Pickled Rat's Tail Radishes

Good day, reader friends!

The garden season canning has begun! I tried a new plant this year called Rat's Tail Radish. This plant doesn't produce traditional radishes. It is grown for the seed pods. I have tried them raw, and they are very tasty but hot. I grew them specifically for pickling. My husband loves our hot pickled okra, so I thought these would be fun to try.

I started by harvesting all the pods from my plants.

Next, I brought them in and rinsed them in the sink in cold water twice and placed them in a colander to dry a bit. Because of my woodchips, they weren't dirty at all, but some of the bloom petals had fallen on some and dried on the pods. The rinsing gave me the ability to remove the petals easily.

While the pods drained and dried off a bit, I started heating my jars and prepared the brine.

While all that heated, I prepped my work station and garlic cloves.

When the brine was hot, I removed the jars from the canner and added a couple cloves of garlic to each jar.

Each jar was then packed with the pods. I tried to get the pods in the jars as snugly as I could. This part was a lot trickier and a lot more time consuming than I expected because the pods are so tender and crisp. My advice would be to just get them in the jars any way you can.

You can also add 1/4 teaspoon of pickle crisp if you would like.

Technically, there should be a half inch of headspace.  I didn't get too fussy with it. Once hot liquid is added, things shrink. Things float. Levels change as pods are pushed down or allowed to float up. And since we are speaking of adding hot liquid, that's just what I did next. I added the hot brine to a half inch headspace as best I could.

Next, I used the end of a plastic fork to remove as many air bubbles as I could. The rims were then wiped clean, and the jars were sealed with a flat lid and ring.

The jars were then placed in the canner and waterbathed for 10 minutes.

After ten minutes in the rolling water bath, the heat was turned off and I allowed the water to become completely still before removing the jars. Doing this has significantly cut down on siphoning of liquids from my jars. Finally, the jars were removed and placed in a draft free place to cool. Jars should be left undisturbed for 12-24 hours.

Pickled Rat's Tail Radishes 
4t coriander seeds
4t yellow mustard seeds
2t cumin seeds
4t whole black peppercorns
2t ground turmeric
1t red pepper flakes
1/2 c sugar
8c apple cider vinegar
4c water
2 cloves garlic, peeled, for each jar
Fresh radish pods
Pickle crisp, optional

Sterilize jars if desired. Place all the ingredients except the garlic cloves, radish pods, and pickle crisp in a large stock pot. Bring it to a boil. While the brine is heating, prepare garlic cloves and work station. Remove the jars from the canner, place two cloves of garlic in each jar, and pack tightly with radish pods. Add 1/4 of a teaspoon of pickle crisp if desired. When brine comes up to a boil, fill each jar to 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe rims clean, and add a flat lid and ring. Water bath jars for ten minutes. Remove jars from the canner, and place the jars in a draft free area for 12-24 hours. 

I hope you find something new and interesting with which to experiment this growing season, dear friends!

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!

*To ensure the safety of your home canned food, be sure to follow the safe canning guidelines issued by the USDA.