First Canning of 2016 ~ PICKLES!

I really enjoy canning the fruit of our labor. It's such a joy to see my shelves fill up with fruit and vegetables that we will use for the next year. I also love sharing with others what the Lord has blessed ME with!

This year I planted only 1 row of Straight Eight and Marketmore. Not all of my plants did very well as the farthest half of my garden doesn't have very good soil. I'll need to work it more as time goes on.

After a few pickings of cucumbers and storing them in my fridge, I had enough cucumbers to pickle! I was pleasantly surprised to end up with 14 pints of dill pickles to store away! I've tried a recipe or two for dill pickles and I will keep trying till I find one that I like but, for today, I just used Mrs. Wages mix for this batch.

One thing I have learned is that it's important to pick the cucumbers before they get very big. I like to use them when they are about an inch in diameter. If you let them get too big, the pickles will be mushy and the seeds a bit tough. It's also important not to over process them (like I did last year!)

If you have a recipe that you have tried and love, I'd love to try it out!