dacha material list:

my dacha wish list:

eggs, tea and mushrooms...

            

building small

in the spirit of building small, here are some examples of dacha-esque structures from all over the world.

shashlik and dacha: together forever

it's good to see some young russians enjoying grilled shashlik.  is that a dacha in the background?

photo by uliana gabi on photobucket.com

the samovar

the samovar is a tea vessel common to most households across the former soviet union and parts of the middle east.  typically made of metal, the samovar consists of a spout, key, handles, legs, heating shaft and chimney.  this hefty "kettle" is clearly designed for some hardy tea drinkers and my guess is that it's a key component of the dacha experience.  

still life by soren emil carlsen (artistsandart.org)

samovar with chimney attachment

soviet stamps from 1989 depicting various samovar styles (wikipedia.com)

dacha interiors

dacha interiors are proving to be a bit elusive at this point in the process-- when my primary research source is the internet.  i stumbled upon an excellent photo album here: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alien8253/673394284/in/set-72157600561701420/ 

which gives a great glimpse into a recent summer spent at a russian dacha.  hopefully, i will get a chance to see some dacha interiors first hand during my trip to eastern europe, scheduled to take place in march.

horademoscu.blogspot.com

dacha: self expression

now that i've had some time to collect dacha images from the web,  i'd like to make some observations about their various physical features.  to keep it simple, i'll stick to a list:

-bright colors

-primarily wood construction

-steeply pitched roofs

-foot paths

-fencing

-decorative trim

-flower beds

-locally available/salvaged building materials

-outdoor tables

-benches

-samovars

-"shashlik" (bbq) grills

-gates

-woodpiles

-outhouses

-alleyways

-gridded plots

-window curtains

-metal roofing

-traditional motifs

-slight overhangs

-small windows

-rain barrels

-clothes lines

-buckets

-ladders

-tool sheds

-raised foundations

-small basements/root cellars

-multi-generational families

the dacha community

the 1980's mark a era of rebirth for the dacha.  millions of middle class urban families wanted nothing more than a peaceful getaway where the pace of life is slow and the space of life is primarily outdoors.   russians (and all people of the former soviet union for that matter) seem to thrive in rustic and rural settings.  it's as if there's an inherent sense of nostalgia for nature running in their blood.  during the 80's, dachniks were also developing a concern about the amount of pesticides found on most of the produce offered in the city markets.  with careful planning and plenty of sweat, a family could produce enough fresh produce on a standard dacha plot for an entire year.  

i've decided to include a blog post from yelena (transparent.com) because it gives a great glimpse into the 80's dacha life.

I remember very well when my family received our dacha in the late 80s. We all got into our baby-blue «Запорожец» [a relic Soviet car with a 30-horse-power engine and no air conditioning] and drove fifty miles to the entrance to our «садоводо-огородническое товарищество» [dacha community; lit. garden-vegetable community] and another 3 miles over a rutted dirt road to our 600 square meter allotment. And what an allotment it was!

 Imagine a flat rectangle of former «колхозная» [belonging to a collective farm] land, depleted of all nutrients and overgrown with «сорняки» [weeds]. The nearest «пляж» [beach] was 30 minutes away and no scenic «луг» [meadow] or «роща» [grove] anywhere near.

 All around us were similar newly minted dachas, some already fenced in and sporting freshly built outhouses. These were the first two improvements every sensible dacha owner made –«забор» [fence] and «туалет» [toilet, here - an outhouse].

Pretty soon, however, «сараи» [tool sheds] would be erected next to the outhouses; «грядки»[vegetable beds] laid out; «фруктовые деревья и ягодные кусты» [fruit trees and berry bushes] planted. And then the owners would start building their tiny «дачный домик» [cottage].

 A few years later, the wasteland would be turned, square meter by square meter, into a beautiful garden with enough fruits and vegetables, except potatoes, to support «среднестатистическаясемья» [an average family] for a year. Every weekend and a few times during the week, this average family would drive their «машина» [car] or ride «автобус» [bus] to their dacha. Once there, they’d plant, water, weed, and harvest until it was time to go to bed or to go home.

who is a dachnik?

this is a question i keep asking myself.  an estimated 25% of russian families own dachas, making russia the nation with the highest number of secondary homes.  that's a lot of dachniki.  apparently, the may day holiday might as well be called the dacha holiday, due to the mass migration from apartments to dachas as the city folk eagerly exchange their metro cards for seeds and shovels.  

but dacha dwellers weren't always so numerous.  in the early 19th century, when the word dacha was first being used (it was derived from the russian verb "davat"), a dachnik was an elite member of the tsar's inner circle.  at the time, a dacha was an extravagant country estate given by Peter the Great to his confidants.  these opulent dachas of old were featured in classic russian novels as icons of a bohemian lifestyle full of poets and balls.  

with the start of the stalin era, dachas went from being the estates of the tsar's elite to the estates of the government's elite.  during this time, construction of new dachas was restricted and required a building clearance by the communist party.

after world war 2, the desire to escape the high rise apartments of heavily polluted cities led many russians to start squatting on unused land just outside their city limits.  at this point there was no formal law banning the construction of dachas, so people quietly began erecting small sheds and huts to serve as informal dwellings, which would allow them to spend some extended time near nature.  this squatting trend grew rapidly and resulted in an amateur farming movement, which the government had to officially recognize once it was clear that the state run agricultural program had failed to provide the union with enough produce.  

in 1955, a legislation titled the gardeners partnership was passed , which gave organized farmers the right to use 600 sq. meter plots for agricultural purposes.  over the next 3 years this legislation led to public water access and the formation of the cooperative for dacha construction, which gave individuals the right to build a dacha on the government leased land.  of course, these dachas couldn't resemble their fancy predecessors.  after all the farm dacha was where one must toil and not waste time on trivial pursuits.  so, new dacha construction was limited to 225 sq. ft. and there would be no indoor plumbing or electricity allowed.  after the establishment of gorbachev's perestroika government, these dacha restrictions were dropped and dachas design became an experiment in self expression and spontaneity, which was quite unique in the political landscape of the time.