I'd expected that I'd have to wait until summer to get some of these little pickling cukes, but was surprised to find them at the big market a few days ago. I didn't buy a lot of them -- not prepared to do a lot of them right now -- but wanted to give it a try. There is enough to fill up one quart jar and part of another, which is why they ended up in the crock rather than a glass jar.
Floating in the brine isn't ideal, but I quickly found that the weights I use for kraut and kimchi do not work on roly-poly floating cukes! So, until I'm able to work something else out, I'll just stir these around often enough that everything stays clean and mold-free. They will be just fine.
They began smelling like dill pickles within a couple of hours, which was cool. Now I wait for a couple of weeks and see what I end up with. Better to experiment small the first time anyway, I've found, then use the techniques I learn for larger batches. And if they are available in the market year-round, I can make small batches year-round once I get the process down.
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