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With the worst of the winter's cold over (we hope), I figure I have enough data to finish up my ebook about the fridge root cellar.  For a very low-work and low-cost option, it passed with flying colors, using about 2 kilowatt-hours of electricity to keep a whole winter's-worth of carrots in prime shape.  During a power outage that corresponded to a frigid spell, the interior dropped to 28 degrees Fahrenheit (and I brought our carrots inside for a few days to protect them), but otherwise the fridge root cellar stayed at the perfect temperature all winter long.

Even though I think our fridge root cellar is awesome, I want to round out my ebook with overviews of some more traditional root cellars, so I gave my movie-star neighbor a call.  You'll have to wait for the ebook to hear all about his root cellar that taps into a cave, but I'll regale you with the other highlights of my visit below.  (Meanwhile, the offer's still open to be included in the ebook if you have a root cellar or low-tech root storage technique to share.)

Our neighbor has been grafting new varieties onto his apples for years, and it was intriguing to see the grafts one to three years after joining.  He even sent me home with two little Colette pear trees grafted onto rootstock last winter --- we tasted some of his homegrown Colettes last year and were blown away by the flavor.

I also dropped by his spring-fed pond to get a bit more inoculant for my tiny water garden (as Sara suggested I call it instead of a puddle).  This pond's water will stay more cold and aerated than mine, so I'm not positive the water snails and water cress will make the transition, but I suspect the forget-me-nots and water mint will do fine.

Finally, we gathered a few wild golf balls and I watched my neighbor enjoy pasture golfing.  Isn't that the best part of homesteading --- you can do whatever crazy thing suits your fancy?

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cave?

Root cellar that taps into a cave.. sounds like you live next door to batman! I'd be over there collecting some quano for the garden if I was you

Comment by Bo Gilkey — Wed Mar 6 23:47:45 2013

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