Starch as well as sugar can be made from the acid hydrolysis of wood or grass Hydrochloric acid is generated from electrolysis of water to produce h30+ water plus bubbles of chlorine from Calcium chloride (winter walkway chemical)
The process takes an hour at 160C or maybe 70 hours at 100C with a
big cauldron with a light lid covered with water to keep the emissions from fuming
January is of benefit as part of the fluid from the cauldron can be piped through the winter air causing wood resins to separate out from the coolness
Also if people get a huge surplus of food during January this gives them the peace of mind to use spring socially rather than agriculturally
Rather like the Vermont sugar season Each group of people converts about a ton of wood to 1100 pounds of sugar plus starch sufficient calories to feed three or more people
The apparatus to convert a ton of wood to 1100 lbs of food travels from each place of dwelling about ten times a month
If the cauldron is rather sought after you could call the festival springtober among the neighborly this could go with visiting plus sampling
There might be those that prefer a well lit season so the cauldron can be solar warmed with reflectors
Having created a years worth of food at the start of the new year with just 70 hours effort each little group can idly ignore spring planting letting the land return to ecodiversity carefully planting twice as many trees as they harvest each year