Russian Dachas

 The dacha is a country house, yet it is much more than that. The dacha pictured here belongs to my friend Galina. Although it looks like a nice cottage, it’s not what Russians call a “cottage.” Russians use the word “cottage” (with lots of Cyrillic letters) to describe a brick mansion or a very modern structure that is a display of social status, wealth and power. Only the very rich have cottages.  

The root word of dacha is “given.” During tsarist times aristocrats were given large country dachas by the tsar himself. During the Soviet era small dachas were given to ordinary people by the enterprise they worked for. Communist leaders got bigger dachas, but all the land belonged to the state, and the rights to a particular dacha could be taken away. Today, with private land ownership, dachas can be bought and sold.

Dachas are weekend homes on small plots of land that are usually heavily planted with fruits and vegetables. These garden plots provide a huge amount of basic foodstuffs for the Russian people. They take work, lots of work. For the older generation, a bounteous harvest from the dacha provides a sense of security that no matter how tough life is in general, at least they will have food to eat.

Younger Russians with discretionary income may regard a dacha as a place for weekend relaxation. They also like to escape from the city to the clean air of the countryside.

Every Russian I know has a dacha. Actually, it’s estimated that about 25 percent of city dwellers have dachas, and the rest probably know people who’ll invite them to visit.  

A big holiday in Russia is May Day, the first of May – it’s the start of the planting season. Although there are summer harvests of fruit and some vegetables, potatoes and carrots are harvested in the fall.

It’s common to have apple trees, and bushes for black currants, gooseberries, and raspberries. Strawberries and rhubarb are other popular fruits. Vegetables that are commonly grown include potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, carrots, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, radishes, onion, garlic, dill, parsley.