Margaret’s chicks are as excited as I am. It’s only thirteen days until the days start to lengthen here. On December 21 at 8:48 pm Pacific Time (December 22 at 4:48 am Coordinated Universal Time) the winter solstice occurs. The sun will reach its lowest level in the northern hemisphere and from that moment, it will start rising higher in the northern sky.

The growing pullets are excited too. More and more of them are starting to lay eggs. They seem to be trying to outdo each other by laying the greenest, bluest, most pointed, most round, most whatever egg a hen can imagine.

Even the kohlrabi are flush with joy. This is what kohlrabi looks like at dusk, after days of wind and rain. It’s survived weeks of deep freezes, and yet it springs back, sweeter than ever. You won’t find a better, happier, midwinter food than kohlrabi.