Beyond the Root Cellar is the inspiring guide that proves that – with a little ingenuity – the savvy grower can successfully select, harvest, store and sell vegetables all year round, providing their family and community the local food they need during winter months.
Sam Knapp built Offbeet Farm, a winter storage farm in interior Alaska, from the ground up. His success there has been a testament to the many benefits of growing crops for wintertime sales. His methods continually prove that winter storage is an excellent way to diversify a farm’s offerings, spread the workload throughout the year, retain customers and employees during the off-season and bolster local food systems.
Beyond the Root Cellar is a compilation of insights, advice and instruction, drawing on Sam’s experience and that of many other storage farmers he’s met along the way. It is, Sam says, the book he wishes he had when he embarked on his own winter storage business, and will help pave the way for growers both new and established who are interested in storage farming.
In Beyond the Root Cellar, you’ll find tips and tools for:
Also included are profiles of nine different storage farms, a crop compendium with in-depth information about eighteen storage crops, and full-colour photography to show a range of storage facilities, methods and crops.
Beyond the Root Cellar is the must-have, comprehensive winter storage handbook for a wide range of growers, from commercial farmers to market gardeners to smallholders.
"Knapp combines a science background with experience running his own farm, and after speaking with cold storage innovators across the country, he is sharing what he has learned . . . [With] practical know-how [Beyond the Root Cellar] ultimately shows that cold storage is within reach for all farmers."
—Modern Farmer
“Beyond the Root Cellar is the best resource on storing vegetables that I know of. This is next-level market gardening. Knapp is practical and inspiring—he shows modern methods for storing food and makes a strong case for why you should probably be storing more food on your own farm. Storing food is a win for customers, for farmers, and for the planet. If you grow vegetables, I recommend that you pick up a copy of this book.”
—Ben Hartman, author of The Lean Micro Farm
“As a seasoned practitioner and teacher of market gardening, it’s rare for a book to ignite my passion, but Sam’s work does just that. Overflowing with invaluable tips and innovative strategies, this guide goes beyond the typical fast crops seen in most market gardens. It dives deep into storage vegetables for year-round growing, empowering growers to extend their season. In the face of constraints, we discover our greatest teachers, and Sam’s insights from Alaska and its short growing season have broadened his perspective. This new book has certainly broadened mine, and I encourage all growers to study it and level up their farming game.”
—Jean-Martin Fortier, author of The Market Gardener and The Winter Market Gardener
“This book is the next step in creating resilient food systems and communities, telling us how to provide high-quality, nutritious local vegetables all year rather than importing them from warmer places in the winter. It is a vital resource for small farmers and home gardeners who want to extend their growing and selling season. Sam presents extensive and detailed information about the best varieties for long-term winter storage; which crops to harvest first when a fall cold snap is predicted and everything needs to be done at once; how to prepare crops for storage with curing, precooling, and proper washing; appropriate storage containers; and optimal storage conditions for each crop. I wish I had read this before I designed my own root cellar!”
—Helen Atthowe, author of The Ecological Farm
“Beyond the Root Cellar is a must-read for anyone who wants to store produce for any length of time. It’s too much work and investment to grow produce, only for it to decline in quality in storage. Produce can rot surprisingly quickly when stored under the wrong conditions, but it can also last for a surprisingly long time under the right conditions. Sam Knapp shows us the reality that vegetables will last only if harvested at the right stage, with the proper postharvest handling, temperature, humidity, and other factors. Detailing everything from the produce itself to the infrastructure you need to store it and the equipment that will help you maintain the right conditions, this book is an important contribution to making the entire year local food season! Even if you don’t plan on storing produce all winter, this book will show you how to keep it as fresh as possible for as long as possible.”
—Andrew Mefferd, editor, Growing for Market magazine, author of The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower’s Handbook
“Beyond the Root Cellar is a very thorough exposition of how to build, stock, and manage a root cellar. While it is definitely most helpful to large commercial operations that are mechanized, it goes into great detail across the board. Sam Kapp lays out the proper crops to store in a root cellar, along with their varying temperature and humidity needs. Because he lives in Alaska, it is particularly impressive what he has done to raise high-quality produce and then store it for later sale. An impressive and highly detailed book!”
—Julie Rawson, organic farmer; author of Many Hands Make a Farm
"[A] creative guide that demonstrates how growers can select, harvest, store, and market vegetables during the off-season. . . This practical, comprehensive book . . . is packed with valuable insights and unique strategies for readers looking to innovate their winter farming practices. It's a great resource for gardeners, farmers, homesteaders, and curious readers."
—Library Journal
Sam Knapp grew up in the woods near the shores of Lake Superior with little exposure to farm life. After earning degrees in physics and chemistry and starting down the career path of engineering, Sam caught the farming bug while working on a research farm in Sweden. He worked on vegetable farms in Sweden, Alaska, Michigan, and Wisconsin before starting his own Root Cellar Farm in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to earn extra income while completing a master’s degree in plant ecology. In 2020, Sam moved outside of Fairbanks, Alaska, where he built Offbeet Farm from scratch in a patch of boreal forest. Offbeet Farm provides vegetables to the Fairbanks community during the long, dark Alaskan winters through a winter-only community supported agriculture (CSA) program and sales to local groceries. Owing to his scientific background, he is a self-professed nerd when it comes to energy-efficiency, farm tools, and spreadsheets. In his free time, Sam is an avid cross-country skier and musician.
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