How to store foods properly has been learned by trial and error over many generations. Selecting a storage location depends on ideal temperatures and humidity for the food being stored.

The most common place to store fresh and canned goods is a walk-in root cellar, whether connected to or separate from the home.

“Household root cellars are a timeless way to store food since they are a low-technology, low-cost, low-energy preservation method,” said University of Missouri Extension specialist Brenda Bell, who attributes her knowledge and advice to the research of various Extension specialists. “Uninsulated basements, unheated garages, garden trenches and holes dug into hillsides then lined with brick or concrete blocks are all examples of root cellars.”

Not many people have as unique a root cellar as Jimmy and Betty Sons of Birch Tree. Their root cellar is a bus that was buried in the ground by a former property owner.

“You mean our redneck root cellar,” laughed Betty.

While it sounds funny, the buried bus makes a great storage place for the Sons’ fruits, vegetables, canned goods and other supplies.

“To keep things cool, a dugout, like the bus, is fantastic. The temperature has typically stayed about 60 to 62 degrees,” stated Betty.

Kenny Wallace of Mountain View shared how his family stored crops underground in the winter.

“Wait until it’s consistently cold before you make storage mounds,” said Wallace. “Dig a hole in the ground deep enough to cover what you’re storing.”

Straw is needed for protecting the crops.

“Put a layer of straw in, and then add your apples, pears or other … crops,” said Wallace. “Cover that with more straw and then mound up dirt over the entire hole.”

“The straw produces heat that keeps them from freezing,” explained Wallace’s wife, Gloria.

Crops that store well include all fall fruits, as well as potatoes, onions, turnips and other vegetables that can be produced in the fall.

“You can just make a hole when you’re ready to eat them, stick your hand in and get your food,” said Wallace. “The food will last until about February.”

If you have a natural spring or creek on your property, then a springhouse could be another choice for storing your foods, especially items that need to keep cool. According to Mayola Miller of Mountain View, a springhouse is simply a small building built over the spring or creek.

“The spring keeps the building cool. You can build shelves to store your fruits and meat and dairy products,” explained Mayola.

Her husband, Cecil, added that his family used their cistern to keep items cool.

“We put them in a bucket and lowered them into the cistern with a rope,” Cecil said.

Bell noted three key considerations for storing foods, adequate ventilation, respiration and temperature.

Ventilation is needed to help with ethylene (a natural plant compound that increases respiration and hastens aging and senescence) and moisture removal.

Respiration is the fruit’s or vegetable’s need for oxygen. Just like animals, they need it to survive.

“However you store your food, there needs to be a way for oxygen to get in and carbon dioxide to escape,” said Bell.

Temperature affects respiration rates – the higher the temperature the greater the respiration rate. On the other hand, too low a temperature for some fruits and vegetables, and they may suffer chilling injuries from such problems as ice crystal formation.

A chart based on the University of Missouri Extension’s recommended temperature and humidity levels for storing fruit and vegetable is provided here.

Other common items that can be stored include flour, cornmeal, honey and spices and herbs.

Bell noted flour and cornmeal can be stored for several months if kept from moisture in a cool, dry place.

“Make sure to put the flour or cornmeal in a moisture-proof bag or container,” said Bell. “Otherwise, flour will cake up and cornmeal will get moldy producing a bad odor. Both will create an environment where insects will hatch.”

In addition, flour can absorb the odors around it, so it should be stored away from foods or other products that have strong odors.

“For longer storage, put flour or cornmeal in a moisture-proof container and store in a 0 degrees freezer. Either will keep for several years,” said Bell.

As for honey, a natural sugar substitute, the Extension advises pouring it in a tightly covered container to keep out moisture and keeping it in a dry place with a temperature between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

“If not stored tightly, honey will absorb not only moisture, but odors from the air,” said Bell. “As honey gets older, it will form crystals. You can place an opened container, not plastic, of crystallized honey in warm water to restore it to a clear thick liquid.”

The Extension warns against feeding honey and its products to infants less than a year old, because spores of bacteria present in honey can cause infant botulism. The spores are not destroyed by regular cooking or baking methods.For spices and herbs, Sunshine Market of Mountain View recommends storing them in airtight amber glass containers in a dry, dark place away from heat and light sources. Whole spices and herbs have a shelf life of about one to two years for leaves and flowers, two to three years for seeds and barks and three years for roots. For ground spices and herbs, it’s best to use them within one year for leaves, seeds and barks and two years for roots.

For more information on storing foods, visit the University of Missouri website at http://extension.missouri. edu/. Click on Nutrition and Health topic link, expand the Nutrition button then expand the Food button and click on the Preservation link to access the Extension’s food safety guide sheets.