Turnips in bloom. Who knew turnips were attractive?

Close up of turnip flowersLate last season, my son and daughter wanted to plant something. It was only about a month before our average first frost, but I didn’t really see any real loss, if the plants didn’t survive. My daughter planted lettuce, which rapidly grew and was consumed as fast as we could cut it. My son decided to plant turnips. Now here is the thing. I’m not really a fan of turnips. I can’t say I dislike them, I just don’t know how to use them other than in soups, stews etc..

So, here we are in late October and the turnips are still growing like mad. In looking back, I really should have harvested them and taken them to a food pantry. But, I really didn’t think about it.

So what happens to turnips that get left in the ground over winter? They continue to grow. The plants never really died. They were green almost all of the winter, even though we had a few nights that approached 20 below zero. The plants really started kicking out new growth in March and are currently about 5 feet tall. Since, I am an avid seed saver, I will have copious amounts of turnip seed in a few weeks. In the mean while, I get to enjoy beautiful yellow flowers. Who knew that turnips were attractive?