Are y’all tired of hearing about preserving?? Summer garden season is waning. Many crops are no longer growing.

I am sure there are many ways to preserve cucumbers. In the past, I have either pickled them or fermented them. Most years when planting, I have had almost 100% failure rate for growing cucumbers. This year, however, has been radically different.

My ten year old son enjoys helping in the garden the most of all of my kiddos. He told me several times this summer how much he likes picking the cucumbers!

I decided to stick with simple this year and do dill pickles. My Sweet Husband grew up with bread & butter as well as sweet pickles. But he also likes dill and no one else in our family likes the sweet ones.

I tried refrigerator pickles for the first time this summer and they’ve been yummy! I have a jar on the table twice a day. I also canned dill pickles (some even using fresh dill I was given!). I had one jar not seal so far. I knew it would need to be eaten right away, so I gave it to my parents and we tried them at Sunday lunch a few weeks back. They were good! So I have kept using that recipe.

When pickling, you have to be careful that your vinegar is at 5% acidity. You cannot safely use homemade vinegar for canning, though it can be used in other wonderful ways. I have seen that stores are carrying 4% vinegar right next to the 5%, so watch closely when you’re buying vinegar! And, I would recommend always keeping some on hand. There are dozens of uses for vinegar.

How are you preserving cucumbers this summer?