Just because sometimes things seem so easy. No vinegar, using ingredients on hand (water, apple and alder smoked salt, mustard and coriander seeds, 6 cloves of garlic, a few bay leaves, black pepper, red pepper flakes).

I’ve never done this before (as if urgently confessed). Not sure about fermentation. Pickles seem buoyant. I used a nice ocean smooth piece of pink feldspar granite to keep their tops in the brine. On the third day they tasted pretty close to a decent half sour. I’ll definitely omit the red pepper flakes on subsequent batches. Crispness trailed off to some degree after that, and flavor intensified as well. Not sure if the water was salty enough. More research and experimentation clearly warranted. Also probably should get some of that calcium chloride (pickle crisp) until I know a little better what I’m doing.

This whole knowing what you’re doing thing. On the one hand, isn’t it that perpetual experimentation and discovery are the primal fun? On the other, it really has to be about the pickles to some extent. Why else thither would we go?