Murray Root Cellar, Interview. Julie Pomeroy interviews Michael Murray about root cellars, Portugal Cove- St. Phillips

• Main Author: Pomeroy, Julie
• Other Authors: Murray, Michael
• Format: Audio
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Migration/settlement; Objects; Architecture; building and construction; Buildings; Outbuildings; Root cellars; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/ich_nature/id/582

Michael Murray describes what a root cellar is by talking about the construction of cellars and the main components of a cellar in regard to drainage, high humidity, and keeping frost out; the construction of his cellar and how it is attached to the main house; family history of his ancestors moving from Grates Cove to Portugal Cove-St. Phillips and when the cellar was built dating it back to 1820; cellar being built before the house and what the cellar was used for; he is the fifth generation of Murrays on the land and discusses some of the history; speculates as to how long it would have taken to build the cellar at that time; renovations that the cellar has undergone in the past; important issues to know when building or keeping a cellar such as making it deep enough into the ground with enough back fill to keep frost out, having proper drainage and having good air drainage capacity; temperatures in a cellar in winter months and issues surrounding freezing; sanitation of cellars; original use of his cellar including storing meat and butchering process in the cellar; ancestors working with ice and milk storage; what he grows today in terms of vegetables and his family business succession plan and the history of the land and changes the farm has made through the generations; cellar has been in continuous use since it has been built and how he purchases his winter provisions from local farmers to keep in the cellar as well as plant materials; possibilities for his farms future and the original method of farming which was organic, and processes of composting, using fish offal and wood ash; business growing from a stand on the side of the road, his knowledge of farming, and how they still quarry peat and compost materials from arborist materials; possibility of passing on his knowledge and some of his father’s history; how he stores vegetables in his cellar in regard to rodents etc; problematic issues such as frost and the importance to keep a barometer when one is having a relationship with the environment to be ...