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 Root
Cellar. Root Cellars provided the only suitable means to store vegetables, berries, and preservatives safely during the long winter. Typically, the cellar was dug into a bank that was too steep for cultivation, and was located as near as possible to the owner's house. The walls, constructed from flat stones, were of sufficient width to act as retaining walls. The roof was constructed of round sticks sheathed with rough boards and sealed with oakum, canvas, tar, felt, or whatever was available. Sometimes earth and sod were placed on the roof to reduce maintenance and provide more insulation. The excavated material was placed against all walls, leaving only door exposed. The vestibule helped create an air lock, which kept freezing air from blowing directly onto the stored items. Unlike
modem coolers, root cellars provided fairly constant humidity - essential
for lengthy storage of perishables. (Text
from Bay Roberts Heritage Society Inc. pamphlet "Shoreline Heritage
Walk.")
Fairy Story About a Vist to a Root Cellar. HOLE IN THE LEG Once there was a woman going out into her garden to get some vegetables for supper. She saw a little man running through the trees to hide. She went to see where he was.As she was looking through the trees, he dragged her into a little opening within the trees. She pulled away and tried to get out, but the fairy pulled back. When he pulled her back, he pulled a bunch of straw from her knee, so it would not give away the secret of their little hiding place. When she went home, she noticed she had a hole in her knee from where the straw had been pulled out. She could not understand how the hole got there, only that the little fairy had something to do with it. Told by
Laura Seymour, Shearstown
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