Ingredients:
5 pounds asparagus, cut into jar sized pieces
1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 oz fresh dill, chopped
1 oz fennel fronds, chopped
4 cloves garlic
8 fresh bay leaves
4 1/2 cups water
5 cups white vinegar
1/3 cup pickling salt
3 teaspoons black peppercorns
3 teaspoons dill seeds
3 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
3 teaspoons fennel seed

Directions:
Bring the water, vinegar and salt to a boil. Prep the lids/jars. Evenly divide all of the spices, peppers and garlic between 4 wide mouth 1 1/2 pint jars.

Add the asparagus and fennel, leaving 1/4 inch headroom.

Pour in the vinegar mixture. Close the jars and process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath. Allow to sit 1 week before eating.

Yield: about 4 wide mouth 1 1/2 pints

Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Here is a bunch of other canning books and equipment I find useful.

My thoughts:

I wasn’t planning on pickling today but I went to the store and they had beautiful, skinny asparagus for $1.29 and I bought 6 pounds. I saved one pound to eat now and canned the rest. I had some fennel leftover and since one of my favorite things in the world is pickled fennel, I tossed that in too.