Root cellar: day two (and three...)

Way back in May when we started work on the root cellar again I never guessed it would bog down and stop after only a couple days. Sometime in the last several months Jeremy (and an intern?) put up the studs in the wall and the door. And that's where it sat all summer.

I had begun to think that the root cellar wouldn't happen again this year because there are too many other projects. But then I remembered something: Jeremy doesn't really like to work in a messy area. Its true that when doing construction things get messy. But it's different if you created the mess this morning or yesterday, versus 4 or 5 months ago. In those months, the basement got messier and messier and piled higher and higher with stuff. And the truth is, Jeremy doesn't like cleaning that much and I do.

So how do I get him interested in working on a project again? I clean things up. I spent a few hours reorganizing boxes and piles and sweeping up junk, and the very next day Jeremy started working on the root cellar again! It's like a miracle. =) (But one which I completely understand. In college, I was unable to start doing my homework until my room was clean. I know, I'm weird.)

Anyway, Jeremy put in some electrical in case we need that and put plastic on the exterior of the cellar - walls and ceiling.





This is looking into the cellar through the door. I think Jeremy is going to paint over the glass block window because it lets in a lot of light.


The ceiling:



With help from the intern, Jeremy got the sheathing up on the walls. Then comes the fun part. He's leaving a gap at the top through which he'll pour in the bags and bags of blown-in insulation we saved from upstairs. We love recycling!



These two are filled (nearly) and just need sheathing on the outside.


It's coming together quite nicely and I'm looking forward to getting some root veggies, onions and garlic, and apples to store for the winter. We're going to build a wall of shelves on the outside of the cellar for storing all our canning things, empty jars, and canned goods.