Bees, butterflies and birds in the edible garden

Edible daylilies in bloom edging the vegetable garden

Sunday, September 6, 2026

All kinds of flowers attract pollinators and birds.  Many are edible, too.  If you want to add a beautiful touch and taste to a salad, dinner plate or drink, add a flower!  Edible lowers do triple duty-adding beauty to the garden, attracting pollinators to increase harvests, and food.

For pollinators like bees, small flowers from herbs, bolting celery, broccoli, and carrots along with squash and cucumber flowers are their favorites.  I can hear the bees buzzing when thyme is in flower as they flock to them.  Butterflies love the milkweed and zinnias in my garden.  Hummingbirds love the red and orange flowers from lantana, zinnias and hummingbird vine.

Small flowers like those of herbs are loved by pollinators.  All herb flowers are edible-like anise hyssop, basil, bee balm,  borage, calendula/pot marigold, chamomile, cilantro, fennel, lavender, garden chives, garlic chives, mint, mustard, onions, oregano, parsley, sage, savory,  shallot, rosemary, tarragon and thyme.  They add great color and flavor to salads and dishes.  Their flavor is  usually  a lighter version of the herb.  Let's not forget saffron; a pricey spice from the stigmas of the saffron crocus that you can grow in your own garden.  Start a kitchen herb garden!

Edible garlic chives in bloom

For birds, choose flowers that produce seeds they like.  Sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos, marigolds, black eyed susans,  echinacea, amaranth, Cockscomb, celosia, salvia all produce tasty seeds.  If you let them go to seed, you will be rewarded with many visiting birds.  I leave mine all winter so birds have food.

For butterflies, and hummingbirds, milkweed, zinnias, columbines, lantana, fuchsia, lupine, phlox, red hot poker, bee balm, coreopsis, liatris, penstemon, salvia, yarrow, blanket flower are all great as attractors for butterflies, hummingbirds and bees.

Here is more on edible flowers that pollinators love:

Vegetable flowers are edible-like broccoli, cabbage, kale, bean, pea, onion, garlic, zucchini, chicory.    Fried squash blooms are delish!  Just stuff them with a cheese mixture and fry.

Some plants we consider weeds are edible-like chickweed, dandelion, red clover, purslane, wild strawberry, wild violet and wood sorrel flowers as well as their greens.  Chickweed tastes pretty good.  Cultivated dandelions are sweeter in the cool temperatures.  When it gets warmer, harvest the young leaves and flowers for salads and the large for steamed greens.  Full of great nutrition.  Edible, nutritious "weeds"

Edible lavender flowers in bloom

Then there are the ornamentals that are edible like alliums, tuberous-rioted begonias, garden forms of Bellis perennis daisies, dahlias, daylilies, fascia, tiger lilies, erythroniums, fuchsias, gardenias, hostas, orchids, violets, houttuynia, the pinks, Salvia patens, chrysanthemums, grape hyacinth, honeysuckle, roses, dianthus, nasturtiums, passion flower, pansies, Johnny Jump Ups, scented geraniums, violas, yucca, snapdragons, tulips, zinnias and sunflowers.

A variety of tree and shrub flowers are edible: apple, crab apple, elderberry, Japanese honeysuckle, lilac, citrus blooms, plum, redbud and wild rose.  Redbud flowers are one of my favorites.  Redbud is in the pea family and their flowers are reminiscent of pea flavor.

Self sowing edible flowers:

Borage
Calendula

Chamomile

Signet dwarf Marigolds

Nasturtiums

Sunflowers

Zinnias

Plant these, allow to go to seed, and they will continue to re-establish themselves year after year.  These are referred to as "volunteers" in the garden.  You can also save their seeds and sow in the spring where you want them to grow.  They do great in garden beds and containers.  This year, I had many self sowing zinnias return in light pink, medium pink and fuchsia. 
Self sustaining gardening appealing? Try the self-seeders!

You can also make beautiful flower sugars to spoon into teas, over berries and desserts.  Or add herbal flowers to sea salt for seasoning dishes.  Using herbs, flowers and fruit for flavored sugars and salts  You can  make flavored vinegars  Make your own flavored vinegars  The flower color will tint the vinegar as well as flavor it.  After straining, add a whole flower for its beauty. You can even make candied flowers!  Or add them to homemade drinks as a garnish  Use herbs for signature desserts and grown up beverages   or main ingredient Homegrown flavored waters and sodas

Homemade herbal sugars and salts

You can quickly look on line to verify that your ornamental is indeed edible, which is always recommended just to be on the safe side.  There are many misleading names of flowers that can lead you to believe a flower is part of an edible family when it actually is not.  

Add edible beauty to your garden this season!

Help your garden survive the crazy heat!

Saturday, September 5, 2026

  

We cannot get rid of the oppressive heat wave here in our area!  The 90's just won't quit with no rain forecasted for as far as it goes.  Even the heat lovers are getting beat up.  Here are some changes to typical summer gardening tips to keep your garden producing through extreme heat waves.   

Heat Tolerant Edibles

The summer lovers can survive extended heat waves and come back strong when the temperatures get back to normal for September with a little extra attention.  Many will pare back their production until it cools off.  Tomatoes flowers are sterile when temperatures stay in the 90's so the production will drop off until it cools a bit but then they will produce until frost so don't give up on them yet!

Right now, I am getting many tomatoes because about a month ago we had a stretch when the temperatures went into the 80's for about 10 days or so.  I am also getting okra, cucumbers, peppers, huckleberries, raspberries, summer squash, and yard long beans.  My winter squash has many growing small fruits.

For greens, cultivated dandelions, Giant Blue Feather lettuce, Red Malabar spinach and New Zealand spinach are doing quite nicely with many volunteers keeping the harvest going.   Herbs love heat so they are all doing well with extra watering. 

In the flower department, Cockscomb, zinnia, marigolds, Russian sage, Blue Indigo sage, lavender and marigolds are filled with blooms.

 Keep up the Production Strategies

Aside from planting crops that like the heat and humidity, there are strategies for keeping your crops from dying and maximizing the harvest during these crazy heat waves.  The requirements for growth and fruiting of edibles are enough sun, adequate moisture, the right varieties, nutrition, and pest avoidance.

As the mercury climbs, plants appreciate some shade, particularly in the hottest part of the day.  If you are growing in pots, you can just move the pot from a full sun location to one that provides some afternoon shade.  You can also move pots of sun lovers in front of your edibles that need a little break or use a sun shade.

In normal summer heat, edibles appreciate about an inch of water each week if they are planted in the ground; double that if grown in a pot.  With these extended periods in the upper 90's, you should water at twice the frequency to get enough moisture to the plants to survive.  To keep the moisture in the soil, use a soaker hose and cover with a mulch.  This keeps the water in the ground where the plants can use it.  You can also buy a timer and set it to water twice a week so you don't forget.  

For edibles in pots, use larger pots that hold more soil and therefore more moisture, buy pots that have a water reservoir (also called self-watering pot).  I went to 4-5" deep catch pans/trays so I can fill the trays full and let the plant soak up the moisture it needs between waterings.  Cover the soil with mulch to keep the moisture from evaporating.  Moving the pots to a shadier location will also decrease the watering needs.  

Since it seems like we need to expect to get crazy heat waves as our new normal, I have also started to look for extreme heat and disease tolerant varieties.  I am trying new cucumbers, summer squash, winter squash and tomatoes this year.  For me, Baker Creek grows many of their seeds around the world in tropical regions and Southern Exposure specializes in varieties for the south so both are good fits for my garden conditions.

Look at the seed packet or internet description for the variety you are buying.  Terms like "drought tolerant", "heat resistant", "disease resistant" are all good ones for our hot and humid summer conditions.

When it is this hot, I hold off on fertilizing.  As soon as it cools down, I will do a round to get them kick started for their fall run.  You can buy all natural fertilizer stakes that advertise to be good for the whole season so you can fertilize once.  As long as production stays strong and the leaves green, it is working.

Harvesting frequently also stimulates that plant to keep producing.  I pick beans, eggplant, squash and cucumbers when they are fully ripe.  I pick tomatoes and peppers just when they start to turn.  If I leave tomatoes on the plant until they are fully ripe, the birds and raccoons start sampling before I get them picked!

Last is pest avoidance.  There are a variety of ways to practice pest avoidance.  You can companion plant so one plant deters another's pests like tomatoes with basil and marigolds.  You can time your planting to avoid a pest like waiting until mid June to plant squash to avoid the vine borer or harvesting broccoli as soon as you see the cabbage worm moth fluttering about.  You can plant two crops of tomatoes and squash so that as the early crop is losing steam, the second crop is just getting going.  

Take a walk around the garden on a daily basis looking for any big changes in your plants.  If they are drooping in the morning, they may need a watering.  If the leaves have turned from dark green to a pale green, they may need a nitrogen boost.  If it looks like something has been eating the leaves, look to see if there are caterpillars on the undersides of the leaves.  And, of course, harvest anything that is ready to be picked and enjoy the pleasure of watching your food grow!  

What's happening in the late August edible garden

Garden in the morning

Sunday, August 30, 2026

August usually sees the full repertoire of the summer garden harvests.  This August has again been hard on even the summer vegetables due to the extreme and prolonged heat starting in early summer.  We are back in the 90's again for the next 2 weeks.  Usually there is late sweet corn (plant corn in succession and different varieties to lengthen the harvest), summer squashes (like zucchini), peppers of all types (sweet to hot, hot), tomatoes, Mediterranean herbs, cucumbers, okra, apples, peaches, pears, grapes, beans, melons, figs, eggplant, honey, artichokes, raspberries, onion, winter squash and fennel are all in season in the Midwest/Upper South.  

This year for warm season veggies, the heat put the hurt on tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and beans.  Tomato pollen is sterile when temperatures average about 85F.  The flowers will form but will fall off because they can't be germinated.  We are getting some tomatoes but not as many as cooler temperatures provide.  The larger tomatoes have very few babies on them and those that do form do not get to normal size.  Our temperatures are not forecasted to drop into the mid 80's for at least the next couple of weeks so no relief in sight yet.

My yard long beans are producing well.  I got one flush off Christmas Speckles lima beans and none off my 1500 Year Old Cave beans.  The vines look healthy, just no flowers or beans. 

My Trombetta squash vine is 25' long and has lots of squash on it.  I lost 2 other summer squash vines early on but this one is making up for it.

I had 4 different kinds of cucumber vines.  One is starting to die back.  Another really never produced much, just 3 cucumbers.  The other 2 are producing more than I can eat and pickle.  Really only need 1 vine for fresh eating and pickling.

My eggplant and pepper plants are doing okay.  Only the green eggplant has been steady in producing.  Have gotten only one purple eggplant.  They'd probably produce better if I fertilized and watered them more often.  My hot peppers are pumping out the peppers.  My sweet peppers are doing okay.  They'll do much better when it cools off.  

I will fertilize all my veggies with liquid fish fertilizer now when it has cooled down some to give them a boost.  Summer veggies do love normal September weather so I should see a good increase in production in the next couple of weeks if the temperatures get back to normal.

I am harvesting small tomatoes, yard long beans, peppers, greens,  Giant Blue Feather lettuce, Egyptian walking onions, eggplant, goji berry, basil, melons, husk cherries, huckleberries, raspberries and herbs.  

You can start a second round of summer veggies like tomatoes, cucumbers and summer squash at the end of June to have more vigorous plants going into fall.  I transplanted extra tomato slicer plants, Brandwine and Mortgage Lifter, into my garden beds in July.  The heat has been so intense that they haven't grown more than 6".  For this type of heat we are having now, I think I'll do a second round at the beginning of June.

If you are not growing summer veggies in your own garden, your local farmers market is a great place to pick up these seasonal veggies to either eat or preserve.  The best buy on any fruit or vegetable is when it is in season.  You can get even better deals on any produce that has a few blemishes which have no effect on the flavor.  If you are going to can, freeze or dry them, just be sure to remove any blemishes first.

 Veggies that are easy to preserve the extras for winter eating

We grow many edibles in pots because our edibles are integrated into the flower beds.  In pots, we have had great luck with Egyptian walking onions (which can be harvested year round), peppers, eggplant, bush zucchini, bush cucumber, dwarf tomatoes, greens, fig tree, columnar apple trees, dwarf moringa tree, kumquat tree, sweet bay, mint, goji berry, raspberry, lettuce and celery. 

Spaghetti squash sitting on hummingbird vine

I have tried sweet and hot peppers in pots and the garden.  Overall, they seem to do the best in pots.  I am growing a couple hot peppers-a pequin type Chiltepin and Anaheim.  I use the tiny peppers in my season salt I make and Anaheim for chili powder.  I have several varieties of sweet peppers-Habanada, Tricked You jalapeño, yellow, red and green bell peppers and a dark red snacking sweet pepper.  I have 2 bell peppers in the ground and doing well.  The rest are in pots.

Preserving peppers

Growing peppers 101

Weekly watering for plants in the ground is sufficient with monthly fertilizing.  A pot with a water reservoir in the bottom is the best solution for lengthening the time between waterings when growing in pots.  Otherwise, plan on watering your pots every 2-3 days and fertilize every other week.  Summer Edible Gardening Tips

I grow all of our herbs in the ground except sweet bay.  Sweet bay is a tender perennial and will not survive winters outside so I keep it in a pot to bring in each fall.  I had one a couple of years ago that was supposed to be hardy in our zone and it didn’t make it.  I put my new one in a pot and it has overwintered well in our unheated garage for the last four winters.  Fall is a good time to plant perennial herbs, veggies, fruits and flowers.

Midwest Perennial Vegetable Garden

Rosemary is also tender.  I have tried the several varieties that are supposed to be able to survive a Midwest winter and have yet to find one that will last past 2 seasons.  I have tried to also keep in a pot and bring in each winter. This is an herb I will buy each spring if overwintering does not work out, plant in the garden, then preserve for the winter by harvesting late in the season and drying.  Of course, I have 2 more rosemary varieties I am trying this summer that I hope may make it through the winter.

Harvest and preserve your herbs

Make your own "Herbes de Provence"

Flowers are doing good right now in the garden.  They are covered in beneficial insects, butterflies and butterfly caterpillars.  The zinnias, marigolds, petunias, Hummingbird vine, lantana, and Cock's Comb are done with their big show and most have gone to seed.  I am still getting flowers but not as many as even a couple of weeks ago.  The zinnias, marigolds and Cock's Comb are also edible.  Flowers that are edible

Red zinnia

I should have started my fall and winter edibles 2 weeks ago. I guess this fall it's going to be whatever has re-sprouted from seed like sprouting broccoli, parsley, celery, winter cress, Giant Blue Feather lettuce and others. 

What I planted this week for fall eating

Get your fall and winter garden growing!

A quick reminder, save the seeds from your best performers that have been disease free to plant next year.  You can replant seeds from any heirlooms or open pollinated plants.  What do the terms GMO, natural, heirloom, organic, hybrid really mean?  Not only does it save you money, but it also gives you the plants that do the best under your garden and zone conditions.

Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver

My top 10 seed saving tips

The September 2026 Edible Garden Planner

Harvest from September garden

Saturday, August 29, 2026

End of summer is a great time to tidy garden beds, harvest herbs, plant for fall and winter harvests, and add new perennials.  As the days get shorter, growth slows and before long the sun cannot support all the greenery from summer.  Plants, trees and bushes will drop leaves, but peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, greens, herbs, okra, pole beans, squash and cucumbers will keep producing through frost.  Keep the fruits picked to keep them producing.  Beginning of September is an ideal time to sow seeds of cool weather greens for fall and early winter harvests.  

Harvesting Herbs

This is the perfect time to harvest your herbs.  You can cut them back so they remain lush, improving the tidiness of your garden, and providing herbs for the winter ahead.  Cutting them back will help the plants build stronger root systems.  Trimming also encourages new growth.  You just don't want to prune perennial herbs too close to frost as new growth makes the plant less hardy. 

Harvesting and drying herbs

I dry my herbs to preserve them.  I cut the plant back by about two thirds and put the stems loosely in a paper bag in a dry, warm area out of the sun and let dry naturally.  Loose is the key here so they get good air circulation and do not mold.  They should be completely dry in about 3-4 weeks.  I like putting them in clothes closets to dry as they release such great fragrance, repels moths and the darkness helps keep the flavor in the herb. 

Once dried, remove the leaves from woody herbs and store in an airtight container out of direct sunlight.  With a soft herb like chives, you can just crumble into the airtight container.  I use wide mouth canning jars for herb storage or freezer bags kept in a dark location.  

For more ideas on herbs, Make your own "Herbes de Provence", Use herbs for signature desserts and grown up beverages, Quick tip on fresh flavor herb preservation and herbal butters, Homemade salad dressing recipes with garden herbs, and Make your own teas from garden grown herbs

Basil is one that loses most of its flavor when dried.  You can cut back basil a few times each growing season for harvesting and preserving.  My favorite way to preserve basil is to make pesto and freeze it.  It tastes just like freshly made pesto.  Be sure to remove all leaves or bring plants indoors when they are calling for frost.  Basil is very frost intolerant and its leaves will turn black when touched with frost.

Time to harvest basil 

 If the winter is not colder than usual in our zone, most perennial herbs like chives, oregano, sage, savory and thyme can be harvested year round straight from the garden.  If it is a harsh winter, the tops of these perennials will die to the ground, but re-sprout in the spring.

Winter squash from the September garden

Fall planting guide for cool season crops

September is prime time to plant more greens, beets, cole crops, carrots and radishes. 

What to start in the edible September garden

Get your fall and winter garden growing!

October is the month to plant garlic for next year's harvest.  Buy your garlic now if you haven't already because the most popular varieties sell out early!  I replant the biggest cloves from this year's harvest.  I use both regular garlic and elephant garlic in the garden.  I like elephant garlic because it produces huge cloves.  Hardneck garlic has larger cloves than soft neck and is easier to peel.  The advantage of soft neck garlic is that it stores longer and is hardier in colder climates.  I gave up on doing winter storage of whole cloves and went to pickling the extras.  Pickled garlic lasts for years in the frig.  

 Time to plant garlic! With growing tips......  

Quick tip-”peeling” garlic

Have garlic any time you need it, just pickle some!

You can pick up transplants like broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, kale, as well as herbs at some nurseries since gardening has become so popular.  You can also buy them on line or grow from seed.  Everything that loves spring also thrive in fall into early winter and some all the way to spring.  

Broccoli and cauliflower growing tips

Everything you need to know about growing lettuce

Collards and kale in your garden

Midwest Perennial Vegetable Garden

Lettuce is my favorite for fall.  Plant a variety daily the first two weeks of September so that they are mature by the end of October.  Pick varieties that are cold tolerant with descriptions like "winter hardy", "cold tolerant", etc.  Time to plant lettuce seed for fall, winter salads

For more on fall planting,  Time to set out transplants for fall, winter, & spring harvests

Caring for your new seeds and transplants

Like in the spring, newly sown seeds need moisture to sprout.  Keep seeds and transplants moist until they get their first real set of leaves and are well established.  Then water as needed.  Outdoor seed starting tips

Many crops you can harvest into December and beyond, depending on how cold fall is.  Some get sweeter with some frost, like carrots, chard, and lettuce.  With cover, you can harvest all the way through winter!  
Extend the season with protection for plants

Transplants for winter and overwintering

What’s growing in the late February garden

Homegrown, organic salads in a Midwest winter

You can garden year round in small space

Prepare for hard freeze

Caring for the Summer Vegetables

Many of the summer veggies will continue producing until the first killing frost.  I continue to fertilize the beginning of September and October to keep the plants healthy while they are producing.  We are getting less and less daylight now so it is expected that the plants will drop lower leaves and have slower growth. Cucumbers, summer squash, peppers, eggplants, okra, snap beans and tomatoes all keep producing in our garden well into November.  

Greens in the garden are getting a second life as the temperatures cool and consistent moisture returns.  I got my greens sowed a couple of weeks ago and most of them are up now.  We had a real heat wave before that.  Lettuce seed will not sprout if soil temperatures are above 75F.  I sowed lettuce, spinach, greens and snow peas when it got back down into the 80's for highs.  I'll transplant the seedlings into pots that I keep under the portable greenhouse for the winter to keep salads all winter long when the temps start staying in the low 80's or cooler so they don't bolt. 

A quick reminder, save the seeds from your best performers to plant next year!  You can replant seeds from any heirlooms or open pollinated plants and they will be like their parent; hybrids likely will not.  Not only does it save you money, but it also gives you the plants that do the best under your garden and zone conditions.  Be sure to save seed only from disease free plants.  My top 10 seed saving tips 

What to plant in the August garden

Fall garden

Sunday, August 23, 2026

August is a great time to begin planting for fall and winter harvests.  Get the most out of your edible garden by using all the seasons for fresh, homegrown goodness!

You can garden year round in small space
A fall edible garden
The winter edible garden

Here are the crops you can start in the August Midwest edible garden:

Beets

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts
Bush beans

Cabbage

Carrots

Cauliflower
Celery

Collards
Corn salad
Endive

Fava beans (broad beans)

Kale

Kohlrabi
Lettuce
Mustard

Onions

Peas

Radish

Scallions

Snow peas
Spinach
Strawberry runners

Swiss chard

Turnips

Early August is last call for zucchini and summer squash planting!

November edible garden

Look for cold hardy varieties when planting for fall and winter harvests.  You may be surprised that you can harvest all through the winter months things like greens, onions, Austrian peas, carrots, herbs and cabbage.  You can also extend the fall and winter harvest by looking for the same crop with different days to harvest timing so that they mature at different times.  Finally, you can use cover to possibly extend the harvest all the way to next spring.  Extend the season with protection for plants

When planting in the hot months, be sure to keep the soil moist until the plants are well established.  Summer and fall planted crops take longer to come to harvest than they do in the spring.  Rule of thumb is to add 2 weeks.  It's because the days are getting shorter rather than longer.  

A great and easy way to start your fall garden is to sow the seeds in a pot on a covered deck or patio.  This makes it easy to keep an eye on the seedlings and protects them from the harsh hot summer sun.  After they have a couple of sets of their true leaves, you can transplant into the garden bed.  Harden them off first by moving the pot to full sun before transplanting.  "Hardening off" seedlings  After transplanting into the garden, keep them watered regularly during hot, dry weather until well established.

You can get fall vegetable transplants on line and at some local nurseries so you don't even have to start seeds to get a fall garden and harvest.  I let my spring greens go to seed.  This time of year there are many volunteers sprouting.  I dig and move them to where I want them for the fall and winter.  For lettuces, I put in the pots that I will cover with a portable greenhouse so I harvest for salads until next spring.  Winter hardy greens like kale, herbs like thyme and onions will survive without cover.  Winter edible garden

For more summer seed starting tips Outdoor seed starting tips

Have enough pickles? Make pickle relish!

Freshly canned pickle relish

Saturday, August 22, 2026

My cucumber plants are still producing very well.  When you have plenty of pickles, it is time to make some pickle relish! Pickle relish is fairly quick and easy with no pressure canner needed.

In the summer, I use our fresh eggs to make an egg, lettuce and tomato sandwiches for lunch.  In the winter, I have been making egg salad and lettuce sandwiches for lunch.  I like the crunch from pickle relish in my egg salad.  After I used up what I had in the pantry, I decided to see how hard it was to make relish.  The sweet pickle relish was a multi-day effort.  Pickled relish on the other hand was very similar to making pickles which is pretty quick and easy.

If you have leftover pickles from last year and want something to do with them, you can just use them to make relish and make fresh pickles.  I just pull out the pickles and put them into the food processor.  You need to water bath can them after making into relish.

If you are going to make fresh relish, the recipe I found on line recommended using a food processor, carefully, to get the cucumbers into relish sized bits.  I tried hard to minimize the processing but ended up with big hunks and close to mush.  The second time around, I went the old-fashioned route and used a knife to dice the cucumbers which gave me more what I wanted.

How to make pickle relish

  1.  Get your canning jars, lids and rings.  I chose the pint size since one pint of relish lasts me a few weeks.  You can go smaller or larger, depending on how quickly you will use the relish.  I use Tattler (BPA free plastic lid) or glass lids.  The vinegar in the relish eats at metal lids.  Easy, low tox canning of summer's bounty

2.  To let the pickled relish taste shine through, the recipe calls for white vinegar.  You can use apple cider vinegar.  Any neutral tasting vinegar will work as long as it is at least 5% strength.  Make your own apple cider vinegar

3.  Here are the ingredients.  Feel free to adjust the spices to your taste.

8 pounds of cucumbers (peeled or with skin) finely diced

1/2 cup pickling or canning salt (finely ground salt with no additives)

2 teaspoons turmeric

2 medium onions, finely diced

2 tablespoons dill seed

1 tablespoon mustard seed

4 bay leaves

4 cups white vinegar (can use any vinegar with 5% strength or higher)

4.  Wash, peel and dice your cucumbers, place in large bowl, add salt and turmeric, cover with water  and let mix soak for 2-3 hours.  Drain in colander or fine meshed sieve and rinse well.

5.  Add cucumbers, chopped onions, seasonings and vinegar to large stock pot.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

6.  Remove bay leaves and fill hot pint jar with mixture, leaving 1/2" head space, making sure all bubbles are removed.  Screw on hot lid and place in pressure cooker or pot large enough that pint jars are covered with at least 1" of water.

7.  Bring canner/large stock pot to a boil, process for 15 minutes.  Wait 5 minutes before removing.

8.  Remove jars straight up from pot; do not tilt.  Allow jars to fully cool for a full 24 hours.

9.  Gently remove ring and test seal by lifting jar by seal, while supporting jar with other hand.  If seal holds, relish can safely be stored in the pantry.  If seal does not hold, relish should be placed in the refrigerator.

If you like a "warmer" spice mix, substitute the mustard seed and 4 bay leaves with 2 cloves, 1 teaspoon of dry garlic, 1/4 teaspoon of caraway seeds, 1/4 teaspoon of peppercorns, 1 bay leave and 1 cardamon seed pod.  Put the cloves, caraway seeds, peppercorns and seed pod in a muslim bag to make them easy to remove after cooking along with the bay leave.

For spices, get creative with what you enjoy!

Here is how I make pickles:  Time to pickle!  

The vinegar and processing per the instructions are critical for food safety.  The acidity must be high enough to use the boiling water method.  For low acid foods, pressure canning is required for food safety.  For more detailed instructions on canning, Sites & resources for canning.  For options on the jars, see my blog Easy, low tox canning of summer's bounty