Growing a Pickle Garden: A Summer Backyard Project for Kids

With a series of pickle recipes and a variety of cucumbers from which to choose, kids can create a small garden devoted to one of their favorite snacks. Turn an ordinary backyard patch into an easy-to-maintain cucumber garden that will have kids digging in the dirt in no time.

The process behind growing and harvesting cucumbers is easy; although the pickling process is slightly more involved and requires adult supervision, there are some easy “quick pickle” recipes that add spicy flavor slices and spears without extra work.

Growing Cucumbers

Cucumbers are typically planted in dirt mounts or hills packed closely from fresh-turned dirt. Although gardeners usually plough or till the dirt to loosen it, a shovel and hoe will be sufficient to break a small patch of ground for planting. Plant three to six seeds per hill, spaced a few inches apart; if the plants appear too crowded, the number can be weeded down to three or four evenly-spaced plants once the seeds begin to grow.

Cucumbers are vines and can be trained to climb up a trellis or a simple support made from two poles driven into the ground and a piece of string. If the garden space is too small, climbing cucumber vines can help alleviate the congestion in the vegetable patch.

Cucumber Varieties

There are several unique cucumbers that can create fun or unusual pickle choices. While several varieties are recommended especially for pickling, other cucumber varieties will work as well (although many are less crisp or flavorful when substituted).

Choose unusual types like the soft miniature crystal apple cucumber or the standard lemon cucumber. Large Japanese climbing cucumbers can be harvested young and pickled with a traditional dill spear recipe, while Parisian pickling cucumbers are cultivated for tiny sweet pickles. The range of cucumber types is impressive, creating a garden full of shapes and colors.

Making Pickles

Making pickles that resemble the store-bought variety typically involves pre-purchased pickle spices, a pickle recipe, and the traditional canning process. The cucumber spears or slices are deluged in a hot bath of vinegar and spices that form the pickling juice, then protectively sealed inside the jars. This process involves both heat and scalding liquids, making it unsafe for unsupervised young gardeners.

Freezer pickles, although less traditional than other varieties, are a safer alternative for kids in the kitchen, although supervision is still necessary for the cooking process that creates the pickle brine. The safest method is the “quick pickle”, or slices and spears refrigerated in vinegar and a sprinkle of dill seeds for a few hours until serving time. This sweetens the flavor of the cucumber slices, but leaves them crisp and green.

Kids will take pride in homemade pickles produced by their own garden. Growing a simple “pickle” patch makes a great summer project for kids with a new interest in green thumb activities.