We are constructing an above ground, easily accessible, well insulated Root Cellar to improve vegetable, food and seed storage on our co-op farm, developing design, and building methods that are ecological and economical which can be duplicated elsewhere. After careful site selection, a 20 foot shipping container has been installed on a concrete foundation, a 30 foot, 5,000 liter water tower was built on the shipping container and lumber was purchased to build internal reinforcing shelves. Our dugout was enlarged to provide more than 200 yards of fill to make a hill to cover the shipping container. Most costs have been donated by co-op members and through an online Indiegogo Fundraising Campaign. We also received a $2,000.00 grant from the Manitoba Co-operatives Association.
Our Community Cold Storage Project is nearly completed, and all of us at the Northern Sun Farm would like to send a heartfelt Thank You to those of you who donated to our building project! This fall we built up the retaining walls with earthbags that we mixed and filled by hand, built shelving inside to store all our crates, bins, and jars of food, and we are waiting for machinery to come and bury the shipping container so the project is completed.