Grow your own bread and butter pickles: plants for a year of bread and butter pickles
Sweet sliced pickles with onions.
For a family of 4 making bread and butter pickles 2 batches (about 8 pints each), grow:
| Crop | Amount | Plants | Bed sq ft | Yield assumption | Seeds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickling cucumber | 14 lb | 4 (3 to 7) | 8 | 12 lb per 10 ft of row at 3 to 4 plants, so about 3.5 lb per plant. Trellised. | Shop Seeds Now |
| Onion | 6.9 lb | 21 (14 to 28) | 2.5 | 10 lb per 10 ft of row at 4 inch spacing, so about one 1/3 lb bulb per plant. | Shop Seeds Now |
| Total | 10.5 | ||||
Safety: For canning, follow a tested recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. Do not change the ratio of vegetables to acid.
Garden ingredients per recipe (about 8 pints)
- 6 lb pickling cucumber
- 8 cups sliced onion
From the pantry
- 4 cups vinegar (5 percent)
- 4.5 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup canning salt
Salt and chill slices, rinse, heat in sweet brine, fill jars, and process.
Change household size or combine dishes in the Plate to Plot tool
Sources and assumptions
Amounts include 15 percent extra for culls, pests, and kitchen trim. Plant counts use the typical yield; the range uses the high and low yields. Bed space assumes intensive beds at recommended spacing. Yields vary with variety, weather, and soil.
- Kansas State University Research and Extension, MF315 Vegetable Garden Planting Guide (average crop per 10 feet of row)
- University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Planting Chart for the Home Vegetable Garden
- Clemson HGIC, How Much to Grow: Planning for Year-Round Garden Productivity
- ThriveThyme estimate from typical harvests (no single extension table lists this crop per plant)
- National Center for Home Food Preservation (USDA tested canning and pickling recipes)
Guides and tools
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