It has been a long time since I have posted, almost 6 days! That is because I have been really busy in the garden! I planted my corn, beets, carrots and some more herbs. But, that set aside… right now we have innovated with pickling cucumbers! There must be a hundred at different stages of growth and flowers galore. It makes me so happy to see the little bees just buzzing up and down the rows of cucumbers visiting each flower on its way!
Today I am going to try to process the first batch of dill pickles and Bread and Butter Pickles. Then, I am going to make some Fire and Ice Refridgerator Pickles. I am a pickle making machine! Yes I am!
I am also going to make some mandarine orange marmalade this morning with the jars that folks have already begun to return from the strawberry and apricot jam that we started to enjoy about a month ago! Thanks!
But. alas… we are leaving for 10 days. My housesitters know how to tend to a garden, one of them better than I, and they have been told to give a lot of them away. But I think that the moment is NOW to start doing something to preserve these!
All of the gardening books say that if you pick them small, they will reproduce. So I am trying to pick them small. My goal was to make dill pickles out of little, little cukes. The thing is…. in one night they can grow to double the size! That is why I am starting with Bread and Butter Pickles! These pickling cucumbers slice perfectly with a waffle blade mandolin cutter.
I have photos, and other thoughts, but today, I must go into that hot kitchen and can this afternoon! I was smart about sterilizing the jar this morning when it was still cool outside. I finished that before 7 a.m.
Now I have to go out to the store to buy some more lids…
This is fun!!!
Donna T's Garden 
My favorite is the cornichon:
http://frenchfood.about.com/od/appetizershorsdoeuvres/r/cornichons.htm.
Let me know if you make some of those!
I just cleaned out one of my raised beds-tons of carrots, green onions and swiss chard.
I love to be in the garden.
Yummy bread and butter are my favorite. Get in my belly!)
So good to see my Gardening Gals online enjoying this summers growing season. Partners in Grime, right Candee? 🙂 I am going to make that recipe that you just posted for my next batch. I had limited ingredients on hand today, so I found a recipe online that I could use without leaving my pajamas aka official cooking uniform. HA!
Well, today…
I made the bread and butter pickles (9 pints)
I made Fire and Ice refridgerator pickles
I peeled and chopped a zillion mardarine (sp) tangerines and 2 meyers lemons for the marmalade that I am going to have to make later.
And now the heat is upon the day so enought of that!
I am going shopping in the A/C
I am so happy to hear that you already have harvested carrots, green onions and chard. I really was dragging my feet on getting some things planted. That is the nice thing about California, you can pretty much get away with anything compared with the rest of the states.
Thanks for the posts and the link AND you know that you have a few jars of Bread n Butter with your names on it so you can continue to be “happy Campers” LOL