Dream of a Pink Allotment Cottage

The allotment garden has been in a beautiful spot on the shore of Suojärvi for almost ten years, but for many locals it is still a fairly unknown destination. The Suojärvi allotment garden is located in the Suolahti urban area a little over a kilometer from the town center.   A winding road leads to the allotment garden through Suojarinne. You need to read the road signs carefully to find the right place. 

In the allotment garden’s parking area, your eyes are drawn to a sweet pink cottage peeking out from the meadow landscape. The cottage is owned by the Pohjalainen family, who kindly invited me to visit with my camera. 

The Finnish Allotment Garden Association, which turns 90 this year, has defined an allotment garden as areas reserved for cultivation that are divided into 200–500 m² plots. On the plots you may build a standard-design lightweight cottage.  In the Suojärvi allotment garden, the plots are 300 m² in size and on a plot you may build a 35 m² cottage and a 15 m² storage or shed building. On the Pohjalainen family’s allotment plot there is a pink cottage and a storage building. In addition to the buildings, the plot has a beautiful yard area. Wonderful paths wind across the yard, and the plantings are in carefully chosen places. The cottage’s host, Harri Pohjalainen, is tinkering in the yard and chuckles that he can’t escape work on the plot the same way as his wife Mirva, who works as a nurse, since he builds yards for a living. 

The family from Tikkakoski became interested in the Suojärvi allotment garden after seeing a newspaper article about the construction of the area’s first cottage. The cottage’s owner, Mirva Pohjalainen, says that the allotment cottages she saw in Kotka during childhood summers made a lasting impression, and as a child she already dreamed of a pink allotment cottage with a black roof. She got one in Suolahti in 2013. 

According to the Pohjalainen family, the best thing about the Suojärvi allotment garden is the change of pace it brings to everyday life. In the Suojärvi allotment garden, nature is close. Foxes, hares, and pheasants often show themselves to the cottage-goers. For the Pohjalainen family it’s important that the cottage is nearby. Sometimes they even drive to the cottage on a weekday evening just to drop by. 

The residents of the allotment garden form a close-knit community that together takes care of the allotment area. There is a shared recreation area for cottage owners as well as a sauna with a swimming beach. The cottage owners take turns cleaning the sauna, and maintenance work is also done jointly. The sauna building is also rented to outsiders in normal times. The restrictions caused by the coronavirus are visible at the allotment garden too, and this summer the sauna has not been rented to others. 

Due to the coronavirus, the allotment garden’s annual Open Doors day has also been canceled. On the Open Doors day you can get to know the allotment area and cottages in more detail. The allotment garden season begins in mid-April and ends in mid-October. Hopefully the Open Doors day can be arranged before the season ends, as the allotment area is truly worth a visit. You may also visit the allotment garden at other times, but do remember that you may enter cottage yards only with permission. 

The allotment garden is a true hidden gem of the City of Äänekoski and is well worth admiring. 

In garden dreams, Anniina @annhetes