[moonwolf]

Usually he's posting with grand homesteading insights .
I do realize that maybe he could be off in the canyon
somewhere nearby and sling down a muzzleloader shot at
bear or even off on some great boar blasting hunt. It's the
season, after all. Tambo mentioned something about working
on a root cellar. Perhaps he's in a state of Shangrala about
that ! I don't know, maybe it's time the telepathic internet
buddahas get to contacting his primordial wavelength and
find out when he's gonna come back on its track for some
more useful advice and elaborative tunes an musings.

Might have to aim my moose horn to the south east and
give an earth shattering awakening blast!!!

 

[FarmboyBill]

Well, he finally looked at my pics, so I guess hes around somewhere.

 

[elkhound]

checking in today......been off doing various things from spiritual stuff to longterm homestead planning/prepping to doing/dreaming of the coming root cellar.


well...i got the old root cellar hole cleaned out from falling material of sides.its a hole straight back into mtn side.this has been a want and a dream for so long with so many thoughts and designs i was wondering if it would happen at all...lol...i might still wonder if its going to happen...lol..but anyhow......backhoe will be on site as soon as its dry after all this rain.once footers are dug....well...its all on my shoulders....i still wonder if i am biting off more than i can chew....lol....one old time root cellar soon to follow....made of stone.

i hope to make it a hybrid of off grid and grid tied.its going to be 2 rooms with 6 inch air flow with fans....i hope i can find some cheap 12volt fans for pipe.front room will be a colder room for items needing colder temps where butchering can happen and curing.

 

[moonwolf]

Somehow I just KNEW a backhoe would be involved.
And that spiritual stuff??? That's all good . Just let
us in on any good bear stories !

 

[elkhound]

items i have on hand for this...

a tiny bit of solar with lights and all stuff needed
chest freezer with a new charger controller that tnandy showed me so i can use it as a "walk in cooler".it makes a freezer into a refrigerator basically.
thick teflon sheets 4ft long for counter tops
sink
meat cutting bandsaw
food grade barrels for cider storage
propane stove
trees for needed lumber
and lots of rocks....lol..!!!!!!

i hope for it to look old time primitive with modern twists

 

[sustainabilly]

That two room set up is a good idea, elk. Make sure you get the right mortar for stone. IIRC type N is better for below grade work. At least that's what we use instead of the normal type S.

 

[elkhound]

my amish store has these super cool wall mount kerosene lights i want to get one for each room...for some light options as well as during super cold spells i can light and keep it from getting to cold inside.that stone doesnt have best insulation qualities.

 

[handymama]

Oooh pretties!!!

 

[reneedarley]

Elskhound was kind enough to say he liked photos from my neck of the woods. S be warned, this will be a long post.
I attended a course on earth cellar renovation. Here goes:
The man who held the course knew his job. He was in his seventies but still active renovating and holding courses about earth cellars. He told us that they were often built by professionals whe went from vallage to village. He had made a little model to show how it was done. I must say it was fascinating.
The area was dug out then the sides buillt up. Next a very rigid frame was placed inside the would be cellar and the back and front wall wedged into place.

The walls were then built higher.

wooden supports being built on top of the frame to support as the walls are built up.

Ropes are put around to make sure everything is secure.
All the wooden supports are pulled out and you have a perfect arch.

Now I must do the days work but I will post photos of some of the earth cellars in the village tomorrow

 

[Echoesechos]

Elk I have one request please. Make sure your door can be opened from both sides. Just a small paranoid "thing" of mine.

 

[Twp.Tom]

This sounds like a very interesting , and useful project that You are undertaking Elk-a great place to preserve Your harvest! I am looking forward to seeing Your progress. The end result, will be so worth Your efforts*

 

[Twp.Tom]

That is a very interesting model/presentation Miss Renee*. In Ohio, in the masonry trade, we called that a 'barrel arch', the tricky part was always removing the wooden Arch support-always wondering if it would be 'self supporting'( or collapse?)-Thankfully, they all remained standing after removal of the wood form. An arch like that is structurally very sound/strong-it can hold lots of earth/weight above it. This thread has got me wantin' my own cellar now!

 

[elkhound]

cant wait to see more pics renee



echo....one word for ya....axe.....we suffer the same 'thing'...lol

 

[sdnapier]

cant wait to see more pics renee



echo....one word for ya....axe.....we suffer the same 'thing'...lol

Ditto…even have an axe at the top of the attic stairs…as if I would ever get stick up there…but ya just never know

 

[CountryWannabe]

I saw the thread title and thought "Oh, NO!! He's been sniffing Fowler's hanky"

Mary

 

[reneedarley]

Oh no -all my post has disappeared !!! Well I will post the end of it and try again this evening.

S... Me and computers.

and the cellar is beautifully dry

The government is very interested in restoring and protecting the cultural heritage so there are grants and courses for people to restore their cellars.
So you see Tom, all you have to do is row over next summer and get in some practise. Hmm. Think you should start rowing now

 

[reneedarley]

Second try. I have hundreds of photos. When I moved to this village 5 years ago I realized that the old school is used as a type of Archives.When people died or moved away, their photos were often given to the school. But there are only 10 people left living here so I decided to buy a camera to keep up the tradition. At first the locals were suspicious but now they invite me to take photos of what they are working with.
Here is my earth cellar. It is a bit of a cheat really as it is under the old food store which I now use for Bed and Breakfast and a summer café. There are two rooms and an average temperature of 46 degrees F. winter and summer. I use it for storing the cheese I make. The temperatures can go down to - 40 in the winter so then I use the inner room - closing the outside door before opening the separating door.

the next is my neighbours cellar. They do not use it and it is about 100 yards from their house. It actually belongs to their old house but is just as far from that too. I think they have had trouble finding a suitable place to dig the earth

All the cellars have two rooms. This house is unused, again the cellar goes under the main building

I call this the ghost house as it is abandoned and will soon be engulfed by the forest

Looks as if one enters this cellar through the house -and it is huge

This earth cellar also belongs to an unused house but here I could go in

You can see there is damp penetrating from outside causing the door frame to rot

These steps are nearly 5 feet wide.

Winters were harder than they are now. There was need for stored food for the 7 months of snow- even longer. Little could be bought. So self sufficiency was a must.

 

[Echoesechos]

Very interesting.

 

[Twp.Tom]

Oh my Renee!, Your village has some beautiful historical Homes and cellars. I cannot imagine why some one would want to leave such a beautiful location. You are living in a true paradise*.

 

[reneedarley]

There are only historical homes . This härbre ( food storage) has musket holes from the Norwegian/ Swedish war 1611-1613