Half-Sour Summer Pickles – Zucchini Recipe – Jersey Tomato Sandwich
As our garden continues to change and mature, we are rewarded with a small but steady harvest of strawberries each week. Our garden beans, displaying their vibrant energy, are currently in full bloom and are producing a bountiful second crop. To maintain the health and productivity of our garden, we’ve been weeding activities, and we’ve been supplementing the sporadic rainfall with the use of our sprinklers to ensure optimal moisture levels for our plants.
Our herb garden truly flourished this season, with an abundance of fresh herbs including basil, dill, and even some thyme. The fresh basil was the star ingredient in several delicious pasta dinners, transformed into vibrant pesto to perfectly complement the dishes. The dill and thyme, on the other hand, were incorporated into our meals, providing delightful aromatic notes to both our chicken and fish preparations. To ensure a continuous supply of fresh herbs, we emptied and thoroughly cleaned our stackable herb garden, preparing it for a second planting. For this new planting, we are continuing with our favorites, basil and dill, but we also decided to expand our culinary options by adding in fresh chives and fragrant oregano.
Our herb garden truly flourished this season, with an abundance of fresh herbs including basil, dill, and even some thyme. The fresh basil was the star ingredient in several delicious pasta dinners, transformed into vibrant pesto to perfectly complement the dishes. The dill and thyme, on the other hand, were incorporated into our meals, providing delightful aromatic notes to both our chicken and fish preparations. To ensure a continuous supply of fresh herbs, we emptied and thoroughly cleaned our stackable herb garden, preparing it for a second planting. For this new planting, we are continuing with our favorites, basil and dill, but we also decided to expand our culinary options by adding in fresh chives and fragrant oregano.
Our pole beans are doing well. The plants have overrun our bird shrine and our weather garden fence. On the garden fence I am trying to train the bean stalk onto a wood pole off from the rose bush on the other side of the fence. I am now getting flowers on the pole beans and hope to be harvesting soon.
Tomato Alley is flowering and has many tomatoes nearly ready to pick.. We harvested a small tomato and made a BLT sandwich. We have also been harvesting cherry tomatoes and adding them to our salads and sauteed zucchini recipe.
Jersey Tomato Sandwich (official)
Our favorite tomato sandwich:
- toasted fresh seeded rye bread
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- thin sliced garden tomato
Vineland, our cucumber garden is fully flowering and climbing a nearby fence. We were able to harvest enough pickling cucumbers to make our half-sour summer pickles!
Half-Sour Summer Pickles
- 1/2 gallon wide-mouth mason jar
- fermentation lid
- 4 cups water (spring water)
- 2 tbsp fine sea salt or kosher salt (non-iodized, +2 tsp if coarse)
- 1/4 tsp Food-grade Calcium Chloride (pickle crisp salt)
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 1 tsp. peppercorns
- 1 tsp mustard seed
- 4-5 sprigs fresh dill
- 4-5 fresh cucumbers (sliced into spears)
- Combine water and salts (sea salt and calcium chloride) in half-gallon mason jar. shake to dissolve.
- 2. Add peppercorns, mustard seed, garlic, and fresh dill to mason jar.
- 3. Cut cucumbers into spears and wedge in jar below water line if possible.
- Add fermentation lid and store at room temperature for 2-3 days.
- Replace fermentation lids with mason jar lid and ring.
- Set closed mason jar in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days
- Open jar and enjoy fresh summer pickles. Refrigerate after opening for up to 30 days.
Sauteed Zucchini Recipe
We’ve been harvesting zucchini and summer squash, which we immediately cook and serve for dinner!
- Zuccini or Summer Squash sliced into 1/4″ to 1/2″ “medallions”
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp Rosemary
- 4-5 cherry tomatoes sliced in halves
- Heat oil in skillet
- Add crushed garlic and rosemary into the hot oil and saute to release flavor.
- Arrange zucchini “medallions” in skillet in a single layer. Add tomato halves and cook until tender then flip zucchini over to cook other side.
- Cook until al dente, serve as a side dish to fish or steak.
