Goodbye, July

July has come and gone. By Texas Hill Country July standards, it was a good one. No 100 degree days . By comparison we had over 75 days that topped 100 degrees last July. Typically, July is 31 days, but last year we were stuck in a sun spot induced "groundhog day syndrome". Every day started with same sound on my alarm and was 105 by 10 am, each day ended with the death of a plant and a little piece of my soul. Come live in the beautiful Texas Hill Country! Also, I should note, my alarm makes the same sound every morning and that does not necessarily signal a time warp. This year, we have also had some rain. Everything is still green and my garden is thriving.
The big news of July is figs. I have a fig tree that came with my house, it is huge and glorious, located in just the right place on the east side of the house. While it is very drought tolerant, the leaves are almost a foot across, making a dramatic contrast to the xeric plants that make up the bulk of my landscape. In the winter, it's branch structure is striking when viewed from any angle. And in July, it makes figs. Lots of figs. And my wife makes fig jam, which, when paired with homemade bread and butter (or peanut butter) is slap-your-momma good. All this being said, I don't love it like I love my other plants. I don't dote on it, point it out to guest or waste any time worrying about it. Why? because I didn't plant it. It is no feat of mine that the right variety (Celeste, I think) was chosen, that it was planted in the perfect microclimate, and that it survived plant childhood and adolescence to become an awesome specimen plant and the only fruit tree in my garden. So, I take no pride in my fig tree. That fig tree would be great without me, and due to a great shallowness on my part, I believe that is not the point of gardening. But I'm thankful, and I sure as hell don't want to lose it. So, Fig Tree, if you are reading this - I'm sorry I ignore you, sorry the only time you get water is when it rains or you steal it from a newly planted nearby perennial. You are the best fig tree I've ever met, please continue your thriving through my neglect.
With that off my chest, time to think about the vegetable garden. The tomatoes are still going. I thought that I could pull them out to start planting my fall garden, but I have a hard time removing plants that still have tomatoes on them. I guess our mild July has extended my growing season. I am just now starting to get okra. While 7 tomatoes plants is too many, 3 okra is too few. Any time I want to eat okra, I have to buy okra in the grocery store to supplement my three or four pods that I've harvested. Embarrassing. Pumpkins seeds are in and sprouting and I am very excited to think of carving and eating home grown pumpkins come late October.
The most amazing thing growing at my house this July has been the baby in my wife's abdomen. On July 29th we welcomed a healthy baby girl to our now family of four. We are so blessed and thankful. I definitely need a bigger garden now.