Lacto-fermented cucumbers

It was time to put the new fermentation crock to use.  On Saturday a new batch of Calypso cucumbers were harvested.  I'm really pleased with the pickling cucumbers this year.  Last year I put in two plants which gave me some early production then fizzled out, and the plants never got any size.  This year I planted four plants and pruned off the first fruits.  I think it paid off as the plants are at the top of the trellis and producing like crazy.

The plant in the left of the photo is a Diva, a slicing cuke.  The rest are Calypso.  Well here is what was picked.  Nice fat beauties, totaling 3.6 pounds.

I didn't know if that was enough to fill a gallon fermentation jug but figured that I could always add one or two more as more cucumbers would be ripe soon enough.  It turned out to be just enough.  I sliced off the blossom ends, put in the herbs - fresh dill, dill seeds, garlic, mustard seeds, coriander, and a wild grape leaf for tannin - then the cucumbers.  The jar was filled up with a brine, two tablespoons per quart, and the lid with bubbler attached. 

Since the cucumbers were whole they couldn't be packed as tightly as the sliced.  A top weight wasn't necessary as the topmost cucumber wedged in crossways under the shoulders of the jar, holding everything else beneath the surface.  Now it's wait and see.