I’ve not posted in the last month or so because we’ve been busy…busy with an unexpected house problem and a working vacation of two weeks. Phew! That just took the stuffing out of me!
In the meanwhile, I’ve done pickles & waited for my tomato plants to ripen up. We had some early tomato “blossom end rot” a problem with low calcium in the soil, so the entire first crop went bad. After treating with garden gypsom, the second crop seems to have made a come-back. But while waiting, I pickled. My cuke plant this year, while prolifigate, is only one plant and isn’t producing enough for pickles at one go. So I bought a 1/2 bushel at the farmers market. Those cukes are usually big, so I quarter them (this year with child help, so they’re nicely irregular) and stuff jars. I just jam them in. As many as I can get into one jar. It’s a bit like tetris in a jar… I also put a clove of garlic and a small onion into each jar.
Then, onto the pickles. This year, I made 4 different varietys of pickle, 2 dills, a dilly bean and radish pod pickles.
Dill pickles – basic recipe
Brine:
12 c water
3 c white vinegar
2 c sugar
¾ c salt
Plus:
1 head dill weed
Ann’s Dills
1 grape leaf per jay
1 clove garlic
1 sprig dill per jar.
1-2 small onions or scallions per jar
Stuff jars with speared cukes
Pickling spices – pinch coriander, mustard seed, dill seed & celery seed per each jar.
Brine:
12 c water
3 c white vinegar
2 c sugar
¾ c salt
2 TBSP Gerra spice for 3 batches of this. (if you don’t have this, 1 TBSP Cinnamon & 1TBSP Paprika will substitute)
Water bathe both of these for 15 minutes.
Dilly Beans:
Stuff as many beans into a pint jar as you can jam in there. On the bottom, put 1 clove garlic, 1 part grape leaf, 1 sprig dill.
Add:
½-3/4 tsp mustard seed per jar
1 pinch dill seeds
1 dried red pepper – ground
Brine – used left over brine from the dill pickles
12 c water
3 c white vinegar
2 c sugar
¾ c salt
2 TBSP Gerra spice for 3 bathes of this.
I can’t find the recipe for the radish pods, but it’s similar to the dilly beans.
On to the tomatoes. This year, I put in heirlooms…OMG. They’re freaking mutant cool tomatoes!!! Huge and rippley!
I adore studying and I think this website got some truly utilitarian stuff on it!