Each year I preserve fresh produce in a number of ways. Recently a friend asked me for my recipe for the jar of zucchini pickles that I gave her at this time last year. I almost never follow a recipe and use my gut feeling (and I have a big gut so lots of feeling) to create concoctions. So, in order to see if I could produce a batch that my friend would value, I have made a few jars of pickle today following the donation of some plump zucchinis.

The ingredients were a medium/largish zucchini, one large onion, one garlic clove, whole peppercorns, whole cloves, apple cider vinegar, salt, dried dill, and two teaspoons of leatherwood honey.

The peppercorns, salt, dill, chopped garlic, and the sliced and chopped onion were dropped into a pot. I halved and quartered parts of the zucchini before slicing, then added them into the pot.

The next step was to pour apple cider vinegar into the pot but not enough to cover. I was working on the assumption that fluid from the zucchini would add moisture, and the zucchini would soften and settle.

On the stove I soft boiled these ingredients for approximately 5 minutes then added the honey and cooked the mix for a further couple of minutes, before turning off the heat. In this time, the colour changed from a fresh-picked-green to a muted softer green.

This quantity of ingredients was sufficient to fill three medium jars.

Now I have a perfect accompaniment for salads and sandwiches. The jars are labelled with all ingredients and one will be given to my friend for her taste test.