Bolting Turnip is Going to Seed

It looks like one of my many turnip plants has decided to bolt! No, it's not running away from the confines of my raised bed. This turnip plant has decided to grow really tall and skip producing a turnip in order to flower and produce seeds. 

It doesn't happen all the time but plants will do this if they are stressed. Unfortunately, it means I won't get a turnip from this one plant (don't worry I still have plent more!).  

When plants start to go to seed (usually when you notice flower buds forming), the plant focuses its energy on the seeds of the next generation. Sometimes, this can be delayed by clipping off the flower buds (you can do this to most herbs) however, it won't help with turnip. 

From my research online, turnip usually bolts to seed when it's stressed by one or two things. The first is poor soil. Considering I added healthy compost and soil to my raised garden this year, as well as the fact that other plants are fine, I don't suspect it's the soil. 

The other reason is stress due to too many hot days. Bingo! It's actually been a pretty warm May for southern Connecticut, especially after coming off a record cold start to the year! Turnip is a cool weather crop and therefore doesn't do well in the hot weather. 

I'm guessing this one plant thought it was just too hot to do the work of producing a turnip and decided to go to seed and let the next generation do the work! 

The rest of my turnip should be ready in ages more weeks! I can't wait! 

I think it might be dead!

After the trouble with drainage and then repotting I think my blueberry bush may have died! I still have one left but this will definitely have implications on next years crop!

Problems with a Blueberry Bush

The precipitation this summer has been strange bouncing back and forth between moderate drought and normal conditions. However the very end of July and August so far has seem wetter. It's not just that we have gotten a decent amount of rain, but we gave gotten this rain in torrential downpours which doesn't evaporate that quick in high dew-points. I began to notice one of the blueberry bushes pots was collecting water at the top and I would occasionally have to tip the pot to empty it. The bush didn't seem impacted by it at first. However after torrential downpours last week, the pot flooded, leaving standing water for days! This did have an impact on the bush, browning and killing a lot of the new growth! So I had to empty the bush from the pit remove the water and a lot of the soil. To my surprise I had forgotten to punch holes in the bottom of the pot, which was trapping the water! Such a STUPID mistake!! After pinching holes in the bottom and replanting the bush I trimmed off the dead branches. The bush isn't as pretty anymore but hopefully it will come back!