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Day at the Dacha

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by Emma, Dacha Intern
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On Sunday, July 12 the The Dacha Project, with the help of IthaCan, invited folks of the community to take a tour of the homestead. Guests were welcomed to come throughout the afternoon, and each tour was tailored to the specific interests of the group. One family enjoyed exploring the garlic patch, and other groups were interested in the construction projects. Lily, was the primary hostess explaining the various projects such as the outside shower and solar panels.
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The outside shower, pictured above, is a project developed this summer to solve an on-going issue. The Dacha is something called an earth bermed home, meaning the earth is incorporated in the construction of the structure.Due to the participants of the Dacha being homestead beginners, moisture issues have developed after the construction that were not anticipated. The outside shower is a way to reduce these issues because less moisture will be created inside the house if more people shower outside. As an added bonus, the beautiful summer scenery makes for a relaxing time!

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As the tour concluded, guests were treated to fresh black raspberries, and red and black currants picked from the north garden. Since The Dacha is interested in biodiversity, every plant is chosen for a specific reason. In the case of berries, having a wide selection allows exploration of the nuances of different species, such as flavor, texture, and nutritional value. For example, did you know that black raspberries are different from blackberries? Blackberries, or Rubus allegheniensis, leave a differently shaped receptacle than the black raspberry, or  Rubus occidentalis.  When plucked, the blackberry leaves a flat receptacle rather than the cone shaped receptacle that the black raspberry leaves.

The Dacha Project hopes to invite more guests to the homestead for discovery and exploration. Stay tuned for information!


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How-To: Mini / To-Go Fruit-on-the-Bottom Maple Yogurt

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What’s better than plain homemade yogurt?  That’s right, little-bitty 8 ounce fruit- on-the-bottom maple yogurts that you can take to-go.

Here are some extremely easy and fast instructions on how-to make six jars of this stuff.  Thanks to our very own Danila for this very useful innovation in the well-established field of cottage yogurt making.

SO EASY, YOU’LL FLIP!

First into a measuring cup measure out 2-3 tbsp of already made yogurt.  You can use store bought yogurt, just make sure it says somewhere on the package that the yogurt contains active live cultures. More

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Thanks Fall, for Holding Out

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Every extra hour that the weather holds out, is very possibly an extra hour of serious outdoor business getting done at the homestead-in-progress.  Check out this photo essay of vital last minute projects, and some less vital – but still very nice projects, we’ve been up to.

We put windows in the sun room, goodbye wind-torn plastic, hello warmth and being able to see. Also, notice the sweet mortar job at the bottom;)
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First Snow Meets Shining Orb in the Sky

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Our very first snow stuck, until midday the next day, when the shining orb in the sky worked it out that it turn back into water. The sunny day heated up the house to 70 degrees. At this time of year the direct sunlight comes more than half way in, heating up the floor, and making it unnecessary to fire up the wood stove.And, all praise the large orb in the sky! By February, it will come out like once a week, and we’ll all turn South and say things like, My God Woman, what in the? Over there! Ahh, it’s burning my eyes. Could it be, that the tales hold truth? And so on… For now though, the sun is still shining and the passive-solar, earth-bermed design of this house is winning.

 
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Art Installation of the Month: The Gates at Dacha Project

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The copy cat art installation of the Gates serves two purposes.

The copycat art installation of the Gates serves two purposes.

The Dacha Project recreates The Gates at Central Park in an attempt to bring big city culture to the stix.  You can see a visitor, Joe, enjoying the site  and the magnificence.

Also we discovered that The Gates- luckily- serve a further function of marking where our footers will be dug.  Thx Gates.

Also enjoy this photo of Gals Digging Footers, to prove that we don’t just make art installations but also dig footers. Thx Gals.

Gals digging footers for the addition.

-Lea LSF

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Progress Report: West Side with Footers for the Addition

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North side of the main house with footers and the start of foam for the addition.

If you check for the previous photo of the week you will see almost the same view, but some things have changed. For one the wing wall has been knocked out to make room for the addition. The berm, which is the earth piled up behind the wing wall, has been removed. The area next o the house has been leveled, and graveled. The back and side footers have been poured, and what we see Danila and Joe doing in the corner is stacking block. The pipes you see by Danila and Joe are for septic. They are currently working right by the bathroom. I will try to remember that one day when I’m brushing my teeth in that bathroom with some herby toothpaste or something else that makes brushing teeth more fun. Yey.

The foam on the ground is for insulation, and eventually the entire area will be covered with it.

The front footer has not been poured with the rest, b/c it will be poured with the slab (floor) itself to ensure extra strength.  The foam on the side of the building is to insulate the wall where bermed earth used to fulfill that function.

More updates soon!

-Lea LSF

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