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Storing Vegetables Outdoors

Building a larder using soil and straw: this age-old method was a boon to home-front gardeners

Government sponsored film 1941 9 mins

Overview

This Ministry of Information film does β€˜what it says on the tin’. It is a straightforward, β€˜no frills’ demonstration of how to store roots vegetables outside by a traditional method known as β€˜clamping’, which had been used for centuries. Horticultural journalist and broadcaster Roy Hay narrates, as a gardener demonstrates how to construct a clamp, a cheap and efficient way of storing vegetables such as potatoes and carrots by insulating them with soil and straw in a pyramid structure. The benefits are emphasised at the film’s conclusion – the clamp will protect the vegetables against all types of weather and keep them fresh until they are needed.

During the Second World War, the highly successful β€˜Dig for Victory’ campaign encouraged the public to grow their own food during a time of strict rationing. Open spaces were transformed into allotments, and lawns and flowerbeds were turned into vegetable gardens. This government film is a public record, preserved and presented by the BFI National Archive on behalf of The National Archives, home to more than 1,000 years of British history.