Pickles!

One of the things that I love most about exposing children to seasonal food is the way in which it helps children to connect with the changing of the seasons and with nature. As our garden and CSA shares near the end of the season, we thought it might be fun to teach the children a little about food preservation and the activities that might take place on a farm in Autumn. We decided to use these beautiful little gherkins to make homemade pickles.

During the morning work session, the children busied themselves with carefully scrubbing the pickles and chopping off the ends.




Then, each child filled their own jar with cucumbers,

and added the pickling spices (fragrant dill and mustard seeds).

Then, the jars were filled with hot brining liquid

and sealed with lids (the children were completely captivated with the magnetic lid-lifter, which is used for removing hot lids from the sterilizing bath!).

Voila! Homemade pickles to share with their friends during snack time and to take home to share with their families! Not a bad way to celebrate the first week of Autumn!