Go to the Green Festival. And eat pickles.

Seriously, go. If you live in DC, it'll be here in a few weeks. I think we're going both days (in fact, we postponed a little vacation because of the scheduling conflict). We had such a blast last year, and this year, my guy from our CSA will be speaking as one of the presenters. How cool is that?

Speaking of the CSA, we're going back out to the farm this Sunday. I am really not looking forward to the end of the growing season, which means cold weather and foreign fruits and vegetables. So we're trying to squeeze in some good time harvesting on the farm before that first frost. From my awesome farmers and in honor of my dad, who is this very moment fasting for Yom Kippur (and will break his fast with these pickles tomorrow night!), this recipe for half-sours:

Cucumbers
Sea Salt (1.25 Tbs. for 2.25 lbs. of cucumbers)
Canning jars & lids

Wash the cucumbers you are going to use. You can also let them rest for a few hours in nice cool spring water (not chlorinated!) so they are nice and juicy. Take a quart-size mason jar, sprinkle a half dozen peppercorns, same amount of coriander seeds, 2 bay leaves, half tea spoon of mustard seeds, and 3-4 peeled whole or halved cloves of garlic. You can also add a couple of sprigs of fresh dill leaves or flowers, or a half teaspoon of dill seeds. Pack the jar vertically with 3-4 large cucumbers, or 5-6 smaller ones. Pour over the cucumbers and herbs a salt-brine of 1 pint of water to 1.5 teaspoons of sea salt. Make sure the water just about covers the tops of the cucumbers, then cover the jar loosely with its lid, so that air can escape when fermentation begins. Throw a kitchen towel over the jar to keep them in the dark. You may hear a sizzling sound after a day or two – that’s a good sign that the fermentation has begun!
After 2-3 days, see if the color has started to change from bright green to a yellow-green. That means you can put your jar in the fridge to slow down the fermentation process and keep your pickles crunchy! Serve as an appetizer, or chop into a cucumber & tomato salad. Use the salty pickle juice as you would vinegar in a salad dressing or add a cup full to a soup or stew!