The 188-unit building officially opened for leasing in September 2013, and the building welcomed its first residents in November. “It’s really dependent on how much work you want to do.It was announced today that The Maximilian, a newly constructed luxury rental property in the heart of Long Island City, is now 100 percent leased. “It can be as simple as a bag of potatoes in your entryway that is cooler and drier than the rest of the house or as fancy as a whole structure built into the north side of a slope,” he said. “Then place things in the sun for a few days, or open up the doors and let it all dry and air out.”Īnybody, he said, can have successful winter produce storage. “You want to go in early on in the spring and give everything a good spray with hydrogen peroxide or bleach,” he said.
Regardless if the winter storage is as simple as plastic totes or elaborate as a dug and lined root cellar, Lilley said the space should be thoroughly cleaned out at the start of each growing season.
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“You want to keep that moisture level high enough that the crops don’t dry out not so dry that they dry out and the air becomes musty.” How to clean your root cellar in the spring “If done properly, there should be enough air movement within your space that it will not become too moist or too dry,” Lilley said.
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It’s a good idea to also install shelving in a dug root cellar to keep produce above any excess moisture that creeps in. Once the space is dug and properly covered with an insulated roof and walls, Lilley said it’s a good idea to cover the floor with gravel to keep any ground moisture from creating a muddy mess. “In Maine the temperature below the frost line is around 52 degrees and you have to dig down about four feet to hit that.” “If you want to go all the way and use the temperature of the earth, you can dig a seperate storage space,” Lilley said. That way there are microclimates within the microclimate of the insulated space. “That will funnel the cooler air to the lower part of the space and it will be warmer toward the top.” “You can also take PVC pipe and run it from the window down to the bottom of the space,” he said. Lilley said if possible, it’s a good idea when creating that space in a basement to incorporate an area that has a ground level window that can provide air circulation and help modulate temperatures and humidity. “In that space you can keep things at different temperatures and humidity than the rest of the house or basement,” he said. Important elements of DIY food storage closetsĪ step up from storing crops in totes is building an insulated closet or small room in a basement or unused corner of the house, Lilley said. Those root crops can also be stored in sand, Lilley said, but added he prefers the peat moss as it is easier to clean off the vegetables than the sand. “And as long as the temperatures remain in the mid 30s to 40s, they will stay dormant and not sprout.” “The peat moss will keep the moisture right where the vegetables want it to be,” he said.
Lilley said an easy DIY root storage system for root crops needing moisture is in peat moss inside a plastic tote.
How to use totes as DIY root cellar storage Storing vegetables like onions covered with peat moss or sand in plastic totes is one way to replicate root cellar conditions. Since produce like carrots, beets, parsnips or celery root need to hold onto moisture in storage so they are not shriveled and inedible after a few months. Winter squash, on the other hand, do better when stored at 50-degrees where the humidity ranges between 50 and 70 percent for up to six months. “You should check them every week and feel around to check for any spoiling produce it is true one bad apple can spoil a whole crop.”Īpples, for example, can live happily for up to a year stored in conditions where the temperatures range between 30- and 40-degrees with 90 to 95 percent humidity levels. “Monitoring is a huge component,” Lilley said. The University of Maine Cooperative Extension service has an online fact sheet and guide that gives the recommended temperature and humidity storage conditions for just about many fruits and vegetables. “If your furnace is in the basement it will likely be drier you can use those microclimates around the house.” Storing vegetables like carrots covered with peat moss or sand in totes is one way to replicate root cellar conditions. “If you have a dug foundation it will likely be cool and moist down there,” Lilley said.
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