high summer

you can tell we're smack in the middle of summer...the jerusalem artichokes are in full flower...we have more evidence than that however...the cucumber in the second photo is ripe ( and, incidentally, was harvested by library staff mere moments after that photo was taken )and the banana peppers in the next two photos are in agreement about the season...the early blue potato, like some of its solanum cousins is indeterminate...they will continue to flower all season and produce potato fruits ( sixth photo ) which i will gladly continue to collect and process for seed when they are ready...my freezer can become a bastion of potato diversity...the brussels sprouts ( seventh photo ) and the cauliflower we planted for fall harvest are doing well and have not bolted...let's hope that good fortune holds up...the last photo is of some clover that has established itself in a be that once held garlic...i am inclined to leave it and it reminds me that the time is near to begin planting fall green manures and cover crops to set new nitrogen in the soil and create organic matter to turn under in the spring to aid soil fertility...this seasons has done well on no imported compost in the original beds ( the new ones were filled with a 50/50 mix of topsoil and compost but will be restricted to a diet of legumes and rye to prepare for next season ) and that has pleased me no end...we will be intercropping the legumes as the month wears on and add the rye as the annuals die back...we will be mulching asparagus and planting garlic soon enough as well...still another four months of work out there.