The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Last summer, my first in Waitsburg, I planted three tomato plants and harvested enough tomatoes to keep Heinz making ketchup for years. I was so proud, I sent pictures back to everyone in Los Angeles, bragging about my abundant tomato crop. Then came the frost, and all I had were limp dead plants, and planters loaded with green tomatoes. Experienced gardeners advised me " don't be discouraged, pick them, put them in a box in the pantry or laundry room and you will have tomatoes through November."

I picked every green tomato, large and small, threw them in shallow cardboard boxes and lo' and behold, every day one or two tomatoes ripened. Then came the mouse! One box of tomatoes was attacked, so they were trashed, but the rest I decided to pickle, to avoid another mouse attack. In Los Angeles, my favorite Deli (Brent's), always brought a tray of dill pickles, half-sours and pickled tomatoes to the table to munch on, while reading their 40 page menu. So, why not give it a try!

As I've mentioned, I am not a patient person, so I researched recipes for fast pickling. I had 6 bottles of pickled green tomatoes, that even the chef (Daniel), approved of. Success! I'm a pickler!

Recently, we were gifted a jar of pickled asparagus from Bill Rodgers, along with a jar of pickled garlic from Becky. We devoured the asparagus, then Daniel added more liquid and herbs to the remaining pickling liquid and then sent me to the store to find something to pickle. We now have a jar of pickled radishes in the fridge, along with a container of pickled carrots left over from another pickling experiment.

Karen and Paul invited us to pick sour cherries from their cherry tree, we picked and pickled. We now added a jar of pickled cherries in the fridge. Considering the cherries and radishes are both red, we may need to work on a labeling system next. Happily, not all the cherries were pickled; Daniel made cherry ice cream and cherry chocolate mousse cake, yum!

Now, it seems we're on the hunt for things to pickle (besides our livers-you did see a picture of our bar). We are growing cucumbers but they are not the pickling genus, note to self: plant pickling cukes in garden next year. We've planted more radishes (black radishes), if they actually grow, they will be picked and pickled, I'm sure.

We have planted lots of beans, but, I see chili in their future, not pickles. We have also planted peppers, however, too cliché, (Peter Piper...), so I'd rather just eat them off the vine or use them in an eggplant salad.

Right now we have a enough lettuce and arugula to carpet all of Waitsburg, unfortunately, pickling lettuces is probably not feasible, nor does it have any appeal to me. And, I love salads this time of year, so I'll leave the vinegar to the salad dressing, not the pickling jar.

Right now, I am confident my zucchini crop will be prolific, but pickling them would probably just be a mushy mess! I'd rather go for simple: grate the zucchini, sauté with olive oil, S &P, generously sprinkle on grated Parmesan cheese and I'm done! Or, if I've played enough tennis, fried zucchini is also a treat.

We are lucky to live in farm and wine country; I need to make a sign that says, "Pickle vegetables, not our livers!" A needed reminder when there is so much good wine here!

*(And thank you Paul for the title)