Page 171 - The Lost Ways

More commonly, root cellars are less exciting, with dirt floors and wooden shelves. These
work too. In fact, when it comes to function, a cave, an unfinished basement, a bulkhead,
or even a covered trench will get the job done.

History

The oldest examples of root cellars date

back some 40,000 years ago in Australia.
Incidentally, this is also when fermentation
was discovered. People would grow
copious amounts of yams and bury them to
eat later.

Sometimes they would ferment, so
alcoholic beverages became a happy
byproduct of food storage. When you think

about it, this is probably also how and why
the wine cellar was invented. In fact, we’ve
unearthed underground storage from the
Iron Ages, when it was common practice to
bury immature wine.

However, root cellars as we understand them today—a convenient, walk-in food storage
th
space—is a relatively young idea that dates back only to 17 century England. In the rest
of the world, food preservation techniques, such as pickling, salting, and drying, excelled.
A happy combination reached the Americas during colonization.

The Right Space for the Job

Like history has shown us, root cellaring is not necessarily the best choice for every
environment, and even within the same climate, there are different kinds and ways to
adapt a root cellar to your individual needs.

Climate

Depending on where you are, your root cellar needs to perform specific functions for you.
If your climate is one of extremes, you need to take this into consideration.

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