While not all of us have a root cellar (I don’t), we can make the most of the storage spaces we have. Ventilation is very important if you want to prolong the life of your vegetables.

In the ideal root cellar set up, you would have a cold air intake vent at the base of the root cellar wall and on an opposite wall and the top would be the warm air outtake vent. Cross ventilation is best.

In my basement, I don’t have either of those things, but it is unheated, and it’s not closed off tight from the rest of the house so it does get some ventilation, though not the ideal kind.