This Summer's Garden

Earlier, I posted pictures of my new keyhole gardens.  See how they grow:

This was a month ago. I'll have to take more soon.

This is what I get out of my garden:

Deep in the winter, it's going to be worth the effort.

Thanks for visiting with me,

Kathi

Pickle Dilemma

I have five or six cucumber vines growing in the garden.  There are only two of us.  How much can we eat by ourselves?  I've shared a few cucumbers with my pastor and coworkers.  The ripe fruit come on about 5 or six at a time.  That isn't enough to warrant hauling out a lot of canning equipment.

If I'm not going to put up the pickles in sealed jars, I have two other options.  I can used up space in my refrigerator with my recipe for refrigerator pickles or I can make what we used to call "pickle-sickles".  I have a recipe for freezer pickles.

I would never have opted for freezing them before this, but we recently got a compact box freezer.  My brother thinks it's too small to be of much use, but I'm not planning to freeze a whole cow.  So "pickle-sickles" it is.

This recipe came from my Aunt Florence.  I don't know where she got it.  I know her mother was a pickling ace.  Grandma pickled watermelon rind and those runaway cucumbers that she turned into "slippery jacks".

So here's what I'm doing this early afternoon.

Freezer Pickles

2 qts. cucumbers, sliced
2 medium onions, sliced
2 Tbsp. canning salt

Mix together in a large bowl.  Cover with ice cubes and let stand for 2-3 hours. 
Remove any unmelted ice cubes. Drain well.

Mix with 1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dill weed.

Put in cartons and freeze.

M-m-m-m, tasty!

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Refrigerator pickles

There is a brand of pickles on the market that we particularly like.  What I've found is that, if you save the juice, you can wash and cut up new cucumbers and pack them in the same juice maybe once or twice before you have to start fresh.  You can't put the jars on the shelf.  They have to stay in the refrigerator.  Give the cucumbers a week or two to absorb the juice, and you'll have yourself a tasty new batch with the same old flavor.  No muss, no fuss.

Thanks for visiting with me,

Kathi

Transplanted Tomatoes

I'm happy to say that the tomatoes I transplanted a week and a half ago made the trip safely.  I can't say that they are thriving yet, but they don't look as sad and there are finally some small tomatoes on the vine.  Phew!  I wasn't sure that I would have any crop at all this year.

It does look like I'll have spaghetti squash to spare and the cucumbers are turning out plenty of little cukes.  I've already made a couple of jars of refrigerator pickles and given more away.

Short and sweet today.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi