I'm so much more comfortable chronicling what i do than giving instruction on how to do something for someone else. For example this batch of pickles got off to a very fast start because of high summer temps. 85° instead of the 75°-80° that I would have preferred. Should be no matter as will just put in cooler basement temps a day or two sooner. (yesterday) Will watch at 65° for a day or two and then put into a 45-50° fridge for finishing. Maybe a month. I want the fast start for sure. If temps are cool then I'll just put in more starter to speed things up at the start. This fast start takes the place of weighting down the cukes beneath the brine with weight to prevent contaminated air from causing scum and mold. It works. I wedge the cukes into the jar so tightly that they stay below the brine. If you prefer to weight the cukes below the brine in the conventional way, you can buy glass beads at a craft store and put in nylon tule bags to weight down. Inexpensive and efficient. And the conventional salt brine in a plastic bag is hard to beat. I don't use but most people do I think. So buy hard cukes (gherkins, kirbys etc) Wash them and punch holes at 3/4" intervals maybe 1/2" deep and nip 1/4" off each end of cuke. Eliminates the blossom end enzymes and allows the salty LAB to penetrate and feed. Make sure a nice bubbly start is going on before moving to temps in the 60s for a few days & then more even cooler after a few days if is possible. I have a 45-50°f fermenting fridge, but a colder one in the upper 30s will work albeit slower.

How long ago were they picked? I wouldn't use them for pickles if they're more than 2 days old - you may have to make relish since it doesn't matter if they're not as crisp. Any you picked this weekend could be fermented or canned as a quick vinegar pickle - Linda Ziedrich has some good recipes in her Joy of Pickling. I haven't tried any from NCHFP. But I made 4 quarts and 4 pints (plus 1 quart-sized PB jar to stick in the fridge) of her Really Quick Dills (vinegar) in spears yesterday and have another 4-5lbs of cukes picked yesterday to do today, have to decide if I'm going to do dill or sweet, I've got 3 gal of half sours fermenting and about a quart left in fridge, but I've made 3 batches (1 canned, rest in fridge) of Bread and Butters this year already. I guess I can do both - could use some more B&Bs for the pantry since they're my dad's favorite and I still have dill chips from last year still. We're not relish fans either. Hoping more ideas coming since I don't know what to do with mine either!

Thanks so very much! Today I received a wonderful variety of seeds to try out. Thank you for the beans Habitat! Appreciate everyones generosity! Happy Spring planting!

This recipe came from someone here on the forum (not sure who-- didn't mark it )but it's a good tease when you're waiting for Chase's to age. Diane's Home Cookin Chapter: Pickles, Relishes & ChowChows Olga's Refrig. Kosher-Style Garlic/Dill Pickles =============================================== 3 lbs KIRBY pickles, 3-4 inch length are best 6-12 large cloves garlic sliced lengthwise into quarters (more is better) Brine-5 cups cool water to 1 cup white vinegar plus 1/4 cup Kosher salt 1 rounded tablespoon dry mustard seeds 5-10 small hot red peppers or red pepper flakes to taste 1-2 Tbsp. pickling spices fresh dill - when not available, dry dill will be just fine . Preparation: Scrub pickles and cut tips from blossom end of pickles. (According to a PA Dept. of Agriculture advisory, by slicing the tips from the blossom ends of pickles, this cuts out much of the bitter taste in most pickles) Combine water, white vinegar and Kosher salt in glass gowl, or stainless steel pot. (Salt must be either kosher or pickling salt. Regular table salt will make the brine cloudy and the pickles become discolored and have a poor taste) Set aside the brine. Select a glass or crockery container, plastic is OK. Place a layer of dill in bottom of container, cover with half the cukes, cover with more dill and add remaining cukes and cover with dill. Add garlic and other dry ingredients as you layer the pickles and dill into the container. Slowly add enough brine solution to cover the pickles entirely. If need be, place a weight on top to keep everything submerged in brine. Cover container and place in refrigerator for 2-3 days at which time the pickles will be ready to eat. The pickles will stay crisp and crunchy for weeks if kept cold. Notes: Mustard seeds help keep pickles crisp and firm. Some hot pepper should be used, but the amount is optional. Sharon-- here's one Diane's Home Cookin Chapter: Pickles, Relishes & ChowChows Annie's Grandma's Sweet Relish =============================== 4 cups ground cucumbers 4 large onions, ground up 4 green peppers, ground up 1 or 2 red peppers, ground up 1 tablespoon Salt 4 teaspoons celery seed 2 teaspoons Turmeric 1/2 teaspoon Pepper 4 cups vinegar 4 cups sugar . Combine veggies and salt and let stand for 2 hours. Drain well, add rest of ingredients and cook slowly for 1 hour. Pack hot into hot jars and process in boiling water bath 15 minutes for pints. Makes 6 Â 8 pints