End of the Garden Pickle
The end of the garden
End of the Garden pickle signifies the end of the garden. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, and the garden is done.
As a child, End of the Garden pickle on the table brought anticipation for company coming to dinner. This sweet-sour combination of pickles and vegetables was a favorite of mine as a child – and continues to be so as an adult. I’ve rarely served it in my home because my kids – sadly – are not a fan. But when I have a chance to enjoy this dish, I do. It absolutely takes me back to my childhood at my mama’s table.
The variety in this pickle recipe adds color and texture to your table. It also adds flavor, and I do like the vinegar/sugar combination. Mama’s glass dish that held this pickle sits in my china cabinet now. This recipe is what I think of when I use this dish.
My mother tweaked the recipe in the Mennonite Community Cookbook.1 This is Mama’s adaptations of the recipe. You can find the cookbook at this link.
As with any recipe, you can tweak it with the ingredients your family likes best. That’s what my mama did. I confess I have only made it once. Usually I am fortunate enough to have a sister or two give me a jar when I am in want. My sister in Nebraska had some and kindly took some photos for me for this post because my end-of-the-garden pickle is gone. Loretta still bakes for the Haymaker Farmer’s Market in Lincoln, Nebraska. She just finished her 33rd year of baking and selling at the Market. Loretta and Dave have five grown children and twenty-four grandchildren, ages 2-22.
The vegetables this recipe calls for are cucumbers, carrots, celery, peppers, lima beans, cauliflower, seasonings and spices. The original recipe calls for cabbage and string beans. My mother substituted cauliflower for cabbage and lima beans for string beans. You’ll need green tomatoes, onion and mustard seed and equal parts of vinegar and sugar. I still remember the opening of my pores after eating this pickle dish with a Sunday lunch. We didn’t have this dish regularly – but it was a “regular” when we had company and for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The recipe
End of the Garden Pickle
Ingredients
- 2 cups sliced cucumbers
- 2 cups chopped red or green peppers
- 2 cups chopped cauliflower
- 2 cups chopped green tomatoes
- 2 cups lima beans (or string beans)
- 2 cups diced carrots
- 2 cups diced celery
- 1 cup diced (or sliced) onion
- 2 tbsp celery seed
- 4 tbsp mustard seed
- 4 cups vinegar
- 4 cups sugar
- 1- 2 tbsp turmeric
Instructions
- (Peel - optional) and slice cucumbers. Chop cauliflower, tomatoes and peppers
- Soak overnight in salt water. Use 1/2 cup salt to 2 quarts water
- In the morning, drain the vegetables
- Cook lima beans (or string beans), carrots and celery until tender, but not soft
- Combine the soaked and cooked vegetables
- Combine vinegar, sugar and spices, and bring to a boil
- Add vegetables and simmer together for 10 minutes
- Pack into jars
- Hot water bath for 5 minutes
1The Mennonite Community Cookbook is copyrighted by Mary Emma Showalter and published by Herald Press, Scottdale PA in 1950.
