Every winter, as we crunch the last pickle made the summer before, we will sigh and wistfully calculate how far away (months) fresh cucumbers are. Every summer then, due to the pickle withdrawals we will have just survived, I will undoubtedly plant way too many cucumbers. Northeastern Kansas really has soil that begets many cucumbers. You’d think people would realize it can bring forth more than soybeans and corn!

The Husband doesn’t eat fresh cucumbers, so I will always wonder why I plant so many vines. Oh, he will eat pickles, but he won’t partake in my cucumber sandwiches, cucumber salads, or salads with cucumbers. So, I’m on my own and the cucumbers are everywhere, growing thick and fast. Hence, it’s pickle time.

My girlfriend from Missouri shared her addiction to this “refrigerator” pickle recipe and I now have no will to can/jar pickles via the hot water bath method. Thankfully I have lots of fridge space to dedicate to the pickle jars! I can see it now, deep in February, we’ll be rummaging through half-full jars of various flavors of jam, relish, and whatever and come upon an unexpected and unopened jar of pickles and woop for joy!

Turns out the limiting ingredient is fresh dill. Who knew how hard it was to successfully grow dill? I’ve been growing it in pots of the deck, but next year I will have to try other methods and locations as the dill has sustained heavy casualties this year. We keep having these 5-day stretches of super hot days with heat indices between 105-114 degrees F, humidities of 65-70%, and wind around 15-20 mph; either the leaves die of wind scorch or the roots rot due to overwatering.