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Dacha Farming

My partner and I have recently bought a house in Melbourne. I’m proud to say that we have deliberately avoided any pressure to buy a large house; our entire property is 170 square metres, and at least half of that is garden. I realise that’s not tiny, but it’s plenty smaller than places owned by a number of my friends and family. One of my cousins has recently built a house on a block of land, and his house alone would swallow our entire property three times over.

But as proud as I am of our small house mentality, I’ve started to realise that this does put some serious constraints on our ability to be independent and self-sufficient. Personally I’ve never been that committed to the dream of being self-sufficient on a good sized, rural block; I’d much rather be community-sufficient within a city suburb. But I don’t want to be vulnerable to crises and shocks, and growing food, fibre and fuel yourself is a big part of reducing that vulnerability.

The idea that’s started to sprout within my mind is based on the European tradition of a plot of land outside of the city that is accessible on weekends by public transport, for example the Russian dacha. Many Russians live in apartments with little or no access to land, however there is a long tradition of food production within Russia. Dachas meet this need by providing a space for Russians to escape the city and have a measure of control over their own food supply.

What this means for a Melbourne-based permaculturalist in a small, inner city block, is that I can use my 90 square metre growing space for Zone 1 and 2 and give myself plenty of room for herbs, veggies and animals. I can then think about finding some land within bike riding distance of a country train station and have a sizable Zone 3-5 that can produce the fibre and fuel to give me that extra degree of self-sufficiency. This land can also meet some of the food needs of my animals, and I could even consider experimenting with growing crops of legumes.

I can start learning important skills like coppicing for firewood or biochar, without having to sell up my city life for a tree change. And rather than purchase a country block; I’m going to try making a connection with local farmers who may have a corner of their property that’s underutilised and in need of attention. I know from conversations with FoodConnect in Brisbane that there are plenty of farmers, organic and otherwise, who are getting older and are concerned about the lack of young farmers to pass their skills on to. I’d also like to run the Dacha as a co-op with some friends and like-minded gardeners — like a Zone 3-5 community garden. It appeals to my permaculture sensibilities to create a local community while connecting with established farmers and their skills, all around the idea of food, fibre and fuel.

Hopefully this gives you some ideas for how to practice full permaculture, from Zone 1 to 5, while still living on a small, inner city block. We don’t have to wait till we can move to the country to implement our ideas.

2 Comments

  1. Great idea! The reality is many of us need to work in the city and commuting is just not sustainable on a resource or mental level. The dacha system could provide a great link to city country, and I love the idea of having the country blocks as communal so work can be shared eg. no one would have to go every weekend. The Land share system may also provide some opportunities

    https://www.landshareaustralia.com.au/

  2. It sounds good in theory but hauling all your inputs, tools and the fruits of your labor back and forth by public transportation and bike gets really old really fast and severly limits what you can do and how fast things get done. Source – I’ve done it. I hope I will never have to do it ever again. But having a little co-op (perhaps with a van or little pick up track all members can use) makes this idea much more viable, sure.

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