What have done towards your prep?

[Mortblanc]

Plan B??

Put it where you can and plant some good shade as a screen for the front. A tall hedge or some fast growing shade trees. Even an artificial barrier like a burlap screen will help until the natural foulage grows in.

The goal is keeping the ground over the root cellar at a uniform temp. That is done with heaps of dirt and shade on the outside. That was the reason for suggesting the north facing slope.

If you go deep enough it won't matter, but no one ever goes as deep as they think they did and some point at a corner or along the roof will get only a foot of dirt when the rest has 2-3 feet.

The presence of stones complicates things greatly. Rock transfers heat and cold directly, almost like an electric wire. I have seen water pipes freeze and burst because they were laid in rock filled ditches and the rock extended to the surface several meters away.

I laughed when I read about your rock. I once lived in a place that only had one rock. It was 6" under the ground and ran for 200 miles in all directions. In my present location I am blessed with mostly stone free soil, except for those places that I intend to do construction. That is always where the boulders live.