Yes, we can eat local produce year around! Our grandparents had root cellars. They stored fruits and roots and jars of preserved food so they could eat what they grew throughout the year in a cold climate. We have a root cellar. In addition to things like jars of tomato sauce, applesauce, and pressure canned soup stock, we store vegetables in a barrel in sand.
We have found the vegetables keep better in sand. In a cooler they could dry out and shrivel up or slime if too moist. Here’s the process. First trim and sort carrots. The largest and straightest go in the root cellar. Then I get in a short barrel. Next layer sand and carrots. I have found this method the easiest to get out some carrots, but not all.
Once I finish I place a large layer of sand and cover with a damp towel and large bakery cookie sheet.
Some items like cabbage will go into waxed cardboard boxes. Soon the root cellar will fill up!
