Hardiness of Juncos and Cabbages

October 27, 2011 by LeaLSF

Now that I have my mornings free, I like to drink coffee early on and then wander around outside birdwatching, observing the seasons change, and last-minute gardening. It’s not the season to get excited about these particular activities, but hey, what more is there to life in pre-winter Upstate, NY than marveling at the hardiness of juncos and cabbages. This particular morning I found inspiration and instruction on how to brave the long winter coming. From the cabbage I’ve learned about dressing in layers. From the juncos, a crazy dance-move to repeat pretty much non-stop.

Harvest, muddy and cold

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Weekend Fun with the Dacha starts tonight

September 30, 2011 by dachaproject

Hey Dacha pals, join us this weekend for some sweet Dacha events.

First, tonight Friday Sept 30th:

Join us tonight at the movies. Yes, the Dacha made it into a local movie about energy independence and it is playing tonight. Take a look at what Tompkins county residents are doing with wind, solar and geothermal power. Our own Lily Gershon will be on the discussion panel after the show.

Check out Empowered at Cinemapolis at 7pm. More info at http://empoweredthemovie.com/

“Empowered” Sneak Peek from Shira Golding on Vimeo.

The weekend continues on Sunday Oct 2, 10am-4pm - the Dacha opens its doors for the Green Building Tour. Come see our place for yourself and interrogate us about our buildings and systems. Then continue on the tour and see other sustainable houses in Tompkins county.

new dachaproject.com is [almost] here

July 6, 2011 by dachaproject

Spring 2011 Planting Calendar

March 18, 2011 by LeaLSF

note- this calendar is mostly thanks to Skippy’s Garden Calendar (customizable), with a number of rarer additions, such as orach and butterfly weed (thanks Sean Dembrosky!). The customizable calendar will ask you for your last frost date, which might vary from ours here in zone 5b. You won’t need to know your zone, but will have to give your last frost date. So get some seeds and get to planting! Suggestions for when to grow and how/when to grow it are encouraged to be posted in the comment section of this blog or on our Facebook page!!

Vegetable Garden (based on a last frost date 6/1/2011)

3/16 - Sow onion, celery and celeriac seeds indoors. Also- lavender & butterfly weed (indoors)

3/30- Sow broccoli, kale, cool weather lettuce, escarole, eggplant and thyme seeds indoors. Also- orach and spinach (indoors)

4/6- Sow pepper seeds indoors (keep temp above 78*F for germination). Also sow indoors marigold, parsley, basil and beet seeds. Also- kholrabi

4/18- Start watching the soil for the first direct planting! As soon as the soil can be worked its time to sow peas, fava beans, arugula and radish directly in the garden. (Note: In warmer climates, where the soil doesn’t freeze, this tool may not give an appropriate pea planting date.

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Sustainable Tompkins Neighborhood Mini-Grant Award 2011

February 4, 2011 by LeaLSF

Many thanks to Sustainable Tompkins for awarding us a Neighborhood Mini-Grant for the second year in a row! This year the $750 award will fund the conversion of our Lister generator from running on diesel to running on waste cooking oil and bio-diesel. Currently, the Lister provides us with electricity and hot water. It also provides the air pressure to pump water from the well into our cold water storage. In the the near future… Read more

Dacha Drawing Academy

February 3, 2011 by lilygpad

The Dacha is hosting a class as part of Ithaca Freeskool!

Check it out!

Dacha Drawing Academy:

Teacher: Kevin Mayer 607-898-4704 [email protected]
When: Thursday evenings 7pm-9pm, beginning Feb. 17
Where: The Dacha
The Dacha Drawing Academy is an ongoing, weekly gathering of lovers of the fine art of drawing… as a means to an end or an end in itself. It’s a place to share drawing skills, explore ideas and techniques, receive criticism and instruction. It is a place to draw, to learn drawing and to be drawn, if you wish. It is open to all levels of experience. It is what you want it to be. Specific class activities will be determined by the needs/desires of the participants. Bring your own drawing materials. About the teacher: Kevin Mayer has been teaching all levels of drawing at SUNY Cortland since 2007. Other teachers are encouraged to participate!

West Wing Time Lapse

December 4, 2010 by russiandollfigure

This is the time lapse of how we built the addition to our common house. Watch the subtle changes of each stage of the building process from just a pile of dirt to our fabu west wing addition.

Friendlies Visit Dacha Project, take Photo + Blog Us.

November 16, 2010 by LeaLSF

Last month our friends Adaobi and Lucy visited the dacha and took this lovely photo. Adaobi also blogged about her experience on her sustainable urban design blog Apt86.

Thanks A + L for stopping by and sharing with the world,

-LSF

Years Ago (a new segment): The First Video of the Dacha Project!!

November 12, 2010 by LeaLSF

Hey Kids, as I prepare something called a portfolio for art shul, I keep coming across old treasures (completely unfit for art shul portfolio of course), and here is one I’d like to share with all y’all dedicated to reading our blog (we love you a lot btw).

Watch this video of heartfelt laughter + spring green innocence showing our first time on our land.

After if you have any suggestions for a Years Ago segment, or even want to write a quick Years Ago entry for our blog let us know. I’m thinking anything from Years Ago We Heated Food on the Dashboards of Cars to Years Ago We Got Lost in Your Woods and Ended Up Miles Away and were Scared.

So, if you’ve visited and/or kept up with us over the years you too can submit an idea and/or blog entry. It’d make us happy hippies (well I’m not exactly hippy, but that’s another story).

peacers,
LSF

Baffling!

October 27, 2010 by lilygpad

Just a quick DIY idea from the Dacha. Before putting up our ceiling, we realized that we hadn’t considered venting for the attic. Venting is really important if you don’t want dry rot or water damage. If the roof steel gets really cold, it could cause the moisture in the air to run down to the insulation and wood. To prevent this, good venting is key. Most people use baffles to create channels between the trusses that allow air to flow. Air flow allows the temperature to equalize faster - which means no moisture issues. Hopefully.

Check out our cheap and easy baffle idea.

Baffling! from Lily Gershon on Vimeo.

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