Pickling involves fermenting your food in brine (which is just salt and water mixed together). Cut up your food, submerge it in brine, and put a (clean) plate, board, or rock on top of your food pieces so they can’t reach the surface. In the oxygen-free brine your vegetables will ferment: a process in which “good” bacteria feed on sugars in your food, producing vinegars that make them sour but also less vulnerable to “bad” bacteria that cause them to spoil.* After one to four weeks your food will be pickled, and can then be canned for longer storage.
