Monday, November 9, 2009

Pickles for the People! (oh yeah, & Castor Beans)

If you had to make Pickles for The People, how many would you make? Certainly more than Peter Piper's Peck of Pickled Peppers . . . Not to worry, just use this 20 gallon pickle crock!

It's huge - I can't imagine it filled with pickles. We purchased this at an antique shop a few days ago and are trying to determine if it's too nice to live on our porch. The shop owner thinks it's about 100 years old, but as many of his wares were more junktique than antique we're not certain.


It is perfectly plain, with handles on each side and the size '20' painted or stamped on the front. Some pickle crocks are really valuable (selling for thousands at auction) because they have lovely designs painted on them and are stamped with a maker's name - ours is more utilitarian, with no markings. I'm thinking of putting a large tropical plant in it next spring . . .


So, now you know what's cheery on our porch this week! And, someone e-mailed with a question about a plant that was in a post a few weeks ago about Reynolda Gardens. This plant, in fact:

It's a Castor Bean (Ricinus communis) and is poisonous if ingested. (Note the Latin name - the poison is ricin which was in the news quite a bit a few years ago. Espionage buffs will also remember that ricin was used to assassinate Georgi Markov in the '70s - it was injected through the tip of an umbrella as he waited for the train at Waterloo Station!) It's a large, stunning plant, however, and is an annual in this area (Zone 7).

Enjoy your Monday in the garden!

3 comments:

  1. 20 gallon pickle crock sounds like a description for someones Mother in Law, made me giggle!!!!! Having said that it is really lovely, is it full of pickles already?
    Wow, thanks so much for nominating me for the Kreative Blogger award, you are most kind and I am very honoured indeed, I shall put it up at the weekend when I finally get to sit down and take some time for me!

    Love Sarah x

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  2. At first, I thought you were pickling that many pickles and I thought my goodness... it is a super cute jar! Why not on the porch? If it's survived that nicely this long, I'd venture to guess it's got quite a few more years!!

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  3. I bet homemade pickles are stupendous. And that jar is super cute!

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