We don't currently have one, but my grandparents had 2 (one for onion type things, and another for taters, squash, etc.) Theirs were dug into the side of a hill. just dirt floor, with wooden walls. the foorstuffs they kept in tin/steel tubs, and in wooden barrels. (ventilation in the lids). the taters lasted well into the winter, as did the onions. squash didn't last as long, so they ate those first. (lots of pumpkin/squash pies in the fall 
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I had a "root barrel" type cellar a couple decades ago. Lived in town, didn't need much room for roots, so I dug a hole into the hill in the backyard, put in a plastic 55gal drum so the end was toward the front, and cut a hole in the lid so I could reach in without removing anything but a small door. Insulation panel (the pink foam stuff) sealed up the front. Worked pretty well until sub zero temps. then stuff froze.
If I did the barrel thing again, I'd bury it way deeper, or maybe down verticle to a depth of 4ft at teh top of the barrel...below frost line. temps 55 there year round. (oh, I'd have a pulley system (like old fashioned water well) with a basket carrying the roots.)
check out Walton feed site:http://waltonfeed.com/old/cellars.html
)I had a "root barrel" type cellar a couple decades ago. Lived in town, didn't need much room for roots, so I dug a hole into the hill in the backyard, put in a plastic 55gal drum so the end was toward the front, and cut a hole in the lid so I could reach in without removing anything but a small door. Insulation panel (the pink foam stuff) sealed up the front. Worked pretty well until sub zero temps. then stuff froze.
If I did the barrel thing again, I'd bury it way deeper, or maybe down verticle to a depth of 4ft at teh top of the barrel...below frost line. temps 55 there year round. (oh, I'd have a pulley system (like old fashioned water well) with a basket carrying the roots.)
check out Walton feed site:http://waltonfeed.com/old/cellars.html
