Winter food storage

This fall we increased our efforts to store produce from our garden.  Last year we attempted to use an abandoned water cistern to store potatoes and carrots, but found out the hard way that the cistern leaks and fills with a couple feet of water every time it rains or we get a snowmelt.  We lost our crop of carrots last year and some of our potatoes due to a late October rainstorm a day after we filled the cellar.

This year, we used cement blocks and pallets to elevate the potatoes and carrot bins, and added a heavy layer of sawdust on top of and around the cistern to insulate the cistern.  I also purchased a submersible pump to pump out water when we get rain or a snowmelt.  So far the cistern has stayed around 50 degrees, but fairly moist because of a warm December.  I've had to pump the cellar out a number of times.

In addition, we experimented with leaving some carrots in the garden by covering with a heavy layer of sawdust.  I have yet to go out in the garden to see how the carrots are doing.  The carrots that go in storage are dug and the tops are trimmed to about 1/2" and packed in moist sand in a barrel in the cellar.  So far we've been using a lot of carrots and they are coming out of the cellar very crisp and flavorful.