First of all I failed to water the pots for most of last summer - wielding a hose with crutches is not easy. Bryan is not a pot waterer and I kept forgetting to remind him.

Then as the drought began to bite, the wallabies began to bite too - anything they could get their paws around or teeth into that was remotely edible. Wallabies dont like thyme much, except the new tender leaves, but they do enjoy chives, tarragon, basil and winter savoury (wallabies are true gourmets).

Then the lyrebirds got in on the act, scratching up most of the pots soil in case there were some interesting wriggling things. (There must have been because they kept digging, and they must have eaten them all as they have stopped digging).

So it is time to plant again. Time for thyme, of course - we use a lot of thyme, preferably the small-leaved twiggy stuff, far more fragrant than pizza thyme or any soft-leaved version. I tie it in a bundle that can be removed at the end of cooking, as the leaves and stems never soften, or rub it off its stems and whizz with other ingredients if it needs to be added to something like stuffing.

I also love orange peel thyme, which doesnt taste of oranges, but does provide a deeply rich background to all kinds of food, and the leaves are tiny enough to sprinkle on a pizza - as long as you remove every twig first.

Then more chives. It is impossible to have enough chives. (We do have enough garlic chives. Wallabies dont like garlic chives, though they will eat them if starving.) We need at least 10 plantings of chives to add to the four thyme plants.

Then winter savoury - the secret of my lemon chicken is simmering bunches of thyme and winter savoury in the sauce. One winter savoury plant, one French tarragon, and as long as I remember to cover the pots with wire to keep out wildlife, and water, and feed now and then or give slow release plant food when I plant, we should be right for summer. Those two pots will survive on the water we use to brush our teeth, if the drought continues - I know, as theyve had to rely on it before.

I know I havent mentioned parsley. Even last year I managed to keep 20 or so parsley plants growing. Parsley is one of our great essentials of life and ours cleverly put its root down deep enough so even the lyrebird scratching didnt disturb it. Its also behind a reinforcing mesh fence where the wallabies cant get at it.

All of these can be grown from seed. But this year I will cheat. One trip to town, a short mooch and a box to carry home, then 10 minutes planting, and we will have our herbs for summer.

And the wallabies can eat the fruit salad sage, the lower apple branches and all the fruit that falls in a dry year, which is lots. But they are not getting my thyme and chives this year.

Buying herbs, planting herbs, watering herbs, admiring herbs, as above.

Trying to divide a limited amount of water between the most vulnerable and valued plants.

Admiring the succulents, who havent even hinted theyd like a drink for weeks.

Picking coffee beans! Our first decent crop i.e. enough coffee for maybe a week, not just a cuppa.

Pressing the roses I was given on Monday between the pages of the phone book with a volume of the Oxford Dictionary on top to weigh it all down. In six months time I should have pressed flowers.

Thanking the few, very short, daffodils that are blooming despite not being watered and the rain declining to fall.