Dacha Idylls: Living Organically in Russia's Countryside

1. Dacha Enchantments

1 In summer, it may appear that all of Russia has gone on vacation. The bustle and noise of daily life in towns and cities noticeably ease with the departure of residents to public parks, summer camps, cottage communities , and tourist destinations elsewhere. The pace of life slows down as people meander aimlessly through the dense thickets of parks and forests, nap on blankets spread along riverbanks, or read while absently pushing baby carriages containing contentedly sleeping infants through city parks. Formal business attire gives way to gently faded and patched work clothes and bathing suits. Businesses reduce services, or sometimes close their facilities altogether, for several weeks to accommodate the absences of their employees. Lines shorten in banks, post offices, and grocery stores in the aftermath of the mass exodus of urbanites who have crammed into packed buses, trains, and cars to head out of town. The only shops and restaurants that seem to attract a lively, or even increased, business are cottage and garden supply stores selling lawn equipment, patio furniture, and seeds and garden supplies, and outdoor cafés offering cold beer, shashlyk (shish kebabs), and snacks. Conversations among relatives, friends, cochapter 1 Dacha Enchantments The city is always a stress . . . But with nature, it is like you have gone to another planet. —Irina, sixties, Berezka (Birch Tree) dacha community Here [at the dacha] it is a piece of a different life. It is impossible to compare this life with the life you live the rest of the year. —Veronika, fifties, Iablochnyi Sad (Apple Orchard) dacha community The dacha is, in general, a place of refuge from the usual problems. —Mila, thirties, Nadezhda (Hope) dacha cooperative 2 | Dacha Enchantments workers, and strangers alike focus on holiday plans, as people exchange tips on the best sites for sunbathing, the trains likely to be less crowded, and new recipes for garden-fresh produce. Russians’ appreciation for summertime pursuits reflects a serious sense of purpose that requires careful attention throughout the year. In the depths of winter Russians are already thinking ahead to summer as they consult almanacs to determine the optimal time to schedule their time off and plant their gardens. Before the snow has melted, seedlings are pushing up in containers on kitchen windowsills, waiting to be replanted in gardens as soon as the ground is soft. Families savor the dwindling supply of pickles, preserves, and dried mushrooms from last year’s harvest and wax romantic about the coming year’s yield. Travelers consult tour books and make budgets to set aside sufficient funds for a holiday trip. Travel agencies fill public spaces and stuff private mailboxes with glossy advertisements and hire young women to stand outside metro stations and distribute brochures . Stores selling home and outdoor goods expand their selections with the latest in travel clothing, sporting gear, fishing and hunting supplies, lawn furniture, and outdoor grilling equipment. Bookstores set aside ever larger sections to accommodate the rapidly growing selection of books, magazines, newspapers, and other media devoted to every aspect of summer life imaginable: travel guides; publications on hunting, fishing, hiking, and bicycling, as well as more exotic “adventure sports”; guides to cottage design, repair, and decoration; books on gardening and flower arranging; and cookbooks for garden foods. Among the multitude of possible leisure pursuits, one activity stands out as perhaps the most recognizable aspect of Russian summer culture: visiting the dacha, or summer cottage. Simultaneously beloved and reviled, dachas possess an undeniable and curious power that compels Russians of all classes and generations and from all parts of the country to leave the comfort of their homes, sit (or stand) for hours while packed in overcrowded and overheated buses and trains or trapped in their cars in the gridlock that surrounds large cities and small towns alike, and then devote themselves to even longer hours engaged in the exhausting manual labors of gardening and home repairs, all while swatting incessant mosquitoes and flies, dragging buckets of water from a well, and availing themselves of pit latrines. Dachas are not simply a prime destination for summertime, however; for many they are the only conceivable destination, a sentiment captured in the comments of Mila, a professional in her early thirties: “As soon as dacha season approaches, people start longing for it. The only thing that interests them is the dacha. No longer do other people’s problems interest them.” Dacha Enchantments | 3 For Russians...