...to become the best pickles in the whole wide world!
Deliciously salty, garlicky, dilly...oh, my mouth is bouncing alive just typing these words. You would not believe how amazingly simple these pickles are to make and have as your very own to eat.
And I have found the absolute best way to keep them crisp...oak leaves! Yes, something that is readily available to most of us. All I have to do is go to the garage, carry the green step ladder out to the cement driveway, hold my breath and pray as I step up several steps on the ladder gingerly reaching up to the lowest branches of the overhanging boughs, pinch a few of the sturdy green leaves, bring them inside to wash before layering them between the cucumbers, tucking two on top beneath the smooth river stone weight.
I make a brine of one quart water per 1 1/2 -2 Tablespoons of salt, truly its to your taste, but I prefer to have the pickles more on the salty side and I have found it will make a better ferment in the long run. I like to add black peppercorns, cayenne pepper flakes, fresh garlic cloves, fresh dill, and bay leaves. After a few days I taste my pickles and if they are the right taste to my liking I will store them in the refrigerator, but usually I will give them one or two days more....a total of about five days usually does it for me.
My few cucumbers plants have produced a good crop of cucumbers for me this year. I have been able to eat them raw almost daily plus fermenting several batches as well as pickling a few jars of bread and butter pickles for the pantry shelf.
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