Quinn’s Secret Garden in Nicaragua

One of my favorite movies growing up was the classic film, The Secret Garden. I watched it over and over again with my mom and since then I’ve always had a secret desire to have a little garden of my own. For the first time in my life, here in Laguna de Apoyo, I have my very own garden! Well, honestly it’s the hostel’s, but when the hostel is closed and it’s just us on property, it feels like its all mine.

It’s a wonderful garden, more fantastic than anything I could have ever dreamt of in California. It’s filled with beautiful bright colored flowers and butterflies of all patterns scatter throughout.

There are tropical plants I’ve never seen before, coconut trees and mango trees.

But my favorite parts of the garden, are the different veggies, spices and herbs we have growing in our very own front yard. We have basil, cilantro, hot little peppers, bell peppers, tomatoes and jalepenos.

I love going over to the garden to pick the ingredients we need when JB & I make spicy chicken curry, spaghetti or homemade pad-kee-mao.We’ve been getting really creative in the kitchen during this quiet month all to ourselves, so having our own homegrown ingredients to use in the dishes has been an extra treat.

Everything in our garden inspires me in different ways. The herbs, spices & veggies inspire me to get creative in the kitchen. The flowers, butterflies and tropical plants create the perfect atmosphere for me to be my most creative self when working on everything from our LOOTB website & store, to business development, marketing and especially in my writing. The garden overall also fuels my passion for photography and inspires me to take pictures of my surroundings daily. It’s not just a garden to me–its a place that inspires my creativity, promotes my growth as a person and makes me appreciate every aspect of the beautiful nature around me. How can it not? I mean look at these pictures…

The veggies in Nicaragua that we purchase from the markets are locally grown, which we love and are of course supportive of back at home. The difference, however, is that the locally grown fruits and veggies are LESS expensive than the mass production/imported produce–which, logically, is how it should be right? Well having our own produce to cook with is the ultimate option because not only do we know it’s super fresh, free of pesticides and 100% organic– it’s also free! Now that’s the best of all worlds.

My favorite place to eat in all of Nicaragua is right in the middle of our garden on a little table overlooking the laguna (and the flowers that surround us) with JB. I love our garden. And although I may not have a hidden key to enter it, I still like to call it my “secret garden”. Being located on a private resort in Nicaragua is secret enough, right?

See the whole beauty of Q’s garden in photos: