For a spell of knitting in a lawn chair in the shade, I positioned myself where I could keep an eye on the cucumbers.
Most people do not believe that cukes have a sense of humor, but that is simply a popular misconception. What they like to do is look tiny and insignificant. Then, when my back is turned, they can get too big to go in a wide-mouth jar. Sometimes they think it's funny to hide under big leaves where I can't keep track of them until it's too late to make them into pickles. It is the height of hilarity for some to get huge and yellow before I find them.
This morning, I found this little guy, who one would think could not possibly be pickle sized by tomorrow. I'm taking no chances, getting the ingredients for pickles at the ready. I have some half gallon and quart jars lined up. I don't like little dills but I do like to have more than one to a quart jar.
In 1977, an elderly couple, Marshall and Mabel Coots, gave me their fabulous dill pickle recipe. A couple of years ago, I'm sad to say, I somehow didn't measure the salt right in some I made. Actually, it was a gross miscalculation. The pickles shriveled, and rightly so. I shall be more careful this time.
It's very exciting to have both the cukes and the dill in the same year. I let all these dill volunteers spring up in the now-defunct strawberry patch. Contrary to popular opinion, dill have no visible risible.
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