Finally the weather report is right, at least at my house. A nice gentle rain came through, the kind my newly sown seeds absolutely love. I’m hoping this will be the magic my yellow squash mounds needed. This is the third time replanting them, and this round I used seeds a fellow gardener shared with me. Maybe these will be the ones that take. The rain gave me a much‑needed break from watering. When I sow seeds, I have to be on point every single day or they dry out and fizzle. I’m not sure why the yellow squash isn’t playing nice with me this year. Everything else is up — zucchini, cucumbers, and watermelon — but the yellow squash is being stubborn.
Rainy days mean you make use of the downtime, and for me that meant canning day. My garden usually gives in dribs and drabs, never quite enough to can the very next day. I kept giving okra away, but somehow I still ended up with plenty — enough to put up 9 pints of spicy pickled okra and 2 pints of jalapeño rings.
I still woke up early — today it was 5 AM — and had to wait until almost 6 to head to Walmart. I needed string trimmer line for my weed whacker, and while I was there I picked up a few of the Great Value soups: chicken and dumplings, minestrone, and beef pot roast. They’re comparable to the name brands, and at $1.74 they fit our budget nicely. We like these ready‑made soups when we get tired of sandwiches. They pair perfectly with a little chunked cheese, crackers, and maybe a piece of fruit.
I could have bought the main ingredient I needed for today’s canning, but I’ve had a bad experience with Walmart’s peeled garlic. The package said it was good until August, but when I opened it, most of it was rotten. I even checked the little window on the front and it looked fine. I barely had enough garlic during my last canning session, and I didn’t want to waste what was left — the bad cloves actually make great garlic‑pepper spray for my Peter Rabbit deterrent.
Speaking of Peter Rabbit, here he is. He ran away just a little and then stopped to scratch his ear. That’s my Peter.
Got home and was cooking up my plans for this coming week while waiting for Aldi to open at 9 AM. What an insane time to open. What do they think we’re on — European hours, where coffee shops and groceries open at 9? They really need to dial in with customer shopping trends. They might even boost their sales by opening sooner. Anyway, this gave my husband and I time to stop on our five‑minute drive to Aldi at Starbucks. We love drinking a regular cortado.
While at Aldi I picked up all our usual staples — and didn’t forget what I really needed: garlic and milk. I go through the self‑checkout because it’s faster, and here’s my tip: I do not scan and put items on the shelf. I scan and leave everything in my cart. I use my purse as the divider and put what I’ve scanned with the handheld scanner in the nose (or front) of the cart — some people might call it a buggy — and this way you’re not handling items multiple times. No putting them on the Aldi shelf and then handling them again. Just scan, pay, and go. Cold items go in the cooler, and non‑perishables go in our Aldi cardboard box. We reuse the box again and again, and once it falls apart, if it’s brown cardboard it can go on my garden walkway or straight into the recycle bin. Easy unload, easy carry into the house.
With garlic in hand, I’m finally ready to start canning. I’ve linked my spicy pickled okra recipe here if you want to revisit it. Today, as noted, I used my fresh dill heads in place of the dried seed and weed.
Recently I had two jalapeño pepper plants collapse, and I had enough peppers from those two plants to spice up my pickled okra and also make two pints of jalapeño pickled rings. One way we like to use the rings in our salsa Verde taco recipe. What is nice I use the same brine for all my pickled recipes.
Pickled Jalapeño Rings- Pint Jars
Equipment
- Water bath canner
- Canning jar lifter tongs
- Wide mouth funnel
- Magnetic lid lifter
- 2 1-Pint canning jars The number depends on how many pounds of Jalapenos.
- 2 each of canning lids and rings
Ingredients
- 1 pound Jalapeños
- 12 Black Peppercorns 6 per jar
- 1/4 tsp Pickle Crisp 1/8 per jar
- 2 Garlic clove 1 per jar-Optional
- 1 Bay Leaf 1/2 bay leaf per jar-Optional
Brine:
- 1 cups White Vinegar
- 3 cups Water
- 1/6 cup Pickling Salt 2Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons
Instructions
- Trim off the stem end of each jalapeños.
- Slice jalapeños into rings.
- Place peppercorns (and garlic or bay leaf if using) into bottom of sterilized jars.
- add 1/8 teaspoon Pickle Crisp.
- Pack jalapeño rings into jars.
- Ladle hot brine over jalapeños, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Remove air bubbles and adjust brine if needed.
- Wipe rims and apply lids and rings and tighten until fingertip tight.
Processing
- Process pint jars for 20 minutes in a boiling water bath canner. Turn off heat, let jars rest for 5 minutes, then remove to cool.
Notes
I made nine pint jars of spicy pickled okra and two pint jars of jalapeño rings. Here are the finished products.
Some people might say this is a lot of work when I could just buy it at the grocery store. But there’s nothing like homemade — and even better, I grew it. Now to finish my planning for next week’s pickle patch chores.