Bloom in the Desert

With the dog days of summer finally past, many of my vegetables have let out a collective sigh of relief. During the day, we get a pleasant 85 degrees, and in the evening, it falls down to the 50s. When Lily and I first arrived, the daily average temperature hovered someplace in the 90s. For many vegetables, that's too damn hot. With my mind still thinking like a Midwesterner when we first moved here, I figured the beginning of August meant that the cool fall season was just around the corner, and so I planted cool weather crops. Now, almost two months later, some of those crops have just sprouted — if the beating rays of the sun hadn't already burnt the seeds. Now that fall is approaching and the weather is cooling, many of the vegetables are making great progress. This last week, Lily and I were able to harvest some arugula and some basil. On Saturday, the arugula and basil was greatly enjoyed on a homemade pizza, along with many local beers and some oven roasted Hatch chiles

It has been a rough few weeks for my garden. First, we had intense heat, with temperatures reaching the high 90s for what seemed like weeks. Then, as if out of nowhere, a cold spell, accompanied by a wind storm, wrecked havoc on the lovely, sleepy city of Albuquerque. Public Service Company of New Mexico (more commonly known as PNM around here, it's the power company) reported that over 10,000 customers lost power due to damaged lines from the wind storm. Between the intense sun and the intense wind, my garden has seen better days. However, one doesn't move to a desert and expect their garden to always be at peak performance. After all, the desert is not a place you expect to be bustling with life. The intense rays of the sun, with little to no shade, makes it an uninviting and unforgiving environment. We've all watched a movie or read a book where one of the characters wanders off into the desert never to return again. Some people actually have gotten lost in the desert. S