CUCUMBERS!
(this is the third post I have done today. Be sure to check the other posts for updates on our gardens and chickens)
Tylor and I stopped by the discount store last week when we were out and about, and saw they had crates of cucumbers for $2 per crate (crate included!). WOW. These were pretty big crates too - bigger than a banana box. We got 3 crates, but then on the way home I thought how I should have gotten several more. Even if the cucumbers were not so good, the crates alone were worth more than $2 each. They are very sturdy plastic, stack on top of each other, and fold when not in use. We plan to do the farmer's market this year and these crates would be a blessing! So, a few days later Brianna and Corban when back and got 9 more. What to do with all the cucumbers??? Well ... we have a few ideas.
1) We gave several away. Bags and bags of them.
2) We composted the rotten ones.
3) We fed some to the chickens.
4) We made cucumber salad from some.
5) We made cucumber juice - I added lemon for a better flavor. I am not a fan of raw cucumbers ... but I have managed to choke down cucumber juice each day for the last week. I made nearly 2 gallons of the stuff!
6) We made lacto-fermented pickles. These are not like modern day pickles. the acid in these is produced by the activity of beneficial lactobacillus which occurs when you expose vegetables to a large amount of salt in an oxygen-free environment. This stuff is really good for your gut!
Normally these are made with pickling cucumbers ... but we decided to give it a try with slicing cucs. Since the origin of these cucs was questionable and the skins were exposed to all sorts of rotten cucs, we decided to peel the cucs first. If you use whole cucs, be sure to cut the blossom end off.
So, peel, then slice, then shove into a gallon jar. Add some raw onion and garlic and also some fresh or dry dill. Pour salt water over all (4-5T of pickling salt boiled with 2qts of water; cool first. Make more if needed). The pickles must stay below the liquid level - in order to do that, we inserted a piece of round plastic from a cottage cheese or butter lid and put a 1/2 pint mason jar on top to weigh it down.
You can kind of see the 1/2 pint mason jar in this front jug ... but the 1/2 jars are in ever jug. We put lids on our jugs ... but I've seen some say to just cover with cheese cloth and a rubber band.
We added sliced hot peppers (seeds included) and red pepper flakes to one of the jugs of pickles.
Leave jars out on the counter. After 3 days, taste them. How do they taste? If you want them a little more acidy, the let them sit longer. Here is a picture of the pickles one week later. As you can see, the color has changed a little and there are a few bubbles at the top. I think there should be a lot more bubbles than this ... but this was our first time trying it, so we'll see what happens next time.
And after all of that, we STILL have several bags (20??) of good cucumbers waiting for us in the fridge. Maybe we'll make more cucumber juice?!
