It’s official. The NOAA says this July is the hottest month on record, and not just the hottest July, though it is that too, but the hottest month. Oh, and also, the last twelve months are not the hottest consecutive twelve months the country has ever experienced.

Here in Kane County it’s still plenty hot and very dry, although temps seem to have moderated a bit, and there have been a few storms dropping some significant rain. It’s cloudy right now in fact. We are still listed as in severe drought however, with much of the country even worse off. As always, I will have my eye on the drought map update tomorrow.

My daughter and I have spent the last week or so planting things in the garden we would never even consider planting at this date – more squash, more beans, more carrots – as they would normally not have a prayer of maturing before the first frost. We did it on purpose, as sort of an experiment, as projections are for exceptionally warm temperatures to persist through October.

We want to start experimenting with what we can grow when in our new climate, as some things we normally grow are performing very poorly this year – the lettuce bolted freakishly early for instance, and the spinach and pea yields were on the pathetic side – while plants that love warmer weather, like tomatoes and peas, have been outperforming.

So we want to play with planting odd things at odd times, and are looking at plant zone maps just to the south of us for clues as to how we might best adjust planting times and varieties that might work here well in future.

If you’re pretty sure about the new reality, might as well plan for the new reality. Denial rarely plays out as an effective solution.