Pickles

Today I tried making pickles for the first time. I started small, just one batch. I ordered the pickling cucumbers from my CSA and decided it was best to make the pickles today while the cucumbers were the freshest. I made one batch of Bread and Butter Pickles from The Joy of Cooking:All about Canning and Preserving. It made 4 pints. When I sliced the cucumbers for the recipe, I had just enough cucumber slices left over to experiment with a jar of dill pickles, using dill from my garden. I can't tell you how either recipe turned out yet because I'm waiting for them to cool so I can check the seals on the jars.

Odd and Ends:
Here's my buttercup squash coming along nicely. I had two more female blossoms bloom earlier this week but I can't say for sure yet whether they are going to set. I've noticed that honey bees seem to be frequenting the male flowers which is a good sign. I've also done some pollinating on my own just to make sure, but even still the first 3 female blossoms didn't take. I hope to get more than just one squash out of this plant.
Yesterday, I noticed this Katydid on the underside of a zucchini leaf. I ran back in to get the camera and it was still there when I returned.