Pickled!

My husband brought home a sack full of cucumbers from a nearby farmers' market last night. So I decided to spend the evening making pickles from the fresh bounty.

I have a few picklebush cucumbers growing in my own backyard garden. But to be honest, they've been disappointing so far. The plants are almost too compact, and they haven't produced enough cucumbers to make a single jar.

But my husband did pick off this giant cucumber from the plants. Seriously, it's almost bigger than the actual plant. Amazing!


Anyhow, I ended up canning more than a dozen jars of cucumbers last night. It was nearly a three-hour endeavor. But I love using the fresh dill from the garden and the garlic I received in my CSA box last week. I used the sweet dill recipe from the "Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving." It's a super easy recipe. So far, the pickles I've made taste great, but they are soft. Next year, I need to plant a cucumber variety that is great for making crisp pickles.