A Modern Community Garden Will Soon Be Blooming Near Tallinn Song Festival Grounds

A new community garden will soon take shape on the green area behind the Estonian Fair Centre, next to the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. The Marienberg community garden will offer much more than just garden beds – it will combine urban gardening, a sense of community and a green lifestyle. The community garden is being developed by Metro in co-operation with the City of Tallinn, which supports the creation of new community gardens as part of the Tallinn 2035 Development Strategy. It will be located in the heart of the future Marienberg neighbourhood, where hundreds of new residents will move in over the coming years. However, even today, nearly 600 families living in apartment buildings in the area do not have access to their own garden plots. The Marienberg community garden offers them and other city residents the opportunity to experience a rare luxury in the urban environment – a place where they can grow their own plants and share experiences with other urban gardeners. ‘The community garden is not just a place for growing plants, it is a new breath of life. Here people meet, relationships are formed, knowledge is shared and efforts are made to create a more biodiverse and friendly urban environment,’ said Herdis Pärn, leader of the Marienberg community garden and urban gardening enthusiast with seven years of experience in the field. ‘Urban gardening is an ideal way to grow clean, healthy food yourself while also supporting your mental wellbeing. For example, radishes grow quickly and provide a real sense of achievement, especially if you are just starting out. A bit of watering, a little care and you already have something you have grown with your own hands. The garden acts like a natural vitamin against stress and spending time in the fresh air gives you a real health boost,’ added Pärn.

From Tomato Queen to Head of the Community Garden

She also leads the Urban Garden Tallinn project, sharing successes and experiments on its Instagram account (@urbangardentallinn), with the aim of showing that it is entirely possible to successfully grow clean food even in an urban environment. ‘My passion for gardening started on a small balcony,’ recalled Pärn. There, she started a herb garden and planted her first tomatoes. In 2019, she became the owner of a large urban terrace, which led her to take up urban gardening on a larger scale. ‘Today, I cover my summer needs for tomatoes and cucumbers entirely from the harvest of my own urban garden, and even preserve a small portion. I especially love growing tomatoes – so much so that my friends affectionately call me the Crazy Tomato Lady or Tomato Queen.’ Growing tomatoes is especially close to Pärn’s heart. She says one reason is that those delicious summer tomatoes with a ‘grandmother’s garden’ scent simply cannot be found anywhere else in the city. ‘Tomatoes, by the way, grow perfectly well outdoors, even though for some reason people have gotten the impression that they cannot be grown without a greenhouse,’ she shared as a tip. ‘We are developing this garden in co-operation with the city,’ Pärn explained the idea behind the community garden. Through the creation of the Marienberg community garden, Metro also contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, supporting the development of environmentally friendly cities and communities, and more broadly helping to reduce climate impacts and increase biodiversity in urban areas. Initially, the community garden will include 15 raised garden beds, two of which will be shared for growing the most popular herbs. The remaining beds will be allocated to city residents who express interest. ‘There is already clear interest and anyone who would like their own garden bed should get in touch soon,’ said Pärn. The Marienberg community garden will open on 3 May with a community volunteering day. Over the summer, a variety of workshops and community events are planned to offer participants added value both in terms of gardening and a sense of community. ‘We expect a small community contribution from the Marienberg urban garden members. Each community garden member is expected to contribute around five hours per season to the upkeep of the shared garden and to help ensure that the garden remains in good condition.’ The goals are clear:

• to give city residents the opportunity to grow their own herbs, vegetables and berries;
• to strengthen the sense of community and bring neighbours closer together;
• to promote an environmentally responsible lifestyle by supporting pollinators and a cleaner urban environment;
• to transform Marienberg into a greener and more diverse urban space.

Community gardens have been popular in major cities such as New York, Copenhagen, Berlin and London for years, with residents increasingly valuing the opportunity to reconnect with nature. ‘My favourite city in terms of community gardens is Nantes in France,’ said Pärn. ‘There, you really feel that you can actively take part in urban greenery – sitting in a patch of sunlight in the middle of the city, soil between your fingers, tomatoes in bloom… or picking a juicy plum or apple in passing from a communal urban orchard.’ It is precisely this kind of open and shared fruit garden that Pärn envisions for the future of Marienberg. Tallinn already has an impressive number of urban gardens, with as many as 50 this year. Would you like to get involved? All those interested are welcome to join the Marienberg Community Garden Facebook group and get in touch with project manager Herdis Pärn via email at herdis.parn@metro.ee. Be part of a movement that brings more greenery, joy and a sense of community to the city!