Refrigerator Root Cellar

In a another post “Living Life in a Travel Trailer ”, I touched on the fact that I had buried an old refrigerator under my trailer, that I use as a small root cellar. At the present time my cellar holds only canned goods, but after getting my first crops off this fall from the raised beds I put in over the winter, I envision my little cellars overflowing with fresh produce.

A root cellar for fall and winter storage is a must for any latitude, even in the south where I live, and cold-season temperatures may not reach a cellar’s ideal levels between 32 and 40 degrees F. But, the simple fact is, the cooler one keeps any food (with few exceptions), the longer it will last.

If my cellars can keep fresh foods edible for even a month longer than the case would be without them, while also providing better summer temperatures for canned and dried foods, cellars will be indispensable additions to my efforts of survival and preparedness. Building this type of food storage container is not at all difficult and takes about two days to complete, with most time spent digging the hole. You might be able to get the job done in less time, but for me it took two days, then again I am lazy and like to take my time while doing things.

Stuff You’ll Need:
Straw Bales
Clear Plastic Sheeting
Plastic Sheeting
Shovel and Pick
Old Deep-freeze Or Refrigerator

Step 1:
Remove motor, shelves and lock from door (so no child can get locked inside).
Step 2:
Dig a hole large enough to hold the deep freeze where the top of the freezer is ground level or slightly below ground level.
Step 3:
Place some rocks in bottom of the hole for drainage.
Step 4:
Place the freezer into hole on its back. The door will open like a lid.
Step 5:
Fill around freezer with soil.
Step 6:
Place vegetables in freezer. Follow storage guidelines for vegetables just as if you were using a cellar.
Step 7:
Cover freezer with a sheet of plastic to keep water from freezing the lid shut.
Step 8:
Place bags of leaves or bales of hay or straw on top of the freezer to help with cold weather.

To keep the metal from rusting, it could be sealed with an exterior-grade sealer, preferably the black-tar product used on the basements of homes (driveway sealer might work too). This tar should also keep out the ants and termites. I just stuck mine in the ground as is but this extra step could extend the life of the set-up. You may need to add a small vent pipe from the freezer to the outside to let in fresh air. Like I said mine was stuck in the ground without much extra effort and I have had no problems thus far, time will tell. My next unit will be “tricked out” with sealer and vents just in case…