For a while there, it was beginning to look like we could have fresh raspberry sauce on the Thanksgiving turkey. But a couple of light frosts later, it’s mostly clear that I should have remembered to water the chrysanthemums, back when we were having the drought, a thousand years ago. The plants are bushy and covered with flowers ( I DID remember to prune them in late June) it’s just that the flowers are smallish, and some of them have what might be called idiosyncratic shapes.

On the other hand BEETS!?? Omigosh. Didn’t do anything special for them, either, but they’ve outdone themselves this year. A long fall that’s moist and cool-but-not-cold is any beet’s idea of a good time, and these being Lutz Winter Keepers they simply don’t know when to stop. Voles often take up residence underneath them and gnaw away unseen, but Vinnie the cat has been on the job and most of the crop is sound. Just pulled up one specimen the size of a volleyball – no joke; it weighted almost 5 pounds – and the great part is it will be sweet and tender, in spite of its size. Forage beets, the ones called (I love this) mangelwurtzels, can weigh a great deal more; but they were bred for feeding to livestock and that’s just what they taste like.

Lutz beets are not usually a retail-rack item, but they’re easy to mail-order. One good source is Rohrer seed, which has a nice selection of table beets and also sells seed for mangels, just in case you don’t believe me and want to give ‘em a try. (www.rohreerseeds.com)