Cellar Dweller

 I used to hate on the idea of living in a basement.. just seems like a bad idea is all. Mostly paranoid about water really, but so far even my first leaky mishap was well worth the benefits that come with living underground. The first big rain we had leaked into our kitchen... totally my fault, I was gardening and forgot to replace the piping that carries the water away from the foundation.. woke up with a slick of water on the floor. After learning that lesson quickly, it's back to chillin'. After years of renting rooms and tenting seasonally, it's nice to have a space to call 'home'.

Number one benefit of living sub-terra.. the temperature! When it's too cold, that's an easy fix. Space heaters and blankets work wonders. But when it's creeping up over a hundred degrees outside, it's easy to stay cool as a cucumber down here no AC required. I say as I sip on my cucumber apple lemonade, fresh from the juicer...Delicious and refreshing, perfect for any hot day. and a hot one it is...

It's a good thing I got home when I did. another hour without shade and water and my freshly planted seedlings would have had the biscuit. I had to carefully pour as much water as I could down to the roots without hitting the leaves [for fear of burning them] to quickly revive them.. they sprung right back. Phew! I'd be pretty upset if I lost a part of that big beautiful garden especially so soon!

There are key elements to keeping this little hole in the ground cool and comfortable. First being a dehumidifier. This device is a key component to living comfortably in a basement no matter the season, most especially in older homes, the basements of which were originally not intended to be living space. The second key element is a large circulator fan. I have the one that sits on the floor, but can be tilted up. This helps to keep the air moving, and push the cooler air from the tiled cement of the kitchen into the slightly better insulated main room. To make this system work though, the windows must be kept shut. I have been using this system since I got here, and even on the hottest days it's noticeably cool.

Well, that being said, the afternoon sun is passing and it should be safe to go back outside and mill about in the garden. Lots of digging and planting still to do before my epic journey south.