My first planting of the season is this basil plant. After two summers in a row of a bumper basil harvest, I was disappointed that this year we would go basilless. This basil plant was a serendipitous find at Trader Joe’s Market; we bought two of them, but the second one got a little crushed and isn’t doing so well.

Basil does well in the dry climate of Albuquerque, and it hasn’t shown must susceptibility to insect pests and diseases. As soon as winter frost comes, it shrivels and blackens and is done for the season.

Two barrels over is a tomato plant, the sole survivor of my spring planting in the month of March. I also have a yardful of weeds, and an underpowered mower that overheats easily in the summer sun. I used some of the weeds, which hadn’t set seed yet, to mulch the basil plant after I watered it. Weeds are useful for the resourceful.

This monsoon season has been a brief respite from the drought that has been plaguing the state. Since mid-July it has been raining regularly, and last night I woke up to a 2 am downpour that forced me to shut the windows and the screen doors.

Now I have to get the land ready to produce a bountiful Fall crop. Lots of weeding and sowing to do.