From the very beginning the homes were separated from each other by a fence, each home having a yard, extensive garden and orchard for personal sustenance. The houses were typically built much like the homes in Polish Prussia with the house and barn joined at one end. The barn would include space for wagons, storage, and livestock, all in one.

The earliest houses were constructed of framing made from timber with mud and earth filling, roofed with straw or reed. A central stove served for cooking and heating adjacent main rooms in the winter. During the summer a separate kitchen built away from the main house, would be used for cooking. As grain was often stored in the roof of the house for insulation purposes, the buildings were liable to burn down, sometimes taking entire sections of the village. This lead to the re-establishment of the mutual fire insurance fund that had existed in Prussia. The insurance provided ready financing for reconstruction in the event such a fire occurred.

Since entire families migrated as a unit, the household could consist of servants, laborers, grandparents, children from previous marriages, and even orphans of relatives. Families tended to be large and the houses were often crowded and cramped for this reason. If the husband or wife passed away, remarriage often occurred soon after. Children of previous marriages became part of the new household or were divided among relatives.

The climate could be both unpredictable and severe. The climate was affected by the large land mass surrounding this part of Europe/Asia. Hot, dry summers began in early June and lasted until October. Fall was quite short and by November the winter had set in. This would continue until March when they would experience a very short spring. Thunderstorms during the summer and harvest-time occurred very suddenly, threatening crops. At times the scorching sun combined with dry summer winds would produce severe drought bringing with it dust storms.

Along with the weather, the colonists had to contend with other obstacles such as natural pests that destroyed their crops, wolves that raided their stock, and disease that brought death and destruction to both man and the farm animals. The caravans of traders that crossed the steppe (plains), particularly salt carriers with their oxen, spread animal diseases to the livestock. Eventually two designated roads were constructed specifically for these caravans to keep them isolated from the communities.

Disease was common among the colonists as well. Although they were generally healthier than the peasants in the surrounding settlements, children still died of diphtheria, whooping cough, and measles. Adults suffered and often died of typhus, smallpox, and various fevers. The worst was cholera, endemic to Asiatic Russia, which periodically swept across New Russia, spreading along overland trading routes or through the coastal ports.

Sheep raising as a community industry started in 1803 with 30 free sheep given by the Russian authorities. This was a community endeavor with shelters financed by the village treasury and sheepherders paid for by the treasury as well. Merino sheep from Germany were brought in to upgrade the stock. During those first decades sheep provided needed cash as well as wool for local industry. After the port facilities were built by the Russian authorities and grain became a major crop, sheep raising lost its place as the primary income. Until then sheep-raising helped to build the economic base of the colonies.

An interesting feature of community life was the insurance program the settlers brought with them from Prussia. The statutes for running the two insurance funds, for fire and orphans, were brought with them. Two elders were appointed for life as overseers. Their effort was reimbursed by not having communal duties and receiving as compensation 1% of the payments made to the fund by the villages.

The fire insurance coverage was based on the coverage purchased. The homeowner could purchase coverage in units and repayment was based on the number of units of coverage. Repayment could not exceed 2/3 of the value of the house, the owner being held responsible for the remaining 1/3 value. Payment for coverage had to be made in cash in advance of coverage. The purpose of the insurance was to give the owner opportunity to get back on his feet right away, although at a slight loss.

The orphan fund was established so that those children left without parents could be cared for in the event of a tragedy. The fund was financed from the sale of the estate in the case of the loss of both parents. The party purchasing the estate or property had to pay cash or provide two cosigners. The outstanding debt incurred 6% interest and the debtor was obligated to pay off 10% of the principal each year. Widows were also taken care of with funds from this coverage.

The Mennonite community had learned to accept hardship and adversity over the years in Prussia. Living in the Ukraine would provide ample opportunity to apply that learning. Scarce harvests occurred in the years of 1823, 1824, 1842 and 1845. The only total crop failure was in 1833, according to the 1848 Chortitza report. In the early years bad harvests were due to late planting and summer heat burning the plants. The years mentioned saw crop failures on a degree that went beyond the normal yearly problems of late planting and summer heat.

Cattle-raising provide much needed milk and meat for the settlers. In the first 15 years the loss of cattle was due mainly to negligence or lack of feed. In later years, as the community was better able to protect itself against thievery, lack of feed, etc. epidemics were the main cause of concern. The years they were hardest hit were 1804, 1809, 1810, 1812, 1813, 1828, and 1833. Then in 1845 all the villages of the Chortitza suffered significant losses. Kronsweide, to the north, lost 2/3 of its herd. These epidemics were attributed mainly to diseases brought in from other regions by the transportation of cattle.

In addition to the crop failures and epidemics in the livestock, the colony suffered heavily during flooding of the Dnieper River in 1845, causing devastation to the villages of Einlage, Rosenthal, Insel-Chortitza, and Nieder-Chortitza. Two earthquakes added to the varied experiences in this area, one in 1799 and another in 1838.

The Mennonite colonies experienced a full range of moral dilemmas as time went on. In 1856 the Agricultural Union which controlled many aspects of community life, requested input on the moral state of the Mennonite community. In the responses it was apparent that there were two very divergent views on how to deal with the moral decay of the day. There was no difference of opinion, apparently, on the need for change. But how to bring about that renewal highlighted an underlying difference of opinion.

The conservative religious leaders, while agreeing with the progressive-minded members on the moral condition of the day, believed the answer could be found in terms of strengthening congregational discipline. This would seem to indicate that they assumed that everyone who had been baptized into the church and community was written in the Book of Life. Furthermore, the idea that a person could be assured of salvation through a conversion experience bordered on heresy. All one could do was live a disciplined life in the hope of salvation.

In contrast, a growing segment of the religious community the Christian life consisted of personal improvement and individual regeneration through faith. Many had come to the firm conviction that each individual was in need of a personal conversion experience in order to rectify the broken relationship between them and God. Increasingly, these progressive-minded members discovered they could express their faith, their sense of person and purpose, without relying on the established congregations to provide that expression. More importantly, doing so allowed them to differentiate themselves from the unregenerate community which showed no similar conviction about their spiritual state of affairs.

The problem of finding adequate acreage for all the young families had been part of the community dialogue as far back as the 1700's in West Prussia. In fact, that had been one of the reasons that many of the early families chose to relocate to New Russia. This problem was temporarily alleviated in the early 1800's with the founding of the Molotschna colony and later the Bergthal colony. However, with large families and a community based primarily in agriculture, keeping pace with the need was next to impossible. Many of the later daughter colonies were desperate attempts to resolve a growing crisis.

From the early part of the 1860's this problem of land became the center of a major controversy, leading to severe division and strife. As James Urry put it, "For a people who claimed to be based on religious principles the episode of conflict over land is a sorry tale. Greed, intolerance, and perfidy were commonplace. The ideals of community, of shared responsibility, and of congregational solidarity appear to have foundered on the desire for short-term individual reward and the possession of worldly riches."

This controversy occurred in the midst of a rapidly changing society in Russia as a whole and the world in general. The colonists were intermingling and carrying on financial transactions on an ever-increasing degree with non-Mennonites. The government, still smarting from the losses suffered in the Crimean War, was forced to reassess their social policies, leading to changes that effected the Mennonite community. Europe was in turmoil as conditions ripened for a major conflict on the continent. Increasing communication with other countries brought news of Mennonites who had settled in Canada and the U.S. and the prospect of plentiful land and riches to be found there.

The final blow for some was the reform of the school system and the inevitability of military conscription. With the government program of "russification" came the promise of increased control over the education of the Mennonite children including the loss of their cultural identity as expressed in a common language and didactic material. This violated the promise made to the early settlers and the community at large that the Mennonite leaders would have absolute control over the educational process. The threat of conscription also violated one of the fundamental principles resolved in the original Privileges authorized by Catherine the Great. Although the government did give in and provide for alternative service opportunities, it was a case of "too little too late."