In a Pickle

Originally published in The NorthLake Outpost Newspaper

What does it even mean to be “in a pickle”? From where I stand, pickles are pretty good all around and having a bunch is a good thing. These past few months have been excellent for producing plenty of little pickling cucumbers here and I have taken full advantage. Even with the 95+ degree days, the plants are still producing a little. So, let’s talk about all the ways to use them up and a little about how to grow them.

First off, I should tell you that I had zero production of cucumbers here last year even though I planted a few different batches. I was planting them in my normal garden and there was a lot of mulch on the ground and some down into the soil. I thought that this would be great for the cucumbers as most everything else was doing well. The plants looked good and grew and even produced flowers and 1” fruits. Then the fruit would rot overnight.

I planted three different batches last year, thinking that it might be a seed or timing or space issue. Nothing fixed the problem and I ended up going to Long and Scott and purchasing cases to make pickles. It’s not ideal, but it sure beats buying jars of pickles at the grocery store. There are some local farm stands that sell pickles, but I wanted a certain kind and it was just easier to make them.

Then this spring I planted them in the big garden again, all with fresh seed. The plants came up beautifully and started climbing the cattle panel like they are supposed to. Then we had flowers and tiny cucumbers…it was looking successful. Then the same thing happened as last year, the cucumbers just quit growing. Hmmm…maybe it was the soil? Ricardo at Noble Roots had mentioned that they might not do well with quite so much fungal growth due to the mulch.

He might have been right, because all of the ones I planted in the pig pen dirt grew and produced abundantly. I’m calling it dirt instead of soil for a couple of reasons. One is that it was truly just dirt with no organic matter in it at all. Okay, so there was a little pig poo still there, but it had long since broken down and was not visible. Besides, they mostly pooped in one spot, so it wasn’t throughout the pen.

The other reason it is called “dirt” is because there is likely very few living organisms present. Soil has living organisms, dirt is dead. The biology that we want and have in good soil, feeds on lots of organic matter. If you don’t feed something, it will either never show up, or it dies if it was ever present. Roots of living plants and decaying plant matter is what most bacteria live on. The pig pens were completely void of both. So, I figured it was pretty void of life.

Did the cucumbers planted there care? Absolutely not! In fact, they thrived and produced so many cucumbers that I ran out of room and jars! First, I ran out of room in the refrigerator for my favorite fermented refrigerator pickle. Then, I ran out of jars to can my Jalapeno Bread and Butter pickles. Of course, the jars are easy enough to pick up at the store, although they have gotten really expensive, but we love these pickles and wanted a bunch on the shelf.

Why did the cucumbers do so well in the dirt? I have no idea. I really need to ask some experts, but first I should take a look at the growing material from both under a microscope and really be sure of what I am working with. I did fertilize them at least once with Espoma GardenTone, an organic fertilizer that I think is made mostly from chicken manure, at least it smells like it.

I used Top Notch Brand Boston Pickling cucumber seeds that I got from Mrs. Vickie at Miller’s Landscape Nursery on 44A in Eustis. I am pretty sure Dan’s Feed in Altoona has the same ones and they are all about the same price, which is so much better than buying little packets of seeds from the big box store. This is one of those times where shopping local can save you a ton of money. These business owners go to the trouble of ordering bulk seeds then selling to us in a much smaller increment, sometimes just ¼ ounce, so that they can pass on that savings. It’s something I truly appreciate. The bag of seeds I bought was just $4 and I bet I didn’t even use a quarter of them. All of this food for less than a dollar is amazing!

Let me tell you about the food now! The Fermented Refrigerator Pickles are my personal favorite. I still don’t know if they should truly be called fermented because they do have a little vinegar in them along with the salt and they don’t always ferment the same. It’s a homemade pickle recipe, and I think the vinegar maybe shouldn’t be there for them to ferment fully, but this is how I like them.

This recipe is not shelf stable because of the low salt and vinegar content, and because of the vinegar to water ratio. You really aren’t supposed to play with the ratios and amounts of vinegar, water, sugar and salt in canning. It could lead to your food spoiling and you not even realizing it. Except on the pickles, I think you would notice that it was mushy and gross. I threw a bunch in the compost a few weeks back that I was trying to truly ferment and they got super weird.

I’m not going to post the whole recipe here as it’s a little long with all of the seasonings, but you are welcome to call or text me and I will send you back a picture of it. It starts out with fresh cucumbers packed in jars with the seasonings on top, then about three days on the counter to let it “ferment” a little. Then it goes in the fridge for a few more days to let the cucumbers soak up the salt and seasonings. After that, they are tangy, super crunchy and salty. It’s such a refreshing snack on a hot day.

The Jalapeno Bread and Butter Pickles are shelf stable because of their high sugar and vinegar content and the fact that I am water bath canning them to seal the jars. These are still moderately crunchy, very sweet and kind of spicy. I have used both fresh jalapenos and canned ones in the recipe and they all work well to impart the spice that we like. The jalapenos in this one remind me of the Cowboy Candy that people make.

My other favorite way to eat up all of the cucumbers is just a fresh cucumber salad. I have made this with just Italian Dressing, or with a mayo, vinegar and sugar base, or sometimes just apple cider vinegar and salt. It is always a little tastier when you slice an onion into it. Lately I have been using kefir and vinegar as my liquid and it kind of reminds me of the mayo recipe. It has a little of that creaminess, but it is loaded with probiotics which is an awesome, kinda sneaky, way to get them into our people!

Some of the last round of cucumbers have started growing wonky in the past couple of weeks. It’s the heat messing with the pollination and the cucumber only gets partially pollinated giving it that misshapen and irregular look. They are still good to eat, but between that and the pickle worms showing up, I know it’s almost time to pull them. But we sure had a good run of it. Who knew that they would like that pig pen dirt so well? Until next time, slow down and start planning that fall garden.