I spent the day harvesting cucumbers and trying to figure out a way to preserve them.
Freezing definitely doesn’t work for cucumbers, but everyone loves my homemade pickles, so that’s what I’ll do.
There’s a real sense of satisfaction in seeing the jars lined up on the shelf — a connection to the simpler times of harvest and preservation — no stores needed, just garden bounty and the proper ingredients.
I pickled the cucumbers, dug up some carrots, and thought I’d get super creative and TRY pickling kale because there’s just so much of it.
Use the same brine for the carrots and kale; the only change is the addition of a lot more garlic to the kale.
Easy Peasy Refrigerator Pickles
5 medium cucumbers
1 tablespoon pickling salt, sea salt, or kosher salt (but not iodized table salt)
1 cup cider vinegar or white vinegar
1 cup water
1 head dill or small bunch dill leaves
2 cloves garlic (optional)
3 black peppercorns (optional)
or one tablespoon pickling spices
Prepare the jar(s) by running through the dishwasher or washing it in very hot soapy water and letting it air dry. Any glass jar with a lid will do; the wider the opening, the easier.
For the crunchiest pickles, select firm, dark-green pickling cucumbers that have not started to ripen to white or yellow. Cut them into spears, slices, or chunks (left whole, they will take a long time to pickle in the fridge).
I read somewhere (can’t remember where) that the ends need to be cut off or it’ll create a mushy pickle.
Place the dill in the bottom of your jar, peel and crush the garlic cloves (if using), and drop that in along with the peppercorns (if using), then put in the cut cucumber.
Mix the salt, vinegar, and water in a separate container, stirring until the salt is dissolved, then pour it over the cucumbers, filling the jar right to the top.
If you’re in a hurry to enjoy your delicious pickles, heat the vinegar, water, and salt to a boil before pouring it over the cucumbers. Pop on the lid and put the jar in the fridge.
For kale, make sure it’s super clean with no dirt or sand lurking anywhere, ‘cos no one wants to eat gritty greens!
Shred as you would cabbage for slaw.
I actually mixed collard greens with the kale.
Place a few garlic cloves in the bottom of the jar(s) along with the pickling spices and dill.
Pack tightly into the jar(s) and pour vinegar mixture all the way to the top.
Pickled Kale
I’ll let you know how the kale tastes after a few days of relaxing in the brine spa.
Do you pickle or can? How do you preserve your garden’s harvest?
Enchanted Seashells by Princess Rosebud 
Cukes and carrots sounds good. I try to not use the K-word 🙂
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Well, I wanted to experiment because there’s only so much you can do with it lol. I haven’t tried kale cake yet, I might do that just to torment the hub.
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That does sound good with the pickles!
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SO good! Not too sure about the kale, tho…
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I used to make very similar pickles in Israel, but called them sun pickles. Instead of putting them in the fridge, we put them in the sun for a week. It helped that it was sunny most of the time. They were SO good. Glad to get a recipe to use here, where the sun doesn’t always shine.
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What about bad bacteria? I suppose you’d have a lot of probiotics; I’d be interested in the recipe. We def have the sun here!
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I did sun pickles in France…same method, but on the sunny windowsill for a week….
As for kale, i ate so much of it as a child that I can easily pass on it these days, but a friend has a recipe for it…cooked and finely chopped, mixed into porage, pour into a shallow tray and allow to set, then cut into squares, egg and crumb them and fry.
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Hmm, fried kale. Not sure about that, but it sounds interesting. What is porage? Oatmeal? Not a word I’m familiar with.
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Yes, oatmeal as in pre prepared for breakfast.
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Thanks for the clarification, I’ve made the leap to complete vegan, so I’ll have to leave out the egg, but I might subject hub to a little experimentation when he gets home. He’s a good sport about trying anything as long as it involves eating!
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I used to help my mom and grandma pickle cucumbers, apples, watermelon rind, beets, … you name it, we pickled it, including pigs feet and other meat products. You’ve brought back some pleasant memories. Thank you!
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Yum to everything but the meat products!
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Yes, me too. I don’t remember being too find of those either 🙂
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Probably the only thing I did not learn from my wise old grandmother was how to cook, or how to do anything in the kitchen, really. She used to force me to help her clean up after meals by drying the dishes. Never had to wash them. I despised drying them, though, so one day I dropped her prized ceramic mixing bowl. Cracker perfectly in two. I got the whipping of my life (she knew I had done it on purpose) but I never had to dry dishes again. Instead, granddad bought her a one of those newfangled dishwasher thingies.
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I’m sorry that happened to you; it wasn’t my parenting style to make my son do something he didn’t want to do and then punish him for it; we found other options to teach responsibility which I learned from my mom which is where I learned to cook everything from scratch.
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