Saturday, December 4, 2010

Mobile Root Cellar (an experiment)

As I mentioned on Tuesday's post storage is at a premium here in the Grown Away kitchen. As a way to increase our supply of produce I acquired a 2 ft x 3ft x 2 ft plastic storage bin for the trunk of my car.
With nighttime temperatures falling as low as the upper 20s and daytime temperatures generally topping out no higher then the mid 40s the Mobile Root Cellar (MRC) should be kept at an appropriate temperature to prevent the spoilage of any of the storage crops I'll be attempting to keep. Below is a photo of the contents of the MRC as of Monday afternoon:
Contents of the MRC:
1 butternut squash
1.25 lb carrots
4 oz parsnips
6.5 oz radishes
5 lbs assorted potatoes
2 onions
2 shallots.

If the experiment is a success then I will be replenishing/depleting the storage bin on an as needed basis. With a local farm offering fresh produce until the week before Christmas I will definitely be adding more storage crops to the bin in the coming weeks.
Keep an eye on this space for updates regarding the Mobile Root Cellar experiment.

4 comments:

Robin said...

That's a great idea! It's amazing how creative us crazy gardeners can get when it comes to our garden crops.

Nourishing Words said...

I'll be interested to see how this works out. I live in Concord, NH and have been using my mudroom, with mixed results. I'm a little worried that the temperature fluctuations are too great. That said, experimenting is fun!

meemsnyc said...

Mobile Root Cellar, I love it. Careful that it doesn't get so cold that it freezes!

Fred said...

Robin - Thanks! I don't think it is that crazy, just a practical solution for a practical problem!

Nourishing Words - I'm wondering how the produce will react if there are great temprature fluctuations. Thus far temps have been pretty steady between 30-45 degrees. Hopefully the produce can take it. We shall see!

Meemsnyc - It will be interesting to see how the produce holds up once the tempratures really get low. That's part of the fun!