Places to learn - don't really need one as the basics are the same no matter what you are fermenting and NCHFP cover all of them. NCHFP - Fermenting

If you want to get into fancy mixes then there are tons of books out ther. The best IMO is the Joy of Pickling.

Equipment needed - I have tried several of the different air lock contraptions over the years abd haven't been especially impressed with any of them. But any lead-free ceramic crock and if it has a lid great, a large glass jar that can be wrapped to keep out light also works, a fermenting crock with a water seal is my personal choice but they aren't cheap and I have used quart and gallon jars too. A small plate or some sort of weight to keep the food below the brine, maybe some cheese cloth, and a big bowl or pot to set the container in to catch any overflow. Food and canning salt.

Temp control - shooting for 70-75. Lower will work but higher often spoils. Look for down low cabinets or floors of closets, cellar, etc. as they are usually a few degrees cooler than at head level. Keep out of direct sun of course and preferably in low light or dark conditions. If such a place can't be found in the home in the summer then many foods can be frozen and saved for fermenting once the weather breaks. I wouldn't try doing that with cukes but have done it with cabbage and peppers and carrots.

Hope this helps.

Dave

When I ferment in the summer, I use an open cooler on the floor with just a couple of ice packs. It seems to lower the air temp enough without actually refrigerating the vegetables. I ferment directly in the jars I will be storing the vegetables in so when they are ready, they go straight into the fridge. In the fall, the counter works just fine because the air temp in much cooler.

I've done small batch fermenting of carrots on the counter in quart jars. I have small glass jars that are just a wee bit smaller than the mouth of the quart jar, and I get those super clean and sanitized- and filled with some salt water for a little bit more weight. Those I use as weights to keep everything b the brine, then I use a coffee filter and a rubber band as a "bonnet" over the mouth of the jar to let the gasses out and keep anything from getting in.

A lot of fermenting crocks are pretty much just a plate that holds your solids under the brine- and use some cheesecloth or other "venting cap" over the top for gasses.

I'm not sure how cold is too cold for fermenting but... when I was in culinary school, in the bakery room the "mother sours" were kept in the fridge to slow down it's fermenting and keep it good- we just fed it every week or every time someone took some mother out. One of the mothers was several years old and still going good. In another class we made sauerkraut, one of the first things of the quarter- it too was just put onto the bottom shelf of that fridge and just took longer to ferment nicely than if it was left in more optimally warmer conditions.. though left out on the counter, both the mother and the kraut would have rotted away because of it being too warm.

Now, I don't make cucumber pickles- I love Old Milwaulkees and till I can find a home recipe to make those, I skip cukes entirely. But I do know some brewers... maybe try checking out wort chillers/coolers? Or other brewing chillers- some brews require low and slow conditions. And also in the brewing field- 5 and 6 gallon wide mouth bubblers. Made of plastic and big ole mouth might be great for packing fermenting cukes in- and the lids are made for regular air locks that come cheap in brewing at just a couple bucks. I don't know who all carries the big mouth jugs, but I do know for sure that Northern Brewer does. Some local diners might have extra one gallon glass jugs that you can get too for smaller batches. Or half gallon canning jars. Or even two to five gallon buckets fitted out with brewing air locks.

As for a temp controlled space.. whew, getting harder here, lol. If your walk out basement is still too warm.. maybe consider building a root cellar within the basement? I've seen this sort of thing on some DIY kind of places. Take the coolest corner of the basement, and wall it it with extra insulation to make it even cooler.. or run a swamp cooler through the space or even an indoor AC unit to extra chill the space as needed. I've also seen some radical stuff in DIY like digging a root cellar down into the ground, or hilling up a cellar- or using an old well in some instances. Some of it was more permanent than others.