The Importance Of Unseen Life In The Garden / Unique Root Cellar / Harvesting Acorns / Being Born Of The Spirit / Lesson #1 Float Fishing- Surface Tension / Lesson #1 Fly Tying- Introduction
Are the leaves pointed or rounded on their lobes? If pointed then Red oak types. Rounded are White oak. I say types because there are different kinds within the Red oak group.
This newsletter is wonderful! I have SO many questions. Do you take questions??
I just viewed the root cellar video. AMAZING. I was wondering if there are rules about depth? Is it related to planting zone? Or frostline? Would radon have an impact? (Where I live has a ton of limestone). See? A lot of questions...
I welcome all of your questions here. It really helps others learn as well.
The nuances of a root cellar, will be determined by where you live. You are designing it so that it stays in the 30's as long as possible during the storage season. I have the shallow 3 foot deep one in the back of the greenhouse that works great in our area from October through April. Past April it will become too warm for proper storage. I designed it to hold my beet harvest that I would deliver to the restaurant through the winter. I didn’t need it to hold them into the spring. The other root cellar I use is 8 foot deep and if vented properly it will keep things much longer.
I was in a friend's root cellar one time though where I ate an apple that was two years old and was still really nice and crisp. He had a very special designed floor system. The floor was made of thick oak boards. There were half inch cracks between the boards. There was a pipe that brought cool air from the north side of a pole barn where it was always shaded. At night if the outside air temperature was lower than the root cellar then the cooler air would sink down the pipe to a shallow chamber under the oak floor. There was another pipe up at the ceiling of the root cellar that warmer air could rise out. This cool air was then drawn up through the gaps in the floor and was also drawn through the slatted wooden crates where his food was kept. This clean cool air help keep everything crisp and nice. I have never seen anything like it before or since.
We moved to Afton, TN a year ago which is in the eastern part. I think it’s considered sort of “mountainous” (from someone used to the Rockies, it’s hard to see them as that) but there are a lot of fields and cattle interspersed. Lots of somewhat steep forest, though. I believe it’s zone 7a. The area here does not appear to have discovered regenerative agriculture, or maybe it doesn’t work here. But the soils aren’t inspiring and invasives (Chinese privet, Tree of Heaven) are ubiquitous. But our property is like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s heaven. (Although I have a feeling there are a lot of properties here that qualify.)
Finding areas to dig deep without hitting bedrock will probably be difficult, but I haven’t tried yet. And that’s why your video was so interesting. I’ve always thought a root cellar would be the size of a cellar. I didn’t envision anything like a trench in a hoop house. Brilliant! but you’re right - I’ll need to figure out what kind of set up will keep the temperature consistently in the 30s for as long as possible and the idea of cycling the air is very interesting.
I had friends that use to live down there. They said there are a lot of caves. That is where many people would do some of their storing. God bless your efforts!
Really enjoy the content ! I may just start foraging for acorns now. Looks like fun. Thanks 😊
Good job Craig
I have acorns in my front yard. I just don't know what kind they are. I'll have to try your method and see what I get.
Are the leaves pointed or rounded on their lobes? If pointed then Red oak types. Rounded are White oak. I say types because there are different kinds within the Red oak group.
Hello Craig. Looking forward to your posts.
I'm glad you found me. 😊
This newsletter is wonderful! I have SO many questions. Do you take questions??
I just viewed the root cellar video. AMAZING. I was wondering if there are rules about depth? Is it related to planting zone? Or frostline? Would radon have an impact? (Where I live has a ton of limestone). See? A lot of questions...
I welcome all of your questions here. It really helps others learn as well.
The nuances of a root cellar, will be determined by where you live. You are designing it so that it stays in the 30's as long as possible during the storage season. I have the shallow 3 foot deep one in the back of the greenhouse that works great in our area from October through April. Past April it will become too warm for proper storage. I designed it to hold my beet harvest that I would deliver to the restaurant through the winter. I didn’t need it to hold them into the spring. The other root cellar I use is 8 foot deep and if vented properly it will keep things much longer.
I was in a friend's root cellar one time though where I ate an apple that was two years old and was still really nice and crisp. He had a very special designed floor system. The floor was made of thick oak boards. There were half inch cracks between the boards. There was a pipe that brought cool air from the north side of a pole barn where it was always shaded. At night if the outside air temperature was lower than the root cellar then the cooler air would sink down the pipe to a shallow chamber under the oak floor. There was another pipe up at the ceiling of the root cellar that warmer air could rise out. This cool air was then drawn up through the gaps in the floor and was also drawn through the slatted wooden crates where his food was kept. This clean cool air help keep everything crisp and nice. I have never seen anything like it before or since.
What part of the country do you live in?
Wow. Thanks!
We moved to Afton, TN a year ago which is in the eastern part. I think it’s considered sort of “mountainous” (from someone used to the Rockies, it’s hard to see them as that) but there are a lot of fields and cattle interspersed. Lots of somewhat steep forest, though. I believe it’s zone 7a. The area here does not appear to have discovered regenerative agriculture, or maybe it doesn’t work here. But the soils aren’t inspiring and invasives (Chinese privet, Tree of Heaven) are ubiquitous. But our property is like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s heaven. (Although I have a feeling there are a lot of properties here that qualify.)
Finding areas to dig deep without hitting bedrock will probably be difficult, but I haven’t tried yet. And that’s why your video was so interesting. I’ve always thought a root cellar would be the size of a cellar. I didn’t envision anything like a trench in a hoop house. Brilliant! but you’re right - I’ll need to figure out what kind of set up will keep the temperature consistently in the 30s for as long as possible and the idea of cycling the air is very interesting.
I had friends that use to live down there. They said there are a lot of caves. That is where many people would do some of their storing. God bless your efforts!