Look to be honest, any time is good pickle time, last minute or not. Unable to bear wasting the veggies I'm leaving behind in the garden, I set to quickly pickling a few things. I'd already steamed a heap of silverbeet and chucked it in the freezer, but there was still zucchini and cucumber and lots of beetroot! Unfortunately you can't take fruit and vegetables into Tasmania with you so I had to do something.

The beetroot pickle is next level. I'm sure @thebigsweed would love these, as he's a beet man. How you going, guys, anyway, feel like it's been ages since we spoke. Hope you are having a lovely time with your grandkids for Christmas! I added a range of things to this one - lots of cummin, a chilli, some garlic, oregano, peppercorns, sliced lemon - but basically it's the same pickle juice which is half water, half vinegar, a bit of salt, and some honey.

I added the honey as I had a huge jar and I'm not keen on sugar that much. I like the taste too. It's fun adding big luxurious runny spoonfuls to the jar. For the zucchini pickle, I added turmeric, chilli and garlic.

The cucumber pickle was plain, but I was running out of time by then. Dammit, why didn't I put thyme in there, now I think of it? Maybe I'll run out to the garden after this post and add some to the jar. I salted the cucumber first, having removed their skins, as they were just a teeny teeny weeny bit bitter. AFter rinsing them, I added the pickle mix, and chucked them in the fridge ready to enjoy when I get back from Tassie.

Phew. I still haven't preserved half of what I wanted to, but sometimes you just gotta cut your losses. I've not been particularly on the ball this garden season, but there's always next year, and winter crops too.