ARE you dreaming of spending a day in a farm? From being the city’s leading organic culinary herbs garden, Lourmon Garden is now bent on opening an agro-tourism site in Tacunan, Mintal, Davao City.
Marie Cue-Cordero, garden owner, shared in an interview with VoxPop Davao that they target to open the agro-tourism resort around summer of 2017.
“Maybe this summer we can have the soft opening, it will be initially open every weekend on a reservation basis,” she said.
The resort, which will be located within a five-hectare property in Tacunan, Mintal where one is devoted for the herbs and the rest for banana, is seen to be the city’s next destination for educational tours for pupils and students, and anyone who would just like to relax and have a breath of fresh air. Most of the herbs like mints, cilantro, rosemary, basil, celery, and parsley are grown in the Tacunan farm.
Also, the resort will feature the family’s unique and delicious array of recipes with organic herbs on it. The soon-to-open resort, Cordero said, is perfect for kids.
“Like for kids, we will teach them on how to do the basics on gardening because most of the kids now don’t know how to do that,” she said.
The resort will have a space for a petting zoo wherein visitors, especially kids can have fun.
“We will have a chicken coop, wherein they can gather eggs, more of a day in a farm,” she added.
Originally, the resort was planned to open this year but the onslaught of El Nino totally changed the project’s timeline.
The Cue-Cordero family also owns a 14-hectare property in Epol, Marilog. In Davao City, they grow the varieties that need cold weather.
Cordero said they also have future plans in developing the property into a resort as it has a falls, spring, and an open range perfect for hiking.
At present, Lourmon Garden has two mall-based kiosks, one each in SM City Davao and Abreeza Ayala Mall.
It also has a booth in Abreeza’s bazaar on the ground floor which will run until December.
The organic company is also planning to open another kiosk near Robinson’s supermarket in Abreeza Mall.
In a previous interview, she said some of the restaurants in the city are getting their fresh supply of herbs from them. Among the big ones are Italianni's, Yakimix, and Vikings.
Lourmon Garden started with only three kinds of herbs: Basil, Rosemary and Mint. Now, the garden has over 35 kinds of herbs.
Just last 2014, the garden introduced chili in the market.
“We were the one who brought ghost chili here. We also have Carolina reaper, the hottest chili in the world now,” she said.
The garden, which was pioneered by her mother, Lourdes Cue has indeed come a long way as a key player in the organic culinary herb industry in the city but as time passes, it keeps on offering new concepts to the market.
“So far, we can say that organic culinary herbs are in demand in the market, competition is there. The challenge is how to keep up with it, good thing we are,” she said.
