Land1

Spring has sprung, but it's not too late to get things going for a full growing season. Organize now and get those motivating juices flowing to start projects for your 2017 garden!

Read More:http://www.countryplacesinc.com/index.php/Rural-Living/march-gardening-tips.html

For most homeowners it's an exciting time to get your home ready. In the winter time, many portions of your home are neglected or aren't used as often because of home owners staying inside their homes. From the interiors of your home to the exterior, getting your home ready for spring will ensure you'll be ready to enjoy the warmer weather once it hits. Space out your maintenance tips and by time spring is here, you will be able to enjoy the season!  

Read more at: http://freshome.com/2011/03/01/how-to-prepare-your-home-for-the-spring-season/

 

 

Root Cellar Plans

These unique root cellar plans show you how to build a root cellar for food storage by adapting a new concrete septic tank.
 
By Steve Maxwell
April/May 2014
 
 

Make this root cellar by burying a new concrete septic tank into a hillside.
Illustration by Len Churchill
Slideshow

 

Related Content

How to Build a Cave

Learn how to build a small, water-tight cave that's perfect for storing vegetables or for using as a...

Build a Root Cellar: A Complete Guidebook

Veteran homesteader and contributing editor Steve Maxwell has partnered with professional home econo...

Outdoor Root Cellars

When planning your winter food storage, don’t overlook the preserving power of the earth in your gar...

Grow It! Preserving Food for Winter

Richard Langer explains how to preserve your harvest for winter by drying fruits, fermenting sauerkr...

The cool, moist and dark conditions of a root cellar make it the perfect place to keep many fruits and vegetables crisp and delicious for weeks — even months — of storage. And while there are myriad ways to store vegetables, our innovative root cellar plans show you how to build a root cellar by modifying a new, precast concrete septic tank. By following the plans, you'll cut an entrance, install a door, add a pair of vent pipes and cover the tank with soil to bring an old-fashioned, walk-in cellar into your modern life.

Choose a Concrete Septic Tank

You'll want to buy an unused septic tank for this root cellar design, but look for a deal to avoid paying full price. A percentage of all precast concrete septic tanks end up with small manufacturing defects that prohibit them from being used for sewage treatment. Suppliers sometimes offer discounts on these flawed tanks. As long as the tank is solid and sound, a chipped edge or a patchable hole won't prevent it from being a root cellar. You won’t need the plastic fittings or effluent filter found inside most septic tanks, so ask the supplier to remove these before delivery.

Tank size is another detail you'll need to consider when planning how to build a root cellar from a septic tank. The capacity of septic tanks is measured in gallons, with different models being taller or shorter. While you might be tempted to buy a 1,000- or 1,200-gallon tank because they’re common, you’ll get more food storage space and headroom with a tank that's 1,500 gallons or larger. Standard 1,500-gallon tanks typically measure about 5 1/2 feet wide by 5 1/2 feet tall by 10 feet long, while a 2,500-gallon tank provides more than 6 feet of interior headroom. Don’t choose a low-profile tank because it will be much too short to work in. Prices for new, undamaged 1,500-gallon tanks start at about $1,100, and 2,500-gallon models can be found for as low as $1,600. Discounts for damaged tanks may be as much as 50 percent.

Most septic tanks have an internal partition that must be opened or removed to build from these root cellar plans. Try to find a tank without a partition, or ask your supplier to remove it before delivery. You can also punch through the partition yourself as part of the doorway-cutting process.

Best Sites for Root Cellars

The perfect location for a root cellar is nestled into an existing soil bank in a well-drained location 10 to 20 yards from your house. Ideally, the door should face north to keep out the sun’s heat. You’d be fortunate indeed to have all of these conditions, and most people have to modify their sites. Expect to pay from $50 to $100 per hour for a backhoe and operator to excavate your site for three or four hours.

 

Owning land is having possession of a tangible asset that has a host of benefits, one being the ability to farm.

It may sounds like a lot of unnecessary work to many, but there's a growing movement of people growing their own food. This food-to-table trend is also allowing some to feed their families and sell the excess to others for extra cash.

Farmers markets allow small-yield cultivators the ability to help others, and themselves, by selling everything from fruits and vegetables to herbs, plants and flowers. Consider container gardening if your land isn't well suited to farming.

Even in varying climates, here are some of the most popular choices and easiest to grow.

Vegetables

Green (Bush) Beans - Sow seeds every few weeks to enjoy a continual harvest through the summer.

Beets - You can plant your beets as soon as your soil can be worked in the spring.

Carrots - Plant carrots as soon as the soil can be worked. They thrive in fertile sandy loam.

Cucumbers - Give your cucumber plants generous amounts of organic matter and good fertilization and they will respond with lots of crunchy cucumbers; harvest them regularly to increase production.

Lettuce - Lettuce thrives in cooler weather so plant it in the spring and fall, sowing every few weeks for a continuous harvest.

Snap Peas - Plant your peas so that they can mature as early as your planting schedule allows and sow more seeds when cooler fall days return.

Radishes - Spring radish varieties are often ready in just three weeks and are more mild in flavor—hotter summer soil produces spicier radishes.

Herbs

Basil - Plant basil in rich, moist soil where it can enjoy full sun. Sow your basil every few weeks for continual harvest.

Dill - Plant your dill seeds in warmer temperatures: it thrives in soil around 75 to 80°F.

Cilantro - Plant cilantro early in the season and sow seeds regularly for a continued harvest.

Parsley - Plant parsley in fertile soil with good amounts of organic matter and moisture.

Thyme - Grow thyme in an area that will receive full sunlight.