The Perma Life

I have fond memories of going with my dad to pick Mustang grapes growing along the side of the road- we would wear long sleeve shirts and pants to keep from getting scratched up and pick grapes by the bucketfull. Once we were even stopped by some tourists from “up north” who asked to take our picture. I guess we were the “rustic locals” they had heard still existed in Texas. After picking our share, we would take them home to my mom, who would proceed to spend the rest of the day making jelly. I still remember the heat of the kitchen and the sweet tangyness of the grape jelly on my peanut butter sandwhich.

Needless to say, the idea of pickling and preserving the harvest has always appealed to me on some primitive level. And this summer has afforded me the first opportunity to preserve some of my own harvest. Pickles are my first foray into the world of preservation.

This summer I am growing A&C Pickling Cucumbers…these are wonderfully prolific and mild tasting cukes (although I have to say I have never met a cucumber I didn’t like) Here is the link to Baker Creek Farms, where I buy my seeds.

I don’t really know a lot about preserving, so I searched around on the web looking for simple recipes and found this one for simple refridgerator pickles from The Pickle Preservation Society. They turned out nice and crunchy! p.s. You can make pickles from store bought cucumbers as well.

– Refrigerator Pickles (No canning necessary)
From Mrs. A. (Mary) Lutz

Mildly sweet; stay crunchy up to about 3 weeks in the refigerator.

• 3 large cucumbers (1″ to 1 1/2″ diameter) sliced about 1 1/16″ thick (do not peel)
• 1 medium-sized green pepper (seeds removed)
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 1 tablespoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons celery seed
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup white vinnegar

Chop pepper and onion, and place along with sliced cucumbers into a 1 1/2 quart size jar or bowl. Add salt and celery seed. Stir gently and let stand one hour. Combine sugar and vinnegar in separate bowl, stir to dissolve. Pour over vegetables and stir to blend. Cover and refrigerate, pickles are ready to eat in one day. Store covered in refrigerator.
Yield: 5 cups