I have a pantry that I built inside my basement, it has 2 outer walls. How do I keep my potatoes and onions from sprouting? What kind of climate do I need to create?
The most important thing is to keep them pitch black, and also keep them semi cool and not too humid. I put mine in the bottomest drawer in my kitchen
this site has more advice on how to keep them from sprouting: "In order to store well and not sprout, homegrown potatoes need to be cured in a relatively warm place before they are stored in a cooler. Put your unwashed, new potatoes in shallow layers. and cure them in a dark area with a temperature of 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit and a high humidity, such as 85 to 95 percent." homeguides.sfgate.com/keep-potatoes-sprouting-storage-96015.html
Potatoes need cool and dry climate. Do not put potatoes and onions together.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I grew up with a root cellar. My current home is in an old house that has no basement, I can't get into the attic (I am physically unable to use ladders), and no garage. Although there areas of the house that don't have heat sources they can not be isolated so as to assure the proper low temperatures. The best possibility is pantry, but it also serves as my laundry. I have lived here for 10 years and still can't find a workable solution.
By jb
You stated you wanted this to be indoors; how about one just on the outside of your home? Is this a possibility at all?
Check www.motherearthnews.com; they have a ton of resources available, re: all kinds of things like this with lots of information on do it yourself things including solar ovens, earth stoves, etc.
I converted my closet at the entrance of my place. It is by the front door, as it is hardly used and instead of collecting junk, it now serves as a root cellar for me.
I am putting in a pantry under the stairway in the house that my boyfriend and I are building. It doesn't have heat or air conditioning going into it; so I thought that we might be able to also use it as a root cellar for vegetables. I will be using it for canned goods that I can myself and that I buy at the grocery store, as I will have only 1 overhead cabinet in my kitchen (I am short). Anyone think this will work the way I want it to?
By redneckmom from Estill Springs, TN
When I was married and had we owned a home, my husband bought some foam sheet type insulation and put that on the two outside walls under the stairwell and then he put up 2x4s and built shelves of various heights between the 2x4s. On one wall at the bottom, he built a bin, that we stored 100 lbs of potatoes in. I kept home canned and purchased fruits and veggies in there. I
f your stairwell is in the basement and against an outside wall you will need some kind of insulation on the walls to keep them from getting so cold that the products freeze. when I was a kid, it was always said that home canned goods should be kept cooler, than purchased items. However, I did keep some store bought items in my fruit cellar, so I could stock up.
If your stairwell isn't in a basement I don't know how well home canned items will keep. The people that I know that do home canning always keep the items in the basement, but not a freezing cold one. Hope this helps.
