The Vyatskoye village: a human and agricultural heritage of the Russian hinterland

Photo: ©FAO/Vladimir Mikheev

23/08/2022

What do the Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems and the Vyatsky cucumber have in common? As it has turned out, they have many points of contact, which became clear during the conference “Prospects for using heritage for developing rural tourism in the Yaroslavl Region”, held in the Vyatskoye village, Nekrasov district in the Yaroslavl Region.

At the forum, Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, told about FAO’s initiatives – Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) and Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (NIAHS), “One Country – One Priority Product”.

Moreover, these projects can be implemented “not necessarily at the national level”, Oleg Kobiakov noted. The conference participants got this clarification correctly, since it is not by chance that the Vyatskoye village is called the cucumber’s capital of the Yaroslavl Region.

The cultivation of this crop began in the 1860s. The secret of the Vyatsky cucumbers’ attractiveness, which were supplied to the imperial court, and exported abroad at the same time, in particular to Sweden and Switzerland, lies in the unique soil and climatic features, as well as in the original technology developed over decades (“Practice makes perfect”).

Without going into all the details of the local know-how, it is worth mentioning some of the tricks of cucumber craftsmen:

In early June, organic fertilizer is taken to the gardens and placed in furrows. With a three-toothed pitchfork, grasping the stalk with one hand and the iron base with the other, one breaks crumbs (lumps of earth left after plowing).
Then with a horse furrows are plowed, from which the earth is collected with wooden shovels (spades) and the sides of the ridges are slammed.
Cucumber seeds are soaked for a day, empty seeds come to the surface, they are removed through a rag, the water is drained, and the seeds in this damp cloth are wrapped and put in a warm place for a day – back in the day, this warm place was a “small niche” in the Russian stove (a small hollow made of bricks, designed to dry mittens).
The swollen seeds are scattered on cucumber boards, the top is covered with a thin layer of earth, on which wet burdock leaves, moss or moistened linen sacking are placed.
The boards are placed on the warm Russian stove. In about a day, yellow sprouts of cucumber seedlings, which have not yet opened their leaves, will appear from the ground.
The plants are planted out on ridges at 15-16 cm from each other, 40 cm is left between all rows. In the inter-row spacing only one cucumber is planted, which is called the “shepherd”.
5-6 weeks later, first cucumbers appear. They are harvested early at the morning dew…

The technology of pickling local cucumbers is a different story. In addition to the density of the pickle water (as much as 100 g of salt per 1 liter of water) and the use of spring water, the finished delicacy is stored in pickle barrels in “cucumber pits”, where they are washed by the same icy spring water with a temperature (as we were assured) of +4 °C. Therefore, a Vyatsky cucumber pickled in the summer can successfully survive not only the winter, but also last till the next harvest – which, however, rarely happens, because this local delicacy is very tasty.

The white-lipped Vyatsky cucumber owes its distinctive characteristics – rich taste and inviting crunch – to several components of success. Fertility of gray-black earth soil. Warm dew that falls in the morning on cucumber beds. A seed fund created by local breeders-craftsmen. Spring water with healing properties, which is used for salting. And, of course, the industriousness and entrepreneurial vigour of peasants and merchants of the Vyatskoye village, passed down from generation to generation.

In the wake of the conference, the inhabitants of the Vyatskoye village were inspired by the idea of obtaining the status of a national agricultural system for their traditional cucumber industry.

There is no need to reveal all the secrets here. Detailed information for those who are fascinated by the topic is presented here: https://vyatskoe-selo.rf/about/history/vyatskie-ogurchiki/ (the website is in Russian).

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The modern village of Vyatskoye is famous not only for cucumbers, but also for the carefully preserved memory of bygone eras. Today, the Vyatskoye village represents 12 museums with 30 thousand unique exhibits and 10 interactive programmes for children and adults. Together they make up the “Historical and Cultural Complex “Vyatskoye” named after E.A. Ankudinova”, created thanks to the selfless work of Oleg Zharov, entrepreneur, philanthropist, honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts, and his wife.

Thus, the Guardians of Time Museum, the pearl of this museum cluster, contains 150 antique clocks from all over the world – from carriage (“stagecoach”) and mantel chiming clocks to weight-driven wall clocks and bell alarm clocks. Every day, Oleg Zharov, having risen at 6 in the morning, first of all goes to his beloved brainchild, and he sets up and winds up these impartial time recorders for almost an hour (“Do not think about seconds down…”).

In the Vyatskoye village, there are keyboard and stringed (including mandolin) instruments, which were owned by local residents of the village in different years.

Here is one of the best collections of mechanical instruments in Europe (120 samples in total): phonographs, gramophones, record players, boxes with metal cylinders with pins and a comb, symphonions, orchestrions, pianolas and, of course, music boxes. The one made in Odessa, with the inscription “Luka and Motya”, plays 8 melodies.

It would be remiss not to mention that here you can get acquainted with 16 old printing presses and see them in action, order etchings and lithographs and strike your own commemorative coin. Nearby is a museum of vintage children’s toys: among the 5 000 exhibits, Santa Clauses are attracted from the collection donated by the same philanthropists as Oleg Zharov, who preserve artifacts of bygone eras.

... The village of Vyatskoye, which is freely located on the banks of the Ukhtomka River, where four healing springs gush out of the ground, is a peculiar place. It looks like a natural reserve, a museum cluster, and a citadel of ascetic labour at the same time.

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