Ingredients:
6 lbs. pickling cucumbers,
4 to 5 inches long, or slender zucchini or yellow squash (1 to 11⁄2 inches in diameter)
8 cups onions (about 3 pounds), peeled and thinly sliced
1⁄2 cup canning
pickling salt
Crushed or cubed ice
1 cup pickling lime (optional)

Pickling solution

41⁄2 cups sugar
4 cups vinegar (5% acetic acid)
2 tbsp. mustard seed
11⁄2 tbsp. celery seed
1 tbsp. ground mustard

Method:
Wash cucumbers or squash carefully.

Trim 1⁄16 inch from the blossom end and discard.

Cut into 3⁄16-inch slices.

Combine cucumbers or squash and sliced onions in a large bowl.

Add salt.

Cover with 2 inches crushed or cubed ice.

Refrigerate 3 to 4 hours, adding more ice as needed.

Drain.

Or for firmer pickles

Wash cucumbers or squash carefully.

Trim 1⁄16 inch from the blossom end and discard.

Cut into 3⁄16-inch slices.

Mix 1 cup pickling lime, 1⁄2 cup salt and 1 gallon water in a 2- to 3-gallon crock, glass or enamelware container.

Caution: Avoid inhaling lime dust while mixing the lime water solution.

Cover and soak cucumbers in lime-water solution
for 12 to 24 hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove cucumbers from lime solution, rinse well and resoak 1 hour in fresh cold water.

Repeat the rinsing and soaking step two more times.

Rinse and drain.

Handle carefully, as slices will be brittle.

Drain well.

Prepare pickling solution by combining sugar, vinegar and spices in a large kettle.

Bring to a boil, and boil 10 minutes.

Add well-drained cucumbers (or squash) and onions, and slowly reheat to a boil.

Fill clean, hot pint or quart jars with slices and pickling solution, leaving 1⁄2-inch head space.

Remove bubbles with a rubber spatula.

Wipe jar rims with a clean, damp cloth.

Cap jars with pretreated lids.

Adjust lids.

Process in a boiling water canner 15 minutes for pints or quarts.