Food writer Satu Koivisto’s allotment garden cottage is a paradise just a half-an-hour bike ride away from home: “I dreamed of this, and I got it”

“When I was expecting our youngest, I was overwhelmed by a longing for my own yard. My spouse, a staunch apartment dweller, didn’t share my enthusiasm. As a compromise, he suggested an allotment garden cottage. We could get there from home in under half an hour by bike, and there would be plenty to do in the 400-square-meter yard.

When I first ducked under the overgrown Virginia creeper arch onto the path leading to the cottage, I was instantly sold. Apple trees! Berry bushes! A yellow plum tree! This was it—our own secret garden.

The yard is full of flowers that butterflies and bumblebees love, such as lavender and scabious. They’re lovely to cut for bouquets on the cottage’s dining table. The clay pots have been collected from flea markets over the years.

Having our own fig tree was a dream for years. At the cottage, it gets the winter dormancy it needs and produces a few fruits. The 1930s wicker chairs were purchased via the Tori online marketplace.

This old wood stove is from the previous owners. We don’t really need it, but we haven’t had the heart to remove such a lovely piece. It works well as a little side table.

The cottage was nearly 90 years old, but it was built on a high stone foundation and seemed to be in good shape. Still, it didn’t fully meet our family’s needs in its original form.

During the renovation, we saved everything we could. The stove was old but efficient, so we kept it despite its hot door. A professional handled the biggest demolition and construction work, while my spouse did everything else.

With the renovation, we got sleeping spots for everyone, and a proper kitchen was built at one end. The children spend their days running around with friends, and my spouse and I keep busy in the garden. This is what I dreamed of, and I got it.

During the renovation, the worn striped wallpaper in the main room was replaced with Colefax and Fowler’s turquoise-toned Alderney pattern featuring wisteria. A new kitchen setup was built along the cottage’s long side, and its lower cabinet came from a flea market.

The alcove originally had a bunk bed, but after the kids grew taller, we replaced it with a 120-centimeter box spring mattress that barely fit the space. The patchwork quilt was a lucky flea market find.

The old white cabinet can hold an enormous amount of plates, glasses, linens, kitchen towels, and everything else we need. It was bought secondhand, just like everything inside it.

The old dining table is from Satu’s childhood home. It’s not just for meals—baking, crafting, drawing, seedling care, and plenty of other activities happen there.

A low dog fence was built around the allotment garden cottage lot, so Laku can freely romp around the yard.

The previous owners had built a small greenhouse in the warmest spot of the yard—just like in my childhood home!

The first summer, there were eight seedlings in the greenhouse. I wanted more. I bought a bunch of self-watering pots from the Tori online marketplace, and the next summer, I managed to fit nearly 20 seedlings in there.

Tomatoes are my passion, and I grow them from seed myself. I have a few favorites I plant every summer. Zuckertraube always produces a great crop. The orange Sungold is really sweet, almost like candy. Yellow Submarine tomatoes are yellow and pear-shaped. Along with those, I also experiment with new varieties each summer. This year, they included San Marzano, the elongated Italian pasta favorite, and the yellow Ildi, which produced dozens of fruits.

“Sometimes visitors to the cottage comment on how much work the garden must be. It’s true—there’s plenty to do if you want to. But you don’t see it as work; it feels more like relaxing pottering,” Satu says.

When guests visit, we fire up the pizza oven and eat under the apple trees. Most of the pizza toppings come straight from the garden.

In the greenhouse the previous owners built, I grow cherry tomatoes, basil, sprouting broccoli, and greenhouse cucumbers. Tommi laid the floor with old reclaimed bricks.

Cherry tomatoes grow quickly and produce well. The last tomatoes of fall ripen at room temperature and are eaten in November.

In addition to the greenhouse, the garden has seven raised beds. In them, I grow plants with a great yield-to-effort ratio, meaning as much produce as possible in a small space. These include kale, bush beans, pickling cucumbers, and herbs. It’s exhilarating to bring home bagfuls of produce to cook and preserve.”