GREAT story Sharon and I kinda/sorta have a new age root cellar
It's a walk-in crawl space where my tender plants overwinter.
Dirt floor, block walls, spiders, used to be snakes until I told Hank I was going to start shooting guns down there so he snake proofed it for me
I do keep mouse traps set down there. And I have LIGHTS! LOTS of high intensity fluorescent lights. I can light it up down there like NYC
I've never kept fruits or veggies down there but I bet I could.
I do remember root cellars from my childhood and the smell of them and the being scared.