Cool as a Cucumber— NMU’s Dill Pickle Workshop serves up enjoyable and taste – The North Wind

There’s one thing oddly satisfying about reworking a plain cucumber right into a tangy, crunchy pickle. At Northern Michigan University’s Dill Pickle Workshop, college students traded notebooks for mason jars and dove into the artwork of pickling — who says studying can’t be scrumptious?

Hosted by NMU’s Hoop House, the workshop offered college students with the chance to roll up their sleeves, chop, stir and brine their manner by way of a day of hands-on enjoyable. The Hoop House, recognized for selling sustainable residing and native meals schooling, designed the occasion to indicate college students that preserving produce doesn’t should be intimidating. With slightly persistence and the best ratio of vinegar to spice, anybody can create a jar value bragging about.

The occasion came about within the Woodland Park Apartments, the place the scent of dill and garlic stuffed the air. Under the steerage of Hoop House co-leader Abby Owen, individuals realized easy methods to put together cucumbers, combine a brine and correctly seal jars for long-term storage.

Throughout the session, Owen demonstrated a number of methods to can pickles — from the basic hot-water bathtub methodology to faster fridge pickles — whereas explaining the science behind every method. Students adopted alongside and experimented with their very own taste mixtures.

“It’s really about making it your own,” Owen stated through the workshop. “Once you know the basics, you can play with spices and textures until you find your perfect pickle.”

The Dill Pickle Workshop additionally mirrored the Hoop House’s bigger mission: connecting college students with meals techniques and sustainable practices in approachable, gratifying methods. By turning meals preservation right into a enjoyable social occasion, the group encourages college students to consider the place their meals comes from and easy methods to cut back waste. It’s studying by way of doing, one jar at a time.

As the brine simmered and the jars cooled, conversations turned to sustainability and the worth of figuring out the place meals comes from. Owen emphasised how small actions like pickling can assist cut back waste and benefit from native produce.

“We want students to see that preserving food isn’t just old-fashioned — it’s practical and empowering,” she stated. “You’re saving what might otherwise go to waste and creating something you can enjoy for months.”

Events like this one present how NMU continues to supply college students inventive methods to study outdoors the classroom. From hands-on workshops on the Hoop House to collaborative actions with campus organizations, the college’s occasion calendar is filled with new methods to combine enjoyable with schooling.

And for individuals who missed out this time, don’t fear — the Hoop House has a lot extra in retailer. Whether it’s studying easy methods to bake with native produce, begin a seedling or make do-it-yourself salsa, there’s at all times one thing recent rising on campus.