Russian Dacha - Not Your Typical Country House
My first experience with Russian dacha (country house) was in early 2013 in the winter while I was studying Russian culture and language in St. Petersburg. My girlfriend, Masha, decided to bring to meet her Babushka (grandmother) who lives year round in the country. More on this incredible woman in a future article.
We travelled by electric train about an hour outside the city towards Lake Ladoga and exited on the platform at Proba. The platform was just that, a concrete platform to catch trains. There was no train station, businesses, or transport. From there we walked along the train tracks in the snow. Luckily the snow accumulation was high and compact enough that we didn't have to worry about stepping in between the railroad ties as we walked. The walk was 20 minutes into the forest. There were some scattered houses along the rail line, but they drifted away as we went further. Not long after crossing a bridge Masha made a sudden turn off the tracks to a small trail that led into the forest and a grouping of about 8 small houses with a variety of out-buildings.
The Hooter (small cluster of homes)
The houses were all similar in size and design, but several had more extra buildings. Masha's grandmother lives in a small house with a kitchen and an average sized room that serves as bedroom, living room and dining room. Of course, every home has an decent sized entry room to store goods and shake of snow, mud, etc. before removing shoes upon entry. However, Babushka also has a feed shed for her goats and chickens, a summer guest house, the goat's house, the chicken coop, outhouse, and a banya (Russian sauna). Masha's dacha is similar, but with a little bigger living area and a room in the attic. Her house is located in the same hooter about 50 meters from her Granny.
The neighbors all share a common well for water, which is extremely clean and cold even in the summer. The houses all have electricity, but no running water or gas for heat. Wood is used to heat the homes in very efficient Dutch ovens that are used for cooking and also heat the entire house. It can get very hot inside, even in the winter and temperature is regulated by opening a small square in the windows that allows fresh air into the home.
The houses are exclusively made of wood, but sometimes placed on concrete pads. There are no basements as the entire region, St. Petersburg included, is built on a swamp. The chimney's are well built and need little maintenance. Water is held in tubs above the sink with a lever to release water for hand and dish washing. Water then drains out of the sink into a pail, which is emptied as needed. All the houses have good sized refrigerators, televisions, radios, and hot plates for making tea and food when the stove isn't burning.
Life at Dacha
Babushka lives at her dacha all year round. She does this by choice and actually owns a large 3 bedroom apartment near one of the metro stations in St. Petersburg, she likes the life in the country and enjoys raising her goats and chickens and maintaining an overly large garden where she grows potatoes, tomatoes, herbs, and other vegetables. She also gathers the wild berries and apples from the many tress on her property and in the forest. She sells goats milk and fresh farm eggs all year near a market in the city along with whatever else nature has provided for her or she has cultivated. She has a pension, but enjoys the work and makes a decent living from her sales. It is a difficult life for a woman in her 80's walking 20 minutes to the train platform everyday laden with several liters of milk, eggs, and other goods in her backpack and handbags. However, it is not a typical dacha lifestyle for retirees.
Most people, including our neighbors in the forest, visit their dachas only from the late Spring until the Autumn and then mostly on the weekends. There are many older people that spend their entire summers at dacha and part of a typical Russian childhood includes a good portion of their Summers spent with their grandparents at dacha.
Babushka's life is often referred to as "real dacha" by my friends as most of the younger people visit the country only on the weekends and spend their time hunting mushrooms, relaxing, cooking shashlik (Russian BBQ), and drinking heavily. Banya is also a populuar pasttime at dacha. Russian traditional sauna is as much a part of their lifestyle as anything else and it is very ritualistic. I will spend an entire article in the future discussing the preparation and execution of a proper Russian banya. It is quite the routine.
The biggest common denominator with dacha life is the gardening. Nearly everyone with a dacha maintains a Spring through Fall garden and this is especially true of the older Russians. There is still an underlying sentiment in Russian culture to know how to live off the land, to grow food, hunt and fish because one needs to be prepared for bad times. Although the gardens and farms lack the uniformity and handsome rows of many American farms, their tenders don't lack for knowledge of how to cultivate and they do it without fertilizers, insect killers, or other chemicals. The famines that have historically plagued the Russian people for hundreds of years (maybe always) perpetuate this part of dacha culture.
On this first visit, we helped Babushka with some chores. Masha helped her clean up the houses and I shoveled the pathways clear of snow and removed some off the rooftops that hadn't fallen. We had a good lunch before they milked the goats and I retrieved enough water from the well to keep Babushka stocked for the next day. We took the watchdog, Yunka for a walk, which she enjoyed and explored the forest. Masha explained the types of tress and places of interest. She even pointed out the birds when they called, spotting them quickly when all I saw was tree limbs. It was distinct quiet broken only by our breathing and footsteps and, of course, an errant bird call. Finally, we loaded up and made our way to the platform carrying her milk and goods for her along the way.
It was an amazing day. I would have never guessed to be so far removed from modernity only 40 minutes by car from a city of 6 million. Little did I know that lots of work and many adventures at dacha were in my not too distant future.
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