Home grown, home canned pickles for sale at Callahan House

By Jael Weinberg

Aegis at Callahan House

I thought your readers might like to see the homegrown pickles we made at Callahan house!

We grew FIFTY POUNDS of cucumbers in our garden this year! With the first 25ish pound harvest, we made bread and butter and dill pickles.


With the second harvest, we are making real fermented pickles as part of my group called Science and a Snack where I give a mini science lesson and then we make a snack that demonstrates that scientific property.

(Our first was on thermodynamics and then we made ice cream in a bag with rock salt).

We are now selling these pickles at our concierge desk, with all the proceeds going to Alzheimer’s and Dementia research.

It has been such a fun journey - I am a gardener and artist trying to bring back old school artisan craftswoman-ship to my generation, and working with these residents who collectively have probably canned an Olympic size swimming pool’s worth of produce over their lifetimes.

I teach them the science behind why preservation methods work, and they teach me the ways their mothers and grandmothers practiced the alchemy of taking fruits and veggies from the garden and turning them into memories.

Callahan House is located at 15100 1st Ave NE, Shoreline 98155. It is designed specifically for our residents with memory loss due to Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.