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The kin’s settlement «Vedgrad» is small, but very hospitable. Now seven families live here permanently, and another 16 are building houses. Some of them stay in the settlement in temporary houses during the warm season, some regularly come from the city for construction. People from different generations live in the settlement: young families, families with several generations (grandparents, parents, and children), as well as older people who decided to create their own Space of Love when their children had already grown up and they had retired.
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«Vedgrad» is a picturesque location: it is 220 hectares of fields and forest, 3 km from the large Ugra River. Streams flow through the territory, there is one spring, and residents have built wells with clean water. There is also a large old pond on the territory: when the settlement was created, back in 2014, the residents drained it, cleaned it, and filled it again, put fish there and arranged a small sandy beach on the shore. There are many forests around the settlement. “Here, far from the big cities, there is almost no clearing in forests,” settlers say, “and the old fields are partially overgrown with young undergrowth that will eventually grow into beautiful wooded areas.” The forests here are mostly deciduous (aspen, birch), but there is a pine forest in the north-west. This is an ecologically clean place: the nearest city is fifty kilometers away. Even guests from other regions come to these forests to pick mushrooms and berries. There are many animals and birds here. Roe deer nibble grass in the field and gracefully run away when they see a person. Moose often enter the settlement territory. The settlers have seen eagle owls more than once, and constantly find traces of wild boars. Black grouse built a nest in one of the domains.
Such closeness to nature does not mean that the settlement lacks infrastructure. In the first years after its founding, the settlers used electric generators; there was only one common house on the territory that had electricity. However, residents independently installed power lines to the settlement. Many switched to environmentally friendly energy sources and installed solar panels on their homes. Children from the settlement go to school in the nearest village. It is only 3 km away; a school bus goes to «Vedgrad». The houses on the domains are predominantly wooden, but there are also adobe buildings.
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Every year new settlers come to «Vedgrad». Residents say that what they want to see in their new neighbors, first of all, is a desire to lead a healthy lifestyle and a desire for creativity in all its manifestations. There are few restrictions in the settlement: breeding of animals for slaughter, environmental pollution, and rugged individualism are not accepted here. Settlers expect that new families will participate in common events and holidays as much as possible, and will not be fenced off from other plots with high fences: here it is customary to enclose domains only with beautiful green hedges.
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