas in significant amounts.
Therefore, store these varieties of fruit high up, and close to the air outlet of the cellar.
Wrap cabbages and other strong-smelling vegetables in newspaper to avoid spoiling the taste of your other foods.
That's probably the only problem with a root cellar:rodents.
To prevent rodents from invading your basement and eating your vegetables, use anti-rodent wire mesh, like this one.
Be sure to protect all the entry points of the cellar by covering them with mesh, including the air intake and the air outlet.
Regularly check the food stored in your cellar to remove fruits and vegetables that are starting to rot.
This helps prevent bacteria from spreading to your other foods.
Also avoid storing canned goods in your vegetable cellar. Indeed, the humidity level is high and can cause the lids to rust.
As we have just seen, storing fruits and vegetables in a vegetable cellar requires a little preparation....
But with this effective method, you can enjoy the tasty harvests of summer all winter long!
