The History of Root Cellars
Since the Iron Age, people have used the natural coolness of the earth to preserve root vegetables. They discovered the twin pleasures of root and wine cellars, and the value of root cellar shelter from tornados and other disasters. Although refrigeration made root cellars obsolete, people are again using them to become more self-sufficient. Does this Spark an idea?
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Etruscans Buried Their Wine
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Some sources say that Australian native peoples were the first to bury their yams underground to preserve them. Etruscans buried their wine so it would age properly, but it took cool winters and hungry 17th-century Englishmen to perfect the conception and construction of root cellars.
Root Cellars Immigrate
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English colonists carried the need for root cellars to the New World along with their farming tools. Some New England root cellars were made of stone and constructed as part of other buildings instead of standing alone. Midwestern root cellars were often dug into hillsides or made of sod.
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Root Cellars Fed Animals, Too
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Root cellars saved vegetables for humans, but more importantly farmers used the preserved vegetables to feed their livestock through the winter. By the middle of the 19th century, people were using root cellars to store crops for market until the middle of winter when they would bring higher prices.
Fugitive Slaves Hid in Root Cellars
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The historical record shows that root cellars were part of the Underground Railroad, sheltering fugitive slaves. Countless old root cellars still survive in the eastern United States and Canada. Elliston, a small town in Newfoundland, calls itself "The Root Cellar Capital of the World," and claims to contain over 135 root cellars, some at least 200 years old.
Refrigerators Ruled
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The root cellar remained a fixture in American life until the 1920s, but gradually became obsolete when modern refrigeration and feeding livestock with grain became widespread.
The Root Cellar Resurges
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Today people are rediscovering root cellars as a counter to high food prices, unsafe food and power outages.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Beverly
