Root Cellar or Tornado Shelter?

Earth Shelters are nothing new. Ancient people used them to get out of the cold in winter and keep cool in summer so why change a technology that has been used since people first started building shelters?

Answer: Because now we can build them out of materials that are otherwise un-usable for anything else - old tires!

Not to mention - when these buildings are built right - they can last for centuries. Just build them high enough where they will stay dry and make sure the roof is well sealed from moisture inside & out then cover with at least 12" of dirt. If you live in a very cold climate, use a double door system where you get inside one door before opening the door into the root cellar itself. This will help keep the temps even in summer and winter. Then you could have your tire-build earth root cellar last 100s of years too.

Don't forget to put in a solar powered LED light so you can see when you are down there as you want to close the door behind you to keep summer humidity out.

Root cellars are a natural way of storing fruits, vegetables, wine, cheese and dried smoked meats. And they are an excellent storage areas for other things as well. A hundred years ago root cellars were one of the few ways they had of keeping things cool. People not only put beets, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, winter squash, and carrots in their root cellars, but their preserved meat, milk and cream, fruits and vegetables - literally anything they needed to keep cool. Even though root cellars didn’t get nearly as cold as a refrigerator during summer months, root cellars generally were and are 30 to 40 degrees F cooler than daytime summer temperatures.

To preserve your food all winter long - bury potatoes, carrots and root crops in dry sand and store close to the ground in bushel baskets. Other items like winter squash, onions can be stored on shelving. Cheeses need to be accessible to turn if not daily, every other day. Ciders and wines need to be tipped on their sides which points away from breakable items in case one of them blows their cork.