Pickling Season Is Near!

I was pleasantly surprised today when I came home from work and found that my cucumbers had begun to flower.  Both varieties that I planted came up very nicely and have really put out good growth in the past couple of weeks.  I had just started to train the ones that I could to the trellis earlier this week.  Most of the plants need to grow a few more inches before they will be able to reach.

At the bottom of the plants the first small yellow flowers have started their season.  In a couple of weeks I will probably start picking the first cucumbers of the season.  I can never resist eating the first few fresh from the garden, but when the harvest starts rolling in I won't be able to keep up with them.  I do have about 20 cucumber plants after all.

The fun begins after I have enough cucumbers to fill a good sized bowl.  If all goes well this year I hope to be canning a batch of pickles every few days.  I really love pickles, and now that I have learned to make my own, I can have a near endless supply of them by the end of the season.  Last year I canned about 12 quarts and 12 pints of dill pickles.  I ate the last jar of them last month, so I am sadly without pickles until the harvests start rolling in.  With any luck, I will start stocking my pantry again in a few short weeks.