Pickles

We were getting a lot of good cucumbers, so I decided to do some pickling.  Here's a good shot of some of the cukes.

I sliced up up, created a nice brine, and added the future pickles to the jars.

I then boiled them to ensure a good tight seal (although I think I was supposed to completely submerge the jars...)

Voila! Five cans of pickles that should be ready some the end of the Tour de France (near the end of July). 

The rest of the garden is doing ok.  Some turtles (yes, turtles) were eating my peppers and also the cucumbers.  I will need to build some type of wire mesh to keep the critters out.  Plus, we also have a lot more bugs, and I have not yet found the best pesticide to use; I'll keep asking neighbors and figuring out what's best.  We had some corn--it was good, but something happened near the end--not sure if it was too hot or what, but it started to die.  Thus, I've pulled the corn and old beans and peas and have replanted.  I started some pumpkins and cantaloupes (I have a wire mesh around them as they start to grow).  I will probably plant something else after the fourth of July where the corn was, but I haven't figured out what.  I thought about doing a lot of strawberry plants to see how they do, but am not sure if I want to dedicate that much room to some perennials.  I'll think it over.

Barkley is doing great--as active as ever.

Pleasant week to all.