Canning your fall harvest from the greenhouse is one of the best parts of greenhouse gardening for many gardeners. Storing those fresh fruits and veggies signifies the culmination of a long and ‘fruitful’ growing season. The love of fresh produce is a strong motivating factor for many gardeners. It’s why we spend hours pulling weeds, watering, and caring for fledgling plants month after month.

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, the garden crops tend to get ahead of us. There are only so many hours in the day, and when other responsibilities encroach on your treasured gardening time, you can find yourself stuck with a boatload of work. Here are few ideas to help you make the most of those busy gardening moments.

Overripe Cucumbers
Ah, the lovely cucumber! One vine can produce tons of cukes, long into the growing season. The leafy vines often hide growing cucumbers from your sight, resulting in overgrown, or overripe cucumbers. Overgrown cukes are long, large, and often yellow. The flesh is porous, less crisp than young cucumbers, and the seeds are large and plentiful. Many cooks will tell you these cucumbers are not suitable for pickling or relish making. So, what are you to do with these garden giants? Well, you can make them into a sweet treat. Pickled Cinnamon Cucumbers taste a lot like candied apples and the rich cinnamon flavoring makes them immensely appealing as an after-dinner treat.

They take about 3 days to process and the finished product is jar filled with richly colored red rings of sweetness with a cinnamon stick in the center. These jars are nice enough to give away as gifts or enter into the county fair. You can find the original recipe here: http://www.scrapbookflair.com/oklahomadawn/Cinnamon_Cucumber_Rings/Page1 .

CINNAMON CUCUMBER RINGS
2-3 gallons cucumber rings
8 1/2 qts. cold water
Red food coloring
1 tsp. alum
2 c. water
8 cinnamon sticks
2 c. pickling lime
1 c. vinegar
2 c. vinegar
10 c. sugar
1 pkg. red hot candy
Mix 2 cups pickling lime and 8 1/2 quarts cold water. Pour over cucumber rings. Let stand 24 hours. Drain. Wash and put in cold water. Let stand 3 hours. Drain. Mix 1 cup vinegar, red food coloring, alum, and add enough water to cover. Simmer 2 hours. Drain.
Mix 2 cups vinegar, 10 cups sugar, 2 cups water, 1 package red hot cinnamon candy, 8 cinnamon sticks. Bring to boil. Pour over cucumber rings. Let set overnight. Drain off; heat and pour back over cucumbers. Do this for 3 days. On 3rd day, pack rings in jars; seal.

Another option is to go ahead and make them into pickles with a special recipe that calls for overripe cucumbers. This recipe includes brown sugar and vinegar, making an unusual, yet palatable pickle. The original recipe for these pickles is here: http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1636,149170-226205,00.html .

 MOTHER’S RIPE CUCUMBER PICKLE
Large ripe (yellow) cucumbers
2 lb. brown sugar
1 pt. cider vinegar
2 tbsp. whole cloves
2 tbsp. stick cinnamon
Cut cucumbers in half lengthwise. If very large you may need to cut crosswise also. Cover with alum water (2 teaspoons alum to each quart of water). Heat gradually to boiling, then let stand until clear. Remove cucumber from water and chill in ice water.
Make a syrup by boiling 5 minutes the sugar, vinegar and spices (tied in muslin). Add cucumbers; cook 10 minutes. Put cucumbers in jars and pour syrup over them.

Books on Canning:
Preserving the Harvest
The Beginners Guide to Preserving Food at Home
Keeping the Harvest: Home storage of fruits and vegetables