A root cellar is a homesteader's secret weapon during their mission to full self-sufficiency. It provides peace of mind in the face of potential power outages to safely store all that precious produce ...

One occasionally sees, cut into the side of a hill or lying flat next to a home's foundation, a door in that ground that leads to a drab, potato-colored wonderland of vegetable storage: a root cellar.

In the days before electricity came to rural areas in the early 1950s, all farm homes had either root cellars or caves for storing canned goods and vegetables. Caves were dug deeper than root cellars ...