if you live someplace where you can freeze water in the winter think about using plastic trash cans,the under sink kind,as big ice cube trays.a backyard shed with saw dust and some modern insulation would make a personal ice house.
i tried this many years ago as a lark.i froze a few blocks and shoveled the chips from my chainsawing firewood over them and a tarp over that.i did it because after the snow had melted out of my woodlot the snow,which had turned to ice,under the chippings had not melted and it struck me i could make and save ice.in a shady spot the blocks lasted a few weeks after the rest of yard was cleared.not much of a block of course,maybe a third was left but with more work i could of had ice until June in Minnesota.with a building maybe all summer.
this ice making talk sounds like the plot to Mosquito Coast!