When produce shows up, I put it in a jar. So when Okra showed up at my house, it meant I had to find a way my boys would eat it……when in doubt, I pickle.  My boys devoured the 1st jar we opened!   It’s best to let the pickles sit 2 weeks before opening, I managed to hold my boys off 1 week and the pickles were delicious! We used the Ball Canning Recipe as a guide and tweaked it..  This recipe yields 4 pints.

• 3 1/2 lbs of small okra pods
• 1/3 cup picking salt
• 2 teaspoons dill seed
• 3 cups water
• 3 cups vinegar
• 4 cloves garlic (1 per jar)
• 2 small hot red peppers cut in half (or 1 per jar)

Was the okra really good, cut the stems off but don’t cut into the top of the pod.

I did stick the knife in the side of the pod to pierce it.  This allows the brine to soak into the okra and you don’t loose as much fluid over time as the jars sit and it slowly soaks.  Peel the garlic cloves, wash the peppers and sit aside.

Combine the salt, dill seed, water and vinegar in a large stock pot.  I added some dill weed to mine also.  Bring the brine to a boil.

Pack the okra into hot jars leaving 1/2-inch head space.  Add 1 clove of garlic and 1 pepper per jar.  Ladle hot liquid over the okra, leaving 1/2-in head space. Remove air bubbles.  Place lid and ring, tighten.

Water bath 15 minutes.

Let sit for 2 weeks before opening for the best pickling results.