Slideshow: This Fall- It Was So Glorious I Couldn’t See

October 22, 2010 by LeaLSF

Here’s a slideshow of The Dacha Project this fall. Enjoy! Note- Play with music for increased joy.

Mushroom logs have sprouted!

October 20, 2010 by diznila

In April, the Dacha hosted a mushroom log workshop, where participants got to inoculate aspen logs from our property with oyster mushrooms. After a rainy and cold early fall, I’m happy to report that the first crop of oysters have fruited on our logs!

One thing I’ve learned from this process is that logs need to be as fresh as possible for the best result. On some of our logs, which were harvested 6 months before the workshop, I’ve noticed some competing mushroom growth in addition to the oysters. If you’re cultivating mushrooms, make sure you can identify the mushrooms you’ve “planted.”

What’s next in Dacha mushroom cultivation? Shitake logs, perhaps?

If you’re interested in mushroom cultivation, or mushrooms in general, I highly recommend Paul Stamets’ excellent book, Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World

Oct 2nd - The Dacha joins the Green Building Tour

September 21, 2010 by diznila

On Saturday, October 2nd, the Dacha Project will be opening it’s doors to the public, as part of the Ithaca Green Building Tour. If you’ve ever wanted to visit and walk around with us on a tour, this is the day for it! Come see all the recent developments and fun projects we’ve got going on, from mushroom logs, to our waste vegetable oil tri-generator, to our passive solar earth bermed home.

The open house will run from 10AM to 4PM. For more information and directions, email us at dachaproject [.at.] gmail [.dot.] com.

The Green Building Tour is put on by the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, and the Ithaca Green Building Alliance. Thanks to all of them for the work they’ve put into this!

(photo credit: Beer Nuts)

Joe talks about the Dacha Tri-Gen System

September 15, 2010 by lilygpad

Thanks to our new friend Clover from North Carolina we now have these 3 videos where Joe attempts to explain our Tri-Gen System. Check out what we’re doing with the power of our Lister Engine, which is essentially a small scale power plant. Joe explains how it provides us with electricity, domestic hot water, as well as compressed air.

Yes We Can-vas Tent

August 27, 2010 by russiandollfigure

One of the living structures at the Dacha is a canvas tent that is designed to withstand a real winter with snow flakes, snow cones, snowmen and women.

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Dacha DIY Hot Water Systems…an Experiment

August 26, 2010 by lilygpad

Allow me to back up to mid April when some of us finally moved out to live at the Dacha. It wasn’t the easiest move since the interior of our home was still very warehouse-like: dusty, bare and full of tools. With a very minimal amount of energy and water, we soon had to get our priorities straight. The basics being: food, water and heat.

For a while, me and my sis literally camped out in front of the wood stove, our tents the only “clean” space to sleep in.

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Contemporary Prairie Schooner aka Gypsy Wagon Visits Dacha + Makes Us Happy

July 26, 2010 by LeaLSF

Friends Libby & Tristan built a gypsy wagon, or as they’re calling it a Contemporary Prairie Schooner, on a trailer bed and towed it from New Mexico- The Land of Enchantment- to the Northeast- The Land of Abstraction behind their Hyundai. It’s now their very own little house!

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Art Installation of the Month: The Gates at Dacha Project

July 22, 2010 by LeaLSF

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.

-Lea LSF

Progress Report: West Side with Footers for the Addition

July 22, 2010 by LeaLSF

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

The Dacha Project Interview on SocioTree with Matt Ortega

June 22, 2010 by LeaLSF

My friend Matt interviewed me about The Dacha Project for Sociotree.com, an art+culture project focused on the free sharing of everything worth sharing. This was a long overdue and much-needed reason to explore my thoughts through writing, as I answered the questions we six are often asked in conversation. This interview is helping me realize what book I want to write. Thanks Sociotree!

Peacers,

Lea

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