Greetings from The Gambia!  Today we are going to tell you all about clay pot refrigerators! 

In hot climates like The Gambia, food doesn’t stay fresh for long In hot climates like The Gambia, food doesn’t stay fresh for long. Tomatoes go off in just two days and after four days courgettes are rotten

One solution to help food stay fresh is to make a clay pot refrigerator called a zeer pot. Using this simple method means the same vegetable can last for up to 20 days.

The zeer pot is a simple fridge made of local materials The zeer pot is a simple fridge made of local materials. It consists of one pot set inside another, with a layer of wet sand in between As the moisture evaporates it cools the inner pot which keeps fruit and vegetables fresher for longer

Firstly  a smaller pot is placed inside a larger one, and the space in between filled with sand!

Because of the heat, the water contained in the sand evaporates towards the outer surface of the larger pot. This evaporation brings about a drop in temperature of several degrees

Twice a day we add water to the sand between the pots so that it remains moist. The pots are then left in a dry, ventilated place.

It is important to remember to keep the sand moist with water or the sand will heat up and warm up the food with it.

It helps if the pots are placed on a stand This is because it allows the air to flow underneath the pots and help the cooling process.

Now we have built our zeer pot we are ready to place some food inside to keep it cool

Can you see what foods we are putting in the zeer pot today?

That’s right ! Tomatoes and Courgettes !

The best thing about the zeer pot is that it uses no electricity so it’s cheap and good for the environment

Here is our food in the zeer pot being kept cool and fresh for dinner

Perhaps you could try making a zeer pot when the weather warms up in England!

We hope to hear from you very soon! Well that’s all from us for now, we hope you enjoyed what we had to show you!  We hope to hear from you very soon!