I have the impression that the dacha horticulture/farming phenomenon is
to a large extent an urban based middle class affair.
Ioffe, Nefedova and Zaslavsky quote Vladimir Kagansky in a Russian
magazine article of 2003: "In Bashkiriya [Bashkortostan, a Muslim Tatar
area east of the Volga near Kazan], the traditional countryside is
alive, a true village is still around....In rural Bashkiriya, they work
a great deal, build a lot, and drink rarely - this alone makes the rural
Bashkirian hinterland amazing beyond belief."
They go on to comment "Large families, widespread mutual assistance and
coordination between rural households, and incomparably less heavy
drinking (or no drinking at all) distinguish rural communities in Muslim
republics."
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