166 PIN MONEY IN PICKLES 



vessel. If saving various sorts, use brine crocks instead 

 of a barrel, thus making separation easy. 



Gherkins, or prickly cucumbers, are grown in the same 

 way, and yield enormously. The vines are hardier than 

 those of the cucumber, will endure more handling, and 

 bear a third more fruit. They need to be carefully 

 watched, as old gherkins are hard and tough. In cutting 

 them, snip about half way the long fruit stalk. Never 

 lift a vine of anything from the ground in cutting. No 

 matter how carefully the lifting is done, the laying down 

 disturbs tendrils and fibers. 



String beans make excellent pickles. Plant and tend 

 as though for boiling, pick when the beans are just fairly 

 forming, wash and put in brine. The curious plant known 

 as the Martynia bears seed pods well worth pickling. So 

 does the nasturtium, if given a cool, moist, very rich 

 place to grow. Both make excellent substitutes for 

 capers. They are not, however, very well worth while 

 commercially, unless one puts up pickles one's self for a 

 special trade. 



Green peppers are fine for pickling, especially in man- 

 goes. Use the big bullnose sort, and clip the pods with 

 longish stalks just as they are on the point of turning red. 

 Muskmelons, both long and round, can be pickled at all 

 stages, from the size of an egg to the edge of ripeness. 

 When full grown, it is best to cut out a segment and 

 scrape away the seed before putting them in brine. If 

 they are meant for mango-making, tie in the cut piece 

 with a soft string, and pack them well down toward the 

 bottom of the barrel or crock. 



Do not plant muskmelons, cucumbers and gherkins side 

 by side in a pickle garden — bees will carry pollen back 

 and forth, tainting each with the blood of the other. 

 With space for all three, keep them apart, planting them 

 at opposite edges of the garden, with beans or cabbage 

 or cauliflower in between. Cauliflower in itself is an 



