Well the title says it all really......
Last summer I decided that as I had been so successful for two years with zucchini/corgettes that I would plant cucumbers and gherkins, obviously the position of the garden was good, got plenty of sunshine, had lots of space to spread out, had the wire fence up behind them so they could grow up and be supported. With the zucchini's I only needed the one plant because they produce so many, I planted it toward the front of the garden bed so it could grow over the edge and not get covered in dirt. Normally zucchini plants produce gazillions and we are never disappointed.
Last year was no exception.
Because of this I decided I'd have a go with cucumbers and gherkins.
Last year was no exception.
Because of this I decided I'd have a go with cucumbers and gherkins.
I thought I'd get lots of yummy cucumbers and some gherkins, but what a fizzer they were, I think I managed to get one, yes one cucumber from two plants and three gherkins from one plant. That was it, lots of flowers but nothing came from them.
Well bugger that I thought, what a waste of time and space, cheaper to buy them. So this year, I didn't put any in the ground and low and behold, I now have three gherkin plants and they are producing like rabbits - yes it looks like I'm going to have to find a 'nice' recipe for pickling gherkins.
I say 'nice' because having searched through my many cookbooks last year I could only find one that I thought would be yummy and the title said 'SWEET PICKLED GHERKINS' - Jackpot thought I, ha, hmmmmm well what do I know!
As always, I followed the recipe exactly, first time I always follow the recipe to a tee so that if I don't like it I can make my adjustments the next time.....well, had I not had self planted gherkins this year I would most definitely not be making any adjustments for the 'next' time, there would never be a 'next' time,.....the so called 'SWEET PICKLED GHERKINS' were only the most HORRENDOUS gherkins I had ever ever had the displeasure of sampling. I still have them in the back of the cupboard as I'm too scared to tip them out incase I poison the earth - that's how bad they are.
I mean, have a look at these will you, the juice looks worse than muddy swamp water, that should have been an indication really but I took no notice did I.
Well, to be fair, at the time of bottling I'm sure the juice wasn't that dark so of course I didn't think it was unusual. I had sliced them rather than bottle them whole as I couldn't find jars big enough and I only had three, but again I didn't think that would matter, I expected that they would come out like the McDonalds pickle, you know that little bit of green that the kids always pull out of their burgers. I quite like them so I thought yummy, these are going to be choice.
Once bottled I put them in a dark cupboard for a few weeks, which actually turned out to be a few months as we don't really eat that kind of stuff. But again, I didn't think that would matter, I thought they would just mature and be even yummier.
Some 8 months later, Dad arrives, I sit him down in our kitchen and we are chat chat chatting away, having a lovely time catching up on all the gossip etc.
I was telling about all the things I had made since he was last over and then had a brainwave.
"How about you sample my 'SWEET PICKLED GHERKINS'?"
"Bring it on" he says
I did warn him that I had no idea what they would taste like as I hadn't opened them until now, he was cool about it.
"Come on, stop gassing and get it opened" he says
So we did a little dance and opened the jar.......we both twitched our noses and wondered if it was actually a good idea. Just looking into the jar was a bit hairy scary, but Dad being Dad was determined to be supportive and give it a go. He's a good guy really however.......neither of us was prepared for the horror that came next......
Hahaha, makes me laugh every time I see this pic, he honestly was convinced I'd set him up, I hadn't, I had no idea they would be so horrible, but they were and as I said, I still have them because I'm scared of what they will do to the earth if I tip them out.
Thank god for Mum, she is coming to my rescue though, she says she has my grandma's old canning stuff and recipe books and that grandma used to make the yummiest pickles known to man, so here's hoping she can find the recipe and send it over, I really need it!
Some 8 months later, Dad arrives, I sit him down in our kitchen and we are chat chat chatting away, having a lovely time catching up on all the gossip etc.
I was telling about all the things I had made since he was last over and then had a brainwave.
"How about you sample my 'SWEET PICKLED GHERKINS'?"
"Bring it on" he says
I did warn him that I had no idea what they would taste like as I hadn't opened them until now, he was cool about it.
"Come on, stop gassing and get it opened" he says
So we did a little dance and opened the jar.......we both twitched our noses and wondered if it was actually a good idea. Just looking into the jar was a bit hairy scary, but Dad being Dad was determined to be supportive and give it a go. He's a good guy really however.......neither of us was prepared for the horror that came next......
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| Dad, right after our 'Sweet Pickled Gherkin' tasting - he was convinced I was trying to poison him. |
Thank god for Mum, she is coming to my rescue though, she says she has my grandma's old canning stuff and recipe books and that grandma used to make the yummiest pickles known to man, so here's hoping she can find the recipe and send it over, I really need it!
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