Should you want more pickles in your life this fall, be sure to come out to the Drake Hotel on September 22nd for the 6th Annual Pickle Championships. You can come as a guest and just enjoy tasting all the pickles or you can enter your own pickles in either the professional or amateur category. Any kind of pickle is eligible, in the past there have been pickled eggs, pickled tongue, pickled eggplant, many types of kimchi, even pickled walnuts. If it can be pickled, it can be entered. Here’s a little re-cap of last year’s event.

Now to share with you two of our favourite, somewhat unusual, but distinctly gorgeous pickle recipes.

It is no secret that we here at Fiesta Farms like our pickles. And we like radishes. And we like our watermelon too!

So we think it makes sense to combine three of our favourite likes into one awesome activity; making our own great pickles with watermelon rind and, wait for it, watermelon radishes.

Pickling veggies is really easy. You don’t need a lot of fancy equipment, or need to spend a fortune on ingredients. In fact, pickled watermelon rind, a classic treat that has its origins in the southern U.S. is a great way to get the most bang for your buck out of that 5 dollar melon. Eat the luscious interior, cut or peel away the green exterior and pickle only the white part. The end result is sweet, sour, crunchy, and has an attractive, almost translucent candy look. There are many recipes for pickled watermelon out there, but we like this one from pickyourown.org.

The watermelon radish is one of the more unique vegetables; beautiful to look at, crisp and lively and possessing a slightly sweet, slightly peppery flavour.  A member of the brassica (mustard) family, the watermelon radish thrives in cool temperatures and is a great late summer or early fall candidate for pickling. Cooking affects its visual appeal, dulling the deep vibrant magenta interior, and unzipping it of its zip. But slicing the radish thinly, preferably with a mandolin, and pickling it preserves the dramatic colours and the spicy flavour while adding a dash of sweet and sour. Here is an eye-catching recipe for kale salad with quick pickled watermelon radish and roasted pepitas that you can make in little over half an hour.

Incidentally, if you think you might be doing a lot of canning, you should look into getting a home canning kit, a small investment  that will save you a lot of grief. Time to get pickling and if you enter on Sept.22nd, may the best pickle win!