One of the most popular ways to extend food life is to pickle it. Pickling is the process of preserving food through fermentation in a brine. Many vegetables get pickled or made into relish including cucumbers, okra, peppers, summer squash, unripe cantaloupe, watermelon rind, tomatoes, eggs, onions, garlic, etc, etc.

Pickling lowers the PH to less than 4.6, which is sufficient to kill most bacteria and is somewhat easier to do than canning in that the vegetables do not have to be completely sterile to pickle.

You will need to buy some equipment up front but after your initial investment, you should not need anything but a few ingredients to pickle your food.

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