This summer I grew awesome Northern Pickling cucumbers in a five-gallon Home Depot bucket filled with organic potting soil (NOT MIX). I put a tomato cage in the bucket & trained the vine to grow upwards. Lest you think this is a feat for an experienced gardener, this was the first time I've EVER tried to grow anything. Before my cucumber succumbed to powdery mildew (lesson learned, ask if you want more info), I got about 30 cukes, enough for 3 full quarts of refrigerator pickles.

Sorry if that doesn't actually answer your original question. Just thought I'd pipe in. :)

I feel your pain. However, my solution was to raise as many as I could - I garden in small cedar boxes placed around my yard, so space is definitely limited.

Then - trying not to keep them around too long after picking, decided the fastest way was to do fermented pickles - a few at a time in small glass containers. You can check the National Center for Home Preservation for more information on how to make and put up fermented foods.

I get a bit more leeway by fermenting small amounts of cukes, rather than try to find a large amount of fresh ones, especially if one doesn't have a large garden.

Also, because the farmers markets probably wouldn't have them too fresh either.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

I you have a local farmer's market make a deal with one of the reputable vendors who sells them for a lot (however many you want) of fresh-picked ones. You'll have to pay a bit more to get fresh-picked. But the best way is of course to grow your own as msfuzz mentioned above - a couple of containers trellised of a good pickling cuke variety should get you 3-4 jars worth in small batches - just pickle as they get picked. If you want more than that it will take several containers of them.

Good luck.

Dave

I don't have room for the vines either and the vendor I go to at our Farmers Market assures me they are picked fresh each morning. Certainly plausible since that market doesn't open until 10 AM :) I shop and pickle on the same day.

My sister used to solve the problem by taking her children to a U-pick - have you checked to see if there are any U-pick fields within driving distance? They would pick their own in the morning, go home and make pickles in the afternoon.

If you lived in Kansas, near me, I could load you up with pickling cucumbers. I grow alot of them from the end of May - October. They are wonderful. Too bad, I sold too many and didn't make enough pickles for me. I will try to remember to do that next year. We only have 3-4 jars left to last until May!

Jay

I grew cucumbers for the very first time this year - I planted Snow's Fancy Pickling Cucumbers from Seed Savers Exchange. I did have them in a large raised box with an attached trellis, but I'm sure you could grow them in a five gallon bucket - you'll just need something for them to climb. I can't stress how easy they were. I made 3 quarts of kosher dill spears, 7 pints of sweet pickle chips, then 4 quarts of refrigerator pickles, plus I gave a bunch away and that's all from about 3 plants.

This was my first experience canning as well, so I was very happy with them and plan on planting even more next year. Good luck and hope you succeed! Again - I had never grown them before but everyone told me they were one of the easiest things to grow, and they were right!

Just beware - this "city girl" never knew pickling cukes have spines!!

Lisa

I grew Boston pickling cucumber the last two years. It will give you a LOT of cukes off of a couple plants. In '08 I had three plants and was overrun with cukes, so for '09 I did two plants and was still overrun. They are good for a trellis, which saves a lot of space. They overtook my 4'wide by 6' tall trellis by the end of the season. The cukes are good for fresh eating too, and you can pick them at any size while they're still nice and green.

I grow my cukes in a small space I have a chain link fence I tied twine to the top and pounded stakes in the ground for a trellis. Bought the stakes at wally world, they are used for pounding in lawn edging.

This year the summer was so wet I feared I wouldn't have enough, so I ordered from the farm market what I wanted and they called the morning they picked.