/deep root cellar/
My Dad was in his teens during the Great Depression...
They would cover some vegetables in a furrow (ditch)with dry
hay above and below the vegetables and then covered with at least six inches of dirt...potatoes and probably other root crops...Maw would send him out to dig up a few more pre-harvested potatoes every few days... ( ; )
My understanding is that in war torn Europe...they put other foods in furrows...or at least under ground /cache/(before computing)...rodent and water protection is required...Lewis & Clark lost one cache I believe.
Yeah my parents were depression era as well and they would dig a “cellar”, about 6-12ft deep and as you say nest the root crops, potato, squash, carrots, onions, parsnips, beets etc in a dry straw bed of shelves or bushel basket layers.. Keep it cool and dry on the surface after late summer or fall harvest and it would last thru next season. This was in the Texas Panhandle region. We still do such to this day as it doubles as our storm shelter...:o)
I like the furrow idea as well...... might give that a try this year.
this reminds me of how kimchi and is made in korea - they put everything in a jar sealed it (wax maybe) and buried it. Sauerkraut is fermented similarly but I don’t know if the germans ever buried theirs.